As we near the last month of 2016, you may be thinking about making some New Year’s resolutions. Are you looking to lose some weight? Do you want to commit to training for a 5K run? If you've made similar resolutions in the past but have had difficulty seeing them through, here’s an idea for you: exercise at work.

Before you argue that you’re just too busy at work to take daily fitness breaks, think about New Year’s resolutions you're going to make related to your business. Do you have sales goals you want to hit for the first couple months of the year or generally become more productive on the job?

More and more evidence suggests that physical fitness and work productivity are intertwined, so taking time during the workday to work out is actually time well spent. Maybe it’s time to get away from your desk and hit the pavement as part of your regular workday routine.

Need proof? A study by the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine showed that employees who use work time for exercise maintain or increase their level of productivity at work.  

This exercise doesn’t have to leave you gasping for breath and it doesn’t need to take hours and hours. A 15- to 30-minute midday walk can do wonders for mind, body and spirit.

What taking a workday fitness break can do:

1. Allow co-workers to socialize while focusing on something other than work, which can result in improved teamwork.
2. Improve work/home life balance.
3. Help workers resist vending machine junk food.
4. Reduce overall stress.
5. Help employees reboot and recharge their brains for better, more creative thinking.
6. Increase alertness without caffeine jitters.
7. Help smokers quit or at least cut down on cigarettes.
8. Reduce blood pressure and lower cholesterol.   
9. Reduce the lethargy known as the 2 p.m. slump.
10. Provide an enhanced sense of well-being overall.
11. Especially in northern climates, going outside for a walk can increase vitamin D stores and reduce symptoms of seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
12. Inspire workers to actually work out — not just say they will work out.

That last one might be the most significant. You can encourage people to work out in their off-time all you want, but if they are too busy or too tired in the evening, they probably won’t do it. Allowing the time and opportunity for fitness during the workday means they are more likely to work out consistently. And the peer pressure helps, too. If everyone around them is going out for a walk, they are likely to join in.

WORK OUT LIKE A BOSS

If you manage others, allowing them time to exercise during the workday can make you a better boss. Or at least you’ll be perceived as a better boss, because in another study, this one reported in the Journal of Business and Psychology, exercise was shown to reduce the negative effects of stress on relationships between supervisors and their subordinates.

Exercise weakens the link between a boss’ high stress level and abusive behavior aimed at employees. In short, it improves the employer/employee dynamic. I guess taking a hike makes bosses less likely to scream “TAKE A HIKE!” at employees.

It’s unlikely that anyone will want to be the first one to stand up and leave the building for a walk, so as the boss, set an example. Instead of calling yet another meeting where everyone sits down around a conference table dozing off, have a walk-and-talk session outside. Or simply announce that you’re going for a 10-minute walk and everyone is invited to do the same at a time convenient to them.

THE LONG RUN

Many of the benefits mentioned above take effect almost immediately. But there are also long-term benefits, which should encourage you to stick with a workplace fitness program.

Healthy, active employees take fewer sick days and come to work sick less often, too. That Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine study mentioned above showed incorporating just 2 1/2 hours of exercise per week into the workday led to a noticeable reduction in absences.

Perhaps more important than reducing minor illnesses is that physically fit and healthy workers have a lower risk for preventable, debilitating illnesses like heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Serious long-term illnesses take a much heavier toll on families, businesses and society than allowing employees an outdoor walking break during the workday ever could. So lace up those sneakers, march out that door and make sure everyone else in the office is right behind you.