Sometimes it feels like there isn't enough time left
in the day to exercise.
But studies say that working out during office hours
can improve our mood, make us more alert,
and increase our productivity.
Businesses are increasingly attuned to this.
Some offer subsidised health club memberships.
Others have their own office gyms.
But exercise on company time isn't always easy to justify.
So I wanted to know how to make the most
of a lunchtime workout.
I figured a good place to start was with double Olympic rowing
champion Helen Glover.
Helen recently had a baby boy.
Logan, my little one, is 10 months old now,
and I'm very much experiencing some sleep deprivation.
And it's really important for me to do something
physical every day.
Then I just feel like I have more energy,
and I just have the capacity to be
the best mum I can for Logan.
Talk me through what we're about to do.
Should I be scared?
Yeah, you should be scared.
Circuit's going to be 10 minutes,
so you've only got a minute on each exercise.
I want you to pretty much go as hard as you can.
No break.
Do I get a break if I look like I'm
about to have a heart attack?
Absolutely not.
OK.
You ready?
Yeah.
Off you go.
I have my doubts that just a single 10-minute circuit is
going to be that challenging.
But shortly after I start pushing this weighted sled up
and down a track, I start to see what Helen means.
After just the second exercise, tyre flips, I'm blowing hard.
Down a bit, that's it.
Nice.
OK, you're doing really well.
Big jump on, settle That's it.
What makes you angry?
Get the anger out now.
Brexit.
Argh.
Nice, done.
Good job.
That was good.
See, that really is a lunchtime workout.
Yeah.
10 minutes.
And you can do so much in 10 minutes, can't you?
I can't breathe.
If you're looking at losing weight
and you've only got 10, 20 minutes every day to work out,
this is what you do.
Yeah.
Something high intensity, something
that's going to keep your metabolism ticking over
for the rest of the day.
Something that's going to make you sweat like this.
10 minutes.
It's not even hot in here.
No.
From high intensity with Helen, to high intensity
interval training, or HIiT, as it's known.
If you've got a gym membership and a bit longer
than 10 minutes, you might want to consider something
like Les Mills' GRIT Athletic.
Steve Tansey is taking today's class.
It's half an hour long, but you will burn calories
at a higher level for up to two and 1/2
hours after the workout.
A quick glance at the size of Steve's biceps and I
could see that he means business.
Is just as intense as the workout I did with Helen,
but mercifully, the exercises are broken up
with short rest periods, where I can at least try
to catch my breath.
Some of the moves are easier to master than others,
and I struggled to keep up with some of my fellow classmates.
But the group workout environment
does motivate me to at least try.
The class is punishing.
According to my fitness tracker, I burned 406 calories
with a max heart rate of 183 BPM.
Loud dance music and group high fives
clearly aren't for everyone.
If you don't have a gym membership
but still liked the idea of group exercise
you might consider a running club instead.
Gets you some time away from work
to sort of process everything that's gone on with your day,
maybe have a bit of a moan, and we all go for a run here
and then we come back and have a drink as well.
After the two high intensity workouts,
a jog around the park followed by a pint
sounds like a nice change of pace.
My heart sinks when I'm told I've
joined the club for their weekly sprints interval training
session.
After a light jog to warm up, we're
expected to sprint for a minute, then jog for a minute
to recover.
Each sprint interval then goes up in one minute increments
until we've completed five rounds.
I start off near the front of the pack.
After the second sprint interval,
it feels like I'm running backwards.
No discernible change in pace when I should be sprinting.
I'm quickly overtaken, lapped several times
before ducking out early.
Running club, it's very, it's exhausting.
I got overtaken, lapped at least three or four times.
Clearly not the fittest person here.
But in half an hour, I ran four and a bit Ks.
Average heart rate of 135 beats per minute.
Max heart rate of 166.
According to my fitness tracker, I burned over 400 calories too.
And because it's also a form of HIIT,
I'll continue burning calories afterwards.
London City Runners is an after work club,
but there are plenty of lunch time running clubs around too,
and they're worth considering.
If you're working at lunch time, then you're
getting all of the different chemical and hormonal releases
that you expect from exercise.
So if you think about alertness, concentration
that comes from particularly things like adrenaline release,
then you're going can have that carrying on
for a period of time.
So there are multiple benefits to work beyond just the health
benefits.
You definitely stay awake a little bit
longer as well immediately afterwards,
which particularly in that post lunch lull, is critical.
Companies are really getting on board.
But I hope it's not just lip service.
I know people who say, yeah, we have an hour for lunch
and we eat at our desks because we're still working.
Productivity will go up if you just kind of take that chance,
take that risk and let people have the opportunity
to do something physical.
So businesses can benefit by giving staff
the time and the facilities to exercise.
But I hope Helen's right, because after all
of this high intensity training, I
feel too exhausted to even contemplate doing anything
productive anytime soon.