Hours in front of the computer, eating quick snacks and accumulating a few extra pounds. If you are familiar with this, maybe it is time to pay more attention to your health.
Keeping a healthy lifestyle is challenging for any worker, but especially for those who work in IT. Hours lost in traffic (for those that must go to the office), intense work and constant studying to understand new tools after working hours, are just a few factors that makes it harder for this working class.
For those struggling to climb a set of stairs, we have created this article with a few basic tips on how to start and maintain a healthy lifestyle while working in IT.
Why is physical activity for IT professionals so important?
Regularly practicing any physical activity will drastically reduce the chances of suffering from heart diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure, among other diseases.
It is general knowledge that, depending on the age, people that stay sedentary for long periods of time can significantly increase their overall health and quality of life by adopting any king of moderate physical activity.
Tips to start a physical activity
Here are some important tips on how to include sports on your day-to-day life.
Start slowly
A common mistake among those that start a new sport is to dive in too fast. If you are not used to exercising, it is common to feel tired and sored in the first few weeks.
Therefore, it is mandatory to start slowly and increase difficulty as far as physical condition increases. Start with half an hour, two or three times a week. As the body gets used to that stimulus, it is time to step up the difficulty.
Invite more people
Collective activities are usually much more pleasant and being around friends or work colleagues can be quite motivating to keep the rhythm and achieve goals.
Having companionship during these activities breaks that stigma of monotony. Additionally, it becomes much harder to find excuses not to do it if you know there is someone waiting for you.
Use technology at your favour
Afterall, we are IT professionals. Nothing makes more sense than using technological tools at our favour. There are plenty of physical activity apps that help you monitor exercises, keep track of your progress, and even create a healthy competition between exercise colleagues.
Some applications will also offer online activities and classes for you to follow along. It is a great solution if you don’t have much time to do it.
Benefits of physical activity for IT professionals
Now that you have a few tips on how to start a new physical activity, how about checking some of the main advantages of practicing sports for IT professionals (and everyone else, really)?
Increased Reasoning
Reasoning is a great part of an IT professional work, and practicing sports stimulates the creation of new neurons, improves memory, and maximizes brain functions.
Reduced Stress
Pressure in the work environment can be giant with all the tight deadlines, constant follow ups and collapsed systems. Practicing physical activities produces neurotransmitters, which are responsible for reducing stress levels in your body.
Increased self-esteem and confidence
With the regulation of stress-resulting hormone levels, the main symptoms like depression and anxiety eventually fade or become less relevant. Consequently, your perception of self improves, you feel better and more comfortable with your body, increasing overall self-esteem and confidence.
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At Madiff we believe a healthy work-life balance is key to being successful in any work environment. Having an active lifestyle and practicing sports are a big part of that.
In the last week we were proud sponsors of the APP Viana SUP Open, one of the four rounds of competition that will elect the World Champion. It has been brought to Portugal for the first time and it was an honour for us to be there.
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