People are slogging it out more at their desks, in the boardroom or in a car/plane than they are in the gym. This lack of physical activity is only increasing their risk of obesity but also of an early burnout. The solution, find, researchers at the Tel Aviv University is quite simple—increase your levels of physical activity by exercising. A regular workout in the gym can save your from depression and other mental health issues and also prevent burnout at work, find the researchers.
Dr Sharon Toker from TAU’s Recanti Faculty Management teamed up with Dr Michal Biron from the University of Haifa to carry out the study. They found that those who managed to take out time for physical activity such as a workout, experienced deterioration of mental health to a lesser degree than those who didn’t exercise. The active ones also displayed lesser symptoms of depression and burnout as well. In fact, exercising for only four hours per week reduced a person’s likelihood of mental deterioration by half. Physical activity that counts is the one that increases your heart rate and makes you sweat.
So give your work shoes some rest, take out those running shoes and hit the road.