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Smarter Exercising for the Data Scientist

Published by SuperDataScience Team

Monday Mar 16, 2020

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Welcome Data Scientists! Today we’re going to look into the effect of smarter exercise and how it affects our productivity at work. After reading this you’ll be better equipped to know when and how to get that blood flowing to keep you at your A-game.

We’ve all been guilty of overlooking the importance of exercising when we’ve got lengthy projects on at work. It seems easier to over-exert ourselves in the short-term, finalising work while we’re still “in the groove”.

Often, the last thing we want to do when we’re focussed, or even stressed with deadlines, is to turn that computer off and engage in a game of tennis.

That’d be outright illogical, right?

Well, actually, it wouldn’t.

You could be benefitting your work (and mind) by condensing the time spent on the computer and factoring in time to physically connect with your body.

In this article we’ll be discussing:

Let’s begin!

The Benefits of Exercise on your Mental Health

We all feel that buzz after a good workout - those wonderful chemicals signalling to the brain that we did something good. Go us!

Two of the key neurotransmitters (brain signalling chemicals) responsible are serotonin and endorphins, which have been scientifically proven to increase naturally when we exercise.

Serotonin is well known as the “happy chemical”, and is used widely in treatments for depression. It’s therefore no surprise that the positive feeling we experience after a workout is linked to a release of this chemical in the brain.

Many anti-depression drugs work by inhibiting the re-uptake of serotonin by neurotransmitters, and while this may seem a mouthful, all it really means is that they essentially force serotonin to move forwards, transmitting the signal of “happiness” to neighbouring neurones.

Endorphins, on the other hand, are wonderful packets of natural pain relievers, even their name gives it away: derived from the combination of “endogenous” (within the body) and “morphine” (an opiate pain medication). This is because they act on the opiate receptors of our brains, reducing pain and increasing pleasure.

The effect endorphins have on us is quite remarkable and their release is in response to physical activity, pain, stress, eating, and even during sex. Remarkably, pregnant women benefit from naturally increased levels of endorphins to help tackle the pain of childbirth.

What happens when you don’t get enough endorphins?

Obvious symptoms that you’re low on both of these amazing chemicals include:
  • Insomnia
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Pain and aching
  • Fatigue
  • Irritability

All of these effects can have cascading repercussions on our health, including increased risk of cardio and metabolic disease. Hence, it is in our interest to keep these neurotransmitter levels up for our overall mental well-being.

Take aways:

  • Exercise is scientifically proven to be a wonderful, natural (and free!) tool to instantly boost your mood.
  • Serotonin and endorphins are magical and make you feel amazing.
  • Not only does exercising make you feel great at the time, it’ll also have long-term benefits to your overall mental and physical health.

How Exercise Boosts Productivity at Work

Can exercising really improve my productivity?

To answer that, let’s first try to break down what exercising does to your brain. We’ve seen that it makes us happy and healthy (high five!), but its magic doesn’t stop there:

Exercise increases productivity in pretty much all aspects of our lives.

Regular physical activity has been associated with these wonderful rewards:
  • Reduced stress
  • Increased energy (and better sleep)
  • Superior memory
  • Self-control and discipline

One of the catalysts of productivity in the workplace is the ability to maintain a clear-head. You may have experienced that familiar sensation of dread and panic set in, maybe from an impending deadline or upon remembering a forgotten task too close to a meeting.

The natural instinct is to panic, right? The stomach becomes tight, breathing is difficult and our minds race around searching for a quick solution.

Rarely do we find something optimal under conditions of stress and panic. You may be saying right now, but I feel at my top game when I’m stressed and pushed to my limits, how could I achieve the same results if I were always calm?

If that sounds like you, then this may be a powerful game-changer.

Let’s look at an extreme case: roles within the military require incredible levels of clear-headedness. An army General would never be able to make smart, tactical decisions if they were indulging in fear, panic, and worry.

Not only does stress impair judgement, but it has innumerable detrimental side effects on our overall health, increasing risk of stroke and heart attack, to name a couple.

Exercising helps combat stress by enhancing levels of endorphins and suppressing the body’s stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol.

Regularly working out, you’ll also find that your sleep will naturally become more blissful and easy. It has been shown that increased physical activity extends time spent in deep sleep, the restorative phase associated with boosting immunity, improving memory, and the release of human growth hormone (responsible for repair and development in the body).

Better sleep and improved mood inherently lead to higher energy levels, allowing you to grab the day by the horns, and most likely reduce dependance on caffeine for treating the symptoms of fatigue.

One of the really interesting side effects of exercise is the improved ability of self-control.

Regularly exercising actually increases our discipline and focus.

How?

Because we are in control. We see a measurable improvement. When we exercise, we are training our brains to recognise reward from hard work and persistence. The beauty is that this increased self-discipline is translatable to every other aspect of our lives.

Take aways:
  • Exercising the body exercises the mind
  • We have more energy to channel into work after physical activity
  • Sleep and memory are improved as a result of exercising
  • Exercise makes us better, more disciplined people

The Best Types of Exercise for your Needs

By now it’d be likely prudent to assume we’re all on board with the fact that exercise is amazing. Going forwards then, let’s discuss the right types of exercise for you.

Firstly, think about what you want to get out of it (on top of all the benefits we’ve discussed).

For instance, if you sit at a desk all day, you may be wanting to improve posture and flexibility, or if you already have an active job, you could benefit from a training routine in which you are your own boss, this will no doubt boost your self-confidence and improve behavioural discipline.

Here is a brief overview of some of the main types of exercises and their advantages:

Flexibility training:
One of the most popular types of flexibility training is yoga. Yoga is a beautiful practice for anyone and everyone. Its benefits are too extensive to list in this article but you may find this one a useful read to find out more.

