Work From Home Tips: Daily Exercise

I am a huge fan of daily exercise and enjoyed using my company gym while working from the office. For those that are not familiar with my work setup in the Bay Area, I live on my sailboat during the week. Using the company gym is also how I showered daily. While my marina has a nice shower facility, the one at the office is much better. Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I would ride the 3 miles from the marina to the office, use the company gym, and then clean up for the day. That all changed when I started working from home because of COVID-19.

It is impossible for me to look forward to exercise unless it is fun or required transportation. I claim that I have to trick myself into exercise or I won't do it. Skiing is fun and so it is easy to wake up early every morning and spend an hour or so on the ski hill. Sometimes I am up long before lifts even start running so I can hike to the top of the mountain, ski down, and still make an early-morning meeting. Other times I will ski for an hour on the lifts and then rush home to start my day. It helps that Snowbird is only 15 minutes away and that I work California hours so I don't have to be in the office until about 10:30am local time.

In the summer, I try to get up and ride a bike. I have a loop that is slightly over 16 miles. It takes me a bit less than an hour and includes a significant amount of climbing. With Snowbird shut down for the summer, I have started riding my bike. I miss the skiing but biking seems to be better for me. I also make sure to get my 10,000 steps in daily. All of this amounts to a significant amount of exercise.

There are a lot of others that frequently used company gyms and working from home has led to the meaning that COVID-19 actually refers to the 19 pounds gained during the pandemic. It also refers to 19 pounds lost for a lucky few people. While I have not lost that much weight, I am down about 10 pounds from my weight before working from home.

Daily exercise is a great way to start your day. It gets the blood flowing and helps clear your mind so you are prepared for the day. Others may find that evening exercise suits them better. The important takeaway is that you shouldn't neglect your physical health while working from home.