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Forget Happy Hour & Lunch Hour; Introducing ‘Exercise Hour’

Move over, lunch hour. Step aside, happy hour. There’s a new hour in town. Check that, exercise hour.

At Overit Media, it’s become the norm. Managing director Jen Graybeal told FastCompany, “It kind of started off more as a joke.”

She announced, “Listen, ladies and gentlemen. We’re gonna do some exercising.” And thus, a power walk during lunch time was born which evolved into a full on exercise program. In fact, now it’s part of the company culture. 

Calling their program “OverFit,” every hour Overit’s Albany-based employees are invited to take a quick exercise break every hour on the hour for only two minutes.

Here’s a typical day, as per the piece: at 9 a.m. the team stretched, at 10 a.m., crunches, at 11 a.m., leg lifts and at noon? The power walk. At 1 p.m., lunches, an hour later push-ups, at 3 p.m. jumping jacks, at 4 p.m. tricep dips, and 5 p.m. marks a freestyle dance session.

So, you may be wondering when they actually get their work done. Whether it’s the notion that half of the employees participate regularly in the program and a handful drop in and out, it’s all good. If they’re in the middle of something it seems the exercise can wait.

She told the site, “If that person can participate at that time, great. If not, they can do it on their own time.” For instance, thanks to a long meeting Graybeal missed some of her daily workouts but she managed to compile a few exercises together. A colleague was borrowed to cheer her on and hold the timer.

In addition to the physical results and mental boost, the company is convinced that OverFit jolts productivity. Getting the blood circulating can boost creativity and group exercising can spike camaraderie, too.

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