The Importance Of Active Breaks At Work

What are active breaks?

Many of us are used to spending most of our day working. No matter how comfortable we are, our bodies need movement and activity, especially if we are to enjoy good health, both physical and psychological. This is why it is so important in this type of situation to have active breaks at work.

Active breaks are short, simple exercise routines that engage muscle groups in the body. These are joint mobility exercises, stretching and relaxation. These breaks take place at the workplace. Their duration is usually about 10 minutes and it is recommended to do them every two working hours. They allow us to more easily disconnect from what we are doing to reactivate our body. And also help us relieve accumulated stress, as well as improve our productivity, among other benefits. Go further.

Why should we take active breaks at work?

There are many benefits to body and mind from taking active breaks after several hours of sitting. Here are some of the most important:

Improved muscle tone and posture
Decrease in stress and boost self-esteem
Increased concentration levels

In the rest of this we will examine each of them.

Improved muscle tone and posture

Spending hours sitting in the same position can end up atrophying our muscles. In addition, in the office, we probably do not have a good posture in our chair. Which will have a negative effect on our body.

Fortunately, taking active breaks can help alleviate these problems. For example, doing a short yoga routine or stretching will improve both our posture and the condition of our muscles. And moreover, it will promote the disappearance of certain back pain.

Decrease in stress and boost self-esteem

Anxiety and stress problems are directly linked to a lack of physical exercise. Although active breaks at work are not enough to replace a proper exercise regimen. They can, however, help us deal with high stress levels and the build-up of work-related worries due to overwork.

In addition, the practice of this type of exercise increases the release of endorphins in our brain. But also the stimulation of neurotransmitters linked to the feeling of well-being and improved mood. And this, in turn, has a positive impact on our self-esteem. On the other hand, these exercises also allow us to get out of the monotony that results from routine work.

Increased concentration levels

Our attention is not designed to stay focused on the same task for long. This is especially true if we are talking about staring at a screen for a long period of time. For this reason, active breaks are highly recommended in this kind of situation.

It works because, when we get up from our chair and do some physical activity, some of our mental energy is recharged. So even if we take more breaks, we can be more efficient. The balance will be positive.

How to take active breaks

As we have seen, active breaks are moments of activation that allow us to modify our work dynamics. These breaks also help us prevent health problems like stress, eye strain or back pain.

Here are some of the exercises you can do during active breaks at work:

Yoga

Yoga is a very complete type of exercise that works not only on stretching, but also on concentration and breathing. This discipline plays a very important role in the field of physical and mental health.

Although there are many ways to practice yoga, we recommend that you start with a relaxation routine.

Walk

Walking is the simplest physical exercise available, but also one of the most beneficial. If you want to make the most of your breaks at work, just put on your headphones and walk around the neighborhood you are in.

In this way, you will free your mind while activating your muscles and releasing all kinds of positive substances in your body.

Neck and shoulder exercises

The neck and shoulders are areas that often accumulate a lot of physical and mental stress. Therefore, it is especially important to do some exercises that focus on these parts of our body to unload them.

To work on the neck, we can massage the back of the neck and the upper back with both hands for 15 seconds. Lower your head, trying to touch your chest with your chin, and tilt your chin slightly to the right for 10 seconds, then to the left.

On the other hand, if you want to focus on the shoulders to keep them from being overloaded with fatigue and contracting, you can put your hands there and massage while simultaneously drawing large circles forward. and backwards. Another exercise is to place the arms relaxed at the sides of the body and raise the shoulders as if we are trying to touch our ears. Perform this exercise in 5 second periods.

active breaks at work: neck and shoulder exercises

Up and down stairs

What if we don’t have time to learn yoga? What if we can’t leave the office to go for a walk in the park? In this case, we still have one trick in our bag : up and down the stairs.

This exercise, although very simple, is one of the best for burning fat and activating the circulatory system. In no time, all of your muscles will activate, and you will notice that your mind will be clearer, but also that you will be recovering some of your energy.

As we can see, taking active breaks is fundamental to maintaining good physical and mental health. Now it’s up to you to do your part of the work: which of these exercises will you perform?