Start cycling at work - 10 minutes per hour makes you more fit and focused

Fitness and physical exercises at work have turned out to be much more than just a popular office trend. Today, still more companies prioritize to offer their employees opportunities for fitness and exercising during the working day - and the desk cycle is about to take the yellow jersey.

Ideally, desk cyclists will have to exercise in 10-30 minute sequences while maintaining full focus on the PC, but all daily small as more significant efforts count in your overall calorie account.

According to recent researches, employees read 30 percent faster on their PC screen while desktop cycling. Increased blood circulation makes you sharper and more focused, just as memory is strengthened. Experiments have shown that office workers can remember up to 25 percent more words if they move while reading on the screen.

If you are desk cycling one hour per workday, for example, 6 x 10 minutes at moderate load, you will typically be able to burn up to 400 calories.

Fitness at work works

Danish bank Lån & Spar, which annually participates in the competition Denmark's Healthiest Workplace, has over the past nine years developed the project ´Bank in motion´ and during the process implemented a large number of initiatives collaborating with dieticians, fitness trainers, chefs, health experts and others - partly with desk cycles and treadmills supplied by the Danish company Officefit.dk.

These initiatives have reduced the annual sick leave of the bank with up to 50% - to 3.5 days yearly per employee long term absences included - achieved a job satisfaction score of 92%, doubled the number of employees exercising 30 minutes per workday and also created a 5% productivity increase on the bottom line.

Recently, Canadian researchers concluded that desk cycling seems even healthier for body and physics than the daily ´standing sessions´ at your height-adjustable office desk. (Photo: OfficeFit.dk)

"Still more companies show interest in offering fitness and exercising at their workplace. Research shows that workplace training works. It reduces muscle, and joint pains - especially neck pains are significantly reduced - benefits the cardiovascular system and increases mental health and well-being depending on the type of exercise performed.

Significant gains are achieved when the training is exercised during the work hours and with the colleagues - strength training, exercise bikes, Zumba, etc. - and also when all training is targeted to the individual needs of the employees.

It is necessary to offer several different types of training and target it specifically to the needs of each employee to engage the employees and influence their health," Mette Jensen Stochkendahl, senior researcher at the Nordic Institute for Chiropractic, states to the Danish daily JyllandsPosten.

Standing desk defeated

Most recently, a Canadian research group has found that desktop cycle and treadmill exercising seems even healthier for your body and physics than all the daily 'standing sessions' at your height-adjustable desk.

"Desk cycles and treadmills in your office spaces seem to provide greater short-term physiological improvements compared to upright work sessions at standing desks - improvements that are capable of leading to better health outcomes," the Montreal research group emphasizes.  ●

Read more:
Forbes.com: Why We Pay Our Employees To Exercise At Work
Trustorereview.com: Best Desk Exercise Bike for Home and Office Uses
How Many Calories Will You Burn on a Treadmill Desk vs. a Standing Desk
Dailymail.co.uk: The way to stay healthy is with a cycling machine or treadmill in the office