February 26th, 2009

It’s common knowledge that many Americans don’t get enough exercise, and that as a result, the country’s obesity rate is sky high.  Slowly, however, some schools and employers are starting to incorporate mini exercise breaks into their students’ and employees’ days.  As a result, people are not only getting more exercise, their productivity is getting a boost.

Reports NPR  in an article about exercise programs in schools:

Students at Mitchell Elementary School in Charleston, S.C., don’t just write their multiplication tables. They jump them.

Innovations like this are part of the burgeoning movement to promote more action-based learning. Some studies suggest that incorporating physical movement into the classroom improves student focus and attention.

…

Ten minutes of moving around the classroom at moderate intensity seems to agree with a lot of the kids. And there’s some evidence that the physical exercise improves mental sharpness.

“What’s happening in the body is their heart rate’s increasing and blood flow is changing, and they’re actually activating the brain differently than when they’re sitting down,” says John Ratey, a psychiatrist at Harvard University who has taken an interest in the movement to overhaul physical education in schools.

…

Researchers at East Carolina University evaluated the effectiveness of short, 10-minute exercise breaks at one North Carolina school. They found that the kids who’d had the most trouble staying focused before the exercise program started were the ones who seemed to benefit the most.

“Think of these kids,” says researcher Matt Mahar. “They were on task less than 50 percent of the time before the program started. And after the one, 10-minute activity, they were now on task more than 70 percent of the time.”

And in an article about similar programs in the workplace:

Even 10 minutes of dancing, marching in place or other moderate exercise two or three times a day can add up to a big payoff for your heart and mind, according to Dr. Toni Yancey of UCLA. A former college basketball player and fashion model, Yancey has spent much of her medical career helping people who hate exercise get more.

…

To make daily exercise a priority, top-down leadership is necessary for bottom-up support, Yancey says. Some companies have started pushing back from the conference table to institute “walking meetings,” or even replaced the seats around the conference table with elliptical machines. As a start, she says, companies might institute a sort of “sitting” ban similar to smoking bans — at least during some meetings, for those who are able. The most successful intervention, she says, may require the CEO and other managers to join in a five- or 10-minute recess break like the sessions she teaches: a brief, low impact, simple and structured group physical activity, usually done to music and integrated into the organizational routine at work.