Win Your Morning Key #4: Move Your Body to Focus Better
KEY POINTS:
1. The final key to mastering your morning is to move your body to spark your brain.
2. Physical activity is strongly correlated with mental functioning and positive mood.
3. Starting your day with some exercise is an ideal way to get your blood and brain moving, ensuring you’re sharp and focused when you want to be.
“If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise - not too little and not too much - we would have found the safest way to health.”
Key 4: Increase Activity, Increase Productivity
Starting the day with a workout is an ideal way to get your brain waves and blood flowing. Exercising in the morning not only improves your physical health by lowering your risk of certain cancers, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and many more diseases, but it also improves your mental health and performance by flooding your brain with brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which stimulates the growth of new neurons to facilitate learning and memory. Exercise also activates the part of your brain associated with creativity and problem solving. It makes you sharper and more capable of concentration.
There are many ways you can incorporate physical activity into your day; a daily trip to the gym is great for many people, but even a quick walk outside or some stretching as soon as you get out of bed can make a big difference. Walking for as little as 15 minutes can boost your ability to focus and problem solve. Remember, focus on those 1% gains mentioned a few weeks ago. Start small, even if it means walking for just a few minutes each morning. Do your best to be just a little bit better than you were yesterday. If you miss a day or you fall off from your new morning routine, no problem. Try to get back on track as soon as you can. If it helps, add some accountability by finding a partner or group to walk with each morning. It’s always easier to stick to your workout plans if someone else is relying on your participation.
If necessary, plan workouts into your day. Put them on your calendar. This way, you’ll be less likely to skip or forget them. This is particularly important if you travel. It’s easy to use a new location or time change to avoid exercise. Remember the benefits, and make it a regular priority. Exercise is one of the most-researched topics with some of the strongest evidence of efficacy, yet it is seldom embraced by business leaders as an important element of employee well-being and productivity.
We are not at our best when we feel weighed down. A regular exercise routine will give you more energy as you begin to feel healthier and become more active. Some of the world’s most creative people, like Steve Jobs, Charles Dickens, and Bob Marley, have all been reported to use exercise to activate themselves before doing their respective mental tasks. Scientists at Stanford University found that walking boosts creative inspiration and that creative output can be increased by an average of 60% while walking! Physical activity feeds mental activity and improves your ability to focus. Do whatever is necessary to ensure your health is optimal to start the day.
Download VIIVIO here to track your activity and check out our website to learn more about the app!
This Week’s Exercise: Build your morning routine
This week carve out a morning routine. If a morning routine is a new concept for you, start by making yourself a checklist. Try to include an affirmation, meditation, fuel, and exercise. However everyone is different and you might find different activities work for you. The key is to set yourself up to be at your best for the day ahead.
If you’re looking for ideas, try out this 15-minute Cardio Circuit Workout!
Bonus Material
Check out this article on the 8 Morning Habits of Top Performers
Watch Greg and Bruce discuss the importance of exercise for focus
The information and advice provided in this program is intended to assist you with improving your performance, as well as your general health. It is not intended and should not be used in place of advice from your own physician or for treatment or diagnosis of any specific health issue. By participating in this program you acknowledge that undertaking any new health, diet and/or exercise regime involves certain inherent risks, that you assume such risks, and that you release Wells Performance Inc. from any responsibility or claim relating to such participation.