Regular movement breaks are commonly touted as a boon to productivity. The idea is simple... you focus and work hard for a predetermined period of time then you get up, move around and give your brain a complete rest from the task at hand. These time-outs allow you to avoid burnout and maintain a higher level of cognitive performance throughout the rest of day. It's kind of like interval training for the mind. Work, rest, work, rest, work, rest.
Personally I'm not too fussed about the productivity benefits. What I see is a great way to effortlessly install more movement into a daily routine. Applied to a typical eight hour working day ten minutes of easy movement per hour would add up to an impressive one hour and twenty minutes of gentle exercise spread throughout the day! Not bad in an age where the chair can unintentionally hold us prisoner for many hours at a time.
Whether it’s walking around the office, stretching by your desk or passing a ball about with colleagues regular movement breaks throughout the day offer a chance to restore the baseline level of physical activity our body both needs and craves.