In Nigeria, we operate a 9-5 work system and some people in the private sector may stay for longer hours. People spend most of their active hours at work, making it difficult to find time to exercise. If you spend more of your active and inactive hours (time you spend at home) being physically inactive then it’s definitely going to take a toll on your work productivity.

When you don’t get enough sleep and you have to go to work, your whole day at work will be unproductive because all your body feels at that point is the need for more sleep and until you get it you won’t feel comfortable with yourself. It’s same with physical activity, your body tells you, you need to exercise but you choose to ignore it (or take analgesics). This could result in muscular pains which are a major cause of absenteeism at work; the mind is no longer sharp, lack of creativity, irritability, tiredness, etc. The outcome of such lifestyle may be debilitating at the long run for both the employee and the employer.

Employees’ physical fitness is to be encouraged by the employers or top management because it would have a positive ripple effect on productivity. There would be individual alertness, creative minds, happiness, less irritability (no quarrel or fighting amongst employees), There will be energy to perform tasks at work.

Have you been bothered with a problem and you decide to take a walk? You may end up finding solutions and the answers you seek while taking a walk because the brain is also exercising and ideas starts flowing,

Exercise trains you to be persistent and accomplish your goal, it trains you how to work under any stressful condition (in CV writing, some people usually state – I can work in stressful situations). Can they really? When it comes hitting it, do they just give up? However, exercise trains you to reach your finish line no matter how hard it seems or add an extra minute no matter how fagged out you may feel and you usually learn from such and practice it in your daily activities.

Ways exercise can help enhance productivity at the workplace

People who exercise are more productive in these ways:

Exercise enhances cognitive abilities of the brain
As a worker your brain is your greatest asset, the ability to be productive depends on how well the brain learns, understands, store information and uses that stored information to solve problems by strategic planning and execution.

Exercise helps in improving the brain’s cognitive functions. A study published by the National Centre for Biotechnology Information titled- “The influence of exercise on cognitive abilities” states that Aerobic fitness spares age-related loss of brain tissue during aging, and enhances functional aspects of higher order regions involved in the control of cognition. More active or higher fit individuals are capable of allocating greater attention resources toward the environment and are able to process information more quickly. These data are suggestive that aerobic fitness enhances cognitive strategies enabling to respond effectively to an imposed challenge with a better yield in task performance. Thus, the hippocampus (responsible for long term memory), a structure that has a fundamental role in memory processing is one of the main brain regions influenced by physical activity.


Exercise keeps you energized
Do you always feel fatigue at work? After climbing the stairs you feel like you are going to give up? Some people may feel it’s the other way round, I mean exercise saps energy but in actual sense, exercise helps you take in more oxygen. The muscles and brain at the point of exercise demand more oxygen and glucose which gives you more strength. When you exercise your muscles gain more strength and therefore can stand exertion in case you do more energy demanding job. When you are energized you stay more alert and willing to do more work. Exercising improves blood flow to the brain helping you to stay focused and sharp.

Exercise improves mental health
The feeling of depression and anxiety is real. In fact, depression is a very serious health condition that needs to be properly managed, especially as it could lead to suicidal tendencies like we hear from the news these days. When you exercise, endorphins are released. This hormone helps to reduce your perception of pain and also gives you that feeling of euphoria, happiness, sometimes called runners high (the feeling you get after running or performing a rigorous exercise). Now when this happy hormone is released after exercising the feeling of depression and anxiety is replaced with the feeling of happiness. In turn at the workplace, you’ll be known to be in high spirits, and there will be fewer conflicts. Exercise also helps you manage stress by making you sleep better, sleep being very vital for good health.

Exercise can help prevent diseases
It is a fact that at some point or the other some people may have taken a sick leave or absent themselves from work due to one ill health or the other which may include: joint pains, stroke, heart diseases etc. Exercising is a very natural way to prevent heart and blood vessel diseases, stroke, and musculoskeletal pain. When you exercise, the heart also exercises, thus keeping the heart muscles strong and making the blood pumping process easy thereby preventing heart diseases. Exercise also lowers your blood pressure. Individuals who are into one form of sporting activity or the other are known to have a moderate blood pressure.

5. Exercise can help prevent Obesity

Another condition that brings about a lot of ill health in a person’s life is obesity. Obese individuals are less productive at the place of work.The findings of an epidemiological study on obesity and absenteeism were published by the American Journal of Health Promotion. The aim of the study was to find the relationship between obesity and absenteeism due to illness. The conclusion of that study found that obese employees tend to be absent from work due to illnesses substantially more than their counterpart.


Obesity comes with a lot of health challenges that would definitely make you absent from work. The obese have a lot of unhealthy fat in them and these fats can clog the blood vessels; these clogged vessels, in turn, would not allow free flow of blood to tissues which may lead to heart diseases, high blood pressure, and stroke. The weight on joints can lead to arthritis, aches, and pain. If employees are healthy inside out it will definitely reduce absenteeism caused by ill health.

Sex life benefit
A happy man is a productive man and sex is one of the things that make a happy and fulfilled married man. Exercise enhances libido. It also gives you the required energy to carry on during intercourse. Exercise helps men with erectile dysfunction. When you exercise there is enhanced and generalized blood flow throughout the body. The penis also benefits because blood flows better for the erection to be sustained. Women who are not easily aroused are also encouraged to exercise because it helps to increase your desire for sex. When your sex life is good it will reduce depression and enhance relationship at work leading to more productivity.

Regular exercise is part of your job description because you are required to be productive at work. It’s a healthy lifestyle that shouldn’t be overlooked and could be done in fun ways – engaging in a sporting activity.

30 minutes of exercise is recommended each day 5 days a week for optimal health.