Science to back up Sir Branson’s famous productivity tip “Work out”

When I first read the 4 Hour Body I was consumed with trying to work as much as possible so I could not work as much when my wife ended her maternity leave.  The quote from the book that resonated with me the most at the time was Richard Branson’s “Billionaire Productivity Secret”

“How do you become more productive?”

“Work out.”

For the next 7 months after that I got up early to workout most days, short 10-30 minute workouts and that helped me drop 35lbs and go from fat to ripped in about 100 days.  I now workout at lunch most of the time at a gym close to my office.

I always noticed on days that I did not workout I was not as productive at work.  When I started working out at lunch I noticed I was not as productive at work before my worked out.  This made sense to me but I never understood why.

A friend of mine sent me an article from todays New York Times Well section title How Exercise Fuels the Brain.  This article explains some recent research that was done regarding exercise and the brain, and could be an explanation of how exercise improves cognitive function.

Glycogen, the main source of fuel for the body, has small stores in the brain.  The study[1] found that after a single treadmill session, followed by food and rest their brain glycogen levels increased about 60%, but then went back to normal.  But it also studied rats that exercised regularly for 4 week and found the following.

In those rats that ran for four weeks, the “supercompensation” became the new normal, with their baseline levels of glycogen showing substantial increases compared with the sedentary animals. 

So if you were like me and always put off exercise because you were too busy with work, think about Branson’s quote and this recent science to back it up.

Let us know what you experience is with exercise and productivity.

1. J Physiol. 2011 Jul 1;589(Pt 13):3383-93. Epub 2011 Apr 26. Brain glycogen decreases during prolonged exercise. Matsui T, Soya S, Okamoto M, Ichitani Y, Kawanaka K, Soya H.