Have you ever tried to cram a workout in at the end of a long day? Or have your exercise plans been derailed when you had to work late? It’s hard to find time for exercise when you’re focused on caseloads.  

Integrating short bursts of physical activity into your day known as "exercise snacks" can significantly enhance your productivity and overall health!

Think about a time you did a few jumping jacks to wake up or shook out the wiggles to get more focused. You felt better, right? 

Your Tip: Start Simple with Exercise Snacks

To maximize your time in and out of the office and reach your goals, try bite-sized exercises—exercise snacks—to give yourself an instant energy boost. 

Exercise snacks are brief periods of physical activity sprinkled throughout your day. The idea is to fit in mini-workouts that are practical, non-disruptive, and easy to perform, even in a formal office setting. 

For legal professionals, the challenge is not just to stay active but to do it without disrupting the professional environment. If you're in the office, consider:

• Taking the stairs instead of the elevator for a quick cardio session.
• Standing during phone calls or webinars to reduce the time spent sitting.
• Doing calf raises or seated leg lifts under your desk where it’s less noticeable to others.

One of our favorite exercise snacks is the coffee squat, where you fit in deep squats for as long as it takes for the coffee machine to produce your morning cappuccino. If that’s a little off-putting for your office colleagues, replace squats with calf raises. 

If you’re working from home or you’ve got a bit of privacy in the office, a quick plank session or a few yoga stretches during breaks can serve as perfect energizers. These small, regular activities can boost your metabolism, enhance concentration, and reduce the stiffness and lethargy associated with prolonged sitting.

Your Action Item: Schedule Your Snacks 

Like any important task, schedule your exercise snacks. Set reminders to take a two-minute stretch break every hour or use your coffee break to include a quick physical activity. This routine not only breaks the monotony of a sedentary workday but also keeps your energy levels consistently high.

Bonus Tip: Extend Your Healthspan with Knowledge

If you’re interested in the broader implications of regular exercise, Dr. Peter Attia’s book, Outlive, is a fantastic resource and personal favorite. It emphasizes not just living longer but enhancing your healthspan, aka living to old age but living WELL and remaining capable of enjoying life. 

For us, it’s personal. After watching Karen’s mother become essentially bedridden over the last 5 years, this idea of healthspan over lifespan really resonated. We found the biggest takeaway from Dr. Attia’s book is that even small changes can have huge impacts. For example, carry a weighted backpack on your walks. For people who (like a lot of lawyers) are basically sedentary, these kinds of changes can be life-changing, even if you start late in life. 

If you want help implementing strategic, and creative, productivity into your work life, book a call with us to see what changes you can make.

- Karen and David