In general, flexibility training helps to improve posture, engage the mind, build a platform for clean meditation and focus, maintain the nervous system, and even boost immunity!

Good news: you don’t have to be an Instagram-worthy star to practice flexibility training. In fact, yoga in particular is one of the most inclusive communities, with millions of people sharing information, techniques, and good vibes around the world.

It could not be easier to start.

Cardio:
Think blood pumping fast, your heart beating out your chest, and your breathing becoming rapid. This is what cardio feels like. It’s classified as a form of aerobic exercise because of these beautiful sensations and effects it has on our body.

What does it do to us?

Cardio alleviates hypertension, glucose intolerance, and protects against heart disease by combatting body fat.

What’s more is that you can benefit from cardio by simply walking. You don’t need to burn out sprinting on the treadmill if running’s not your thing. Basically, any physical activity that raises your heart rate counts.

Those extroverts out there might also enjoy the plethora of cardio-based team sports such as tennis, volleyball, water polo etc for that extra boost of social interaction and competition during a workout.

Strength-training:

These exercises focus on strengthening muscles by lifting weights or using resistance bands and even simply your own body weight.

What are the advantages of strength training?

Healthy, strong muscles reduce the risk of musculoskeletal disorders such as carpal tunnel syndrome, and protect against osteoporosis. It is also praised for improving mental health due to increased self-esteem and reduced tiredness.

Strength training is particularly attractive for those wanting a measurable goal of fitness to work towards, and the results are visible in many aspects of everyday life such as carrying groceries or climbing stairs.

Just like with the flexibility training, you don’t need to be an Insta-ready body builder to start training with weights. Checking out online guides or talking with personal trainers is a great way to get you started if you’re struggling with the confidence to get going.


Overall, a combination of all three training methods is ideal and will equip you with all the benefits exercise can offer, making you essentially a superhero.

P.S. Remember to give your eyes a workout!

Anyone spending lots of time looking at screens will likely be no stranger to tired eyes and trouble focusing. We all know the advice to give our eyes a break from the screen. But, how many actually do? A little trick devised by doctors is the 20/20/20 rule, essentially, every 20 minutes focus on something 20 feet away for 30 seconds (just kidding, it’s 20 seconds).

Take aways:
  • Different exercises offer different benefits for both physical and mental health, both affecting our productivity at work
  • You don’t need to be an expert to start
  • A combination of flexibility, cardio, and strength training covers all associated advantages of exercise

The Ideal Time to Fit in those Workouts

Ever gone for a swim in the middle of the day and felt too exhausted to continue working? Or maybe, you’ve blasted 1 hour on the treadmill in an effort to sleep late at night, only to find yourself staring at the ceiling wide awake.

It seems choosing when we exercise can affect our levels of fatigue and potentially disrupt the work-life schedule. The good news is that it’s totally individual and there’s a lot of flexibility for finding the best pattern.

The Early Bird:

Morning workouts have some undeniably amazing benefits:
  • Consistency: training at the crack of dawn (or upon waking for those on unconventional shifts) generally means it’s harder to push it to a later time and improves discipline and speaks to the reward centre of the brain.
  • Sleep: people who work out at 7am were shown to sleep longer, reach deeper sleep phases, and spend 75% more time in reparative stages in comparison to their evening workout counterparts.
  • Circadian Rhythm Syncing: anyone struggling with early starts might actually benefit from the exposure to daylight, helping regulate sleep cycles.

Not a Morning Person? No Problem.

If working out first thing in the morning sounds like a form of torture to you, let’s explore what advantages exercising in later in the day has:
  • Reduced risk of injury: basically, your body temperature is slightly warmer in the afternoon compared to when you first wake. This means you can work out more efficiently and avoid pulling muscles or causing injury as easily.
  • Sleep…again: This sleep benefit differs to the morning routine in the sense that afternoon workouts help with insomnia due to the temperature rise lasting around 4/5 hours followed by a fall. The decrease in temperature effectively signals your body to enter sleep mode.
  • Productivity Boost: A mid-day workout helps reboot the mind and body, especially for those of us sat down at desks. Getting into the routine of exercising during a lunch break can energise and provide pathways for clearer thinking and motivation at work.

You may be wondering right now,
  1. How much time should I be exercising?
  2. Can I break it down into smaller workouts throughout the day?

The short answers are:
  1. 30 minutes a day (minimum)
  2. Yes!

The longer answers:
1. It’s more complicated than a “one size fits all'. While 30 minutes a day is a brilliant starting point, how much exercise you should be doing, really depends on your goals, medical status, and age.
Half an hour is the minimum: you may find you require (and want to spend) more time to really reap the rewards on offer. Plus, don’t forget rest and recovery are important factors in training.

Harvard health has an extensive guide with more detail on this topic.

2. Exercising more than once a day helps to reduce sedentary time, increase the likelihood to fit in more than one type of exercise, decrease time spent undisturbed looking at screens, and prolong the time feeling good after workouts.

Of course, it is not always reasonable to fit in multiple training sessions each day. One workout is infinitely better than none, and there are ways to sneak in exercise in day to day tasks, such as taking the stairs over the lift, parking further from work to walk the last stretch, going to the bathrooms on a different level to your office etc.

Just be creative and wait to feel those wonderful rewards rain down on you.

Take aways:
  • There’s no right or wrong time to exercise in terms of health advantages, just be wary of your sleep schedule
  • Fit in all the exercise you can and you’ll feel the positive effects
  • The minimum recommended time spent being physically active is 30 minutes (by doctors).

That’s all folks. Check out the references for more info on any of these topics and remember to keep active!


References:

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