Why Employers Should Consider Mindfulness Training as an Employee Benefit
Original post benefitsnews.com
Some previous blogs have noted the research supporting the benefits of mindfulness for both individual performance and workplace relationships. Research also finds that mindfulness improves employee well-being and resilience.
Resilience gained attention in the 1970s as psychologists and trauma researchers began to articulate the amazing ability of many people to bounce back following a devastating event, crisis or injury. Over time, researchers have identified the characteristics of resilient people, and have identified how to train people to develop skills to increase their resilience. Hence, resilience has evolved to reflect a coping style that allows someone to endure during difficult times and emerge more competent and skillful in dealing with challenges.
A growing body of evidence suggests that mindfulness is particularly important for developing resilience at work, through its effects on employee physical and psychological health, absenteeism, turnover, and in-role performance. Here are some of the findings:
- In workplace samples, mindfulness has been linked to reduced levels of reported burnout, perceived stress, work-family conflict, and negative moods, along with better sleep quality.
- In studies where employees were randomly assigned to a self-directed mindfulness intervention or a control group, those in the mindfulness intervention reported greater job satisfaction and less emotional exhaustion. Similar effects have been found in a range of occupations, including doctors, soldiers and teachers.
- Mindfulness has been linked to increased psychological capital and resilience in managers and entrepreneurs.
- Mindfulness training predicted employee engagement among employees at the Mayo Clinic. Additional studies have further shown that such engagement may be mediated by greater authenticity, positive emotions, hope and optimism.
Developing a formal mindfulness practice is thought to increase resilience in three ways:
1. Flexible cognition. Practicing mindfulness may actually rewire our brain circuitry, improving our ability to think flexibly, more easily perceiving different perspectives and generating novel solutions to problems. This same skill may allow one to observe potentially toxic workplace events while adopting a “decentered perspective,” making perceived stressors appear less threatening.
Imagine an employee witnesses verbal aggression directed at a fellow co-worker, which causes the employee to feel physiological reactivity and psychological stress. Experiencing the event with mindful attention could decouple this automatic link between the toxic experience and emotional reactivity, leaving them feeling less depleted. This reinterpretation of events actually starts to form new habits of thinking, which may involve perception of stressors as challenges that elicit growth, rather than as hindrances. In addition, application of mindfulness skills may elicit compassion for the fellow co-worker.
2. Growth in the face of adversity. Research shows that exposure to a threat without being overcome by that threat can result in higher levels of well-being than not experiencing the threat at all. In other words, experiencing but quickly recovering from workplace stress may indeed make an employee stronger.
So where does mindfulness fit in? Mindful individuals show an ability to perceive stressful and adverse situations from different angles, and demonstrate a willingness to behave more flexibly in response to them. As workers successfully experiment with new coping behaviors, they experience increased confidence and stronger self-efficacy, improving their ability to deal with many types of challenging situations and developing greater resilience.
3. Positive thinking. Positive emotions play a crucial role in one’s ability to recover physically from adverse events, as well to facilitate better emotion and behavior self-regulation. Mindfulness not only enhances regulation of negative emotions, but also cultivates positive emotions. It’s not that resilient people don’t experience negative emotions like anyone else; they do. Resilient people, however, do not dwell on them. Rather, they have learned how to use their attention and other internal resources to notice and amplify pleasant experiences and meaningful events as well.
To summarize, mindfulness may improve employee resilience by training the mind to reinterpret stressors as less personally threatening, empowering workers to take new perspectives and try new behaviors, which may actually result in growth in the face of challenges, and cultivating positive thinking, which is especially important during hardships. A new wave of resilience research is supporting the idea that mindfulness practice may lead to improved workplace outcomes like job satisfaction, retention, and employee health.
2017 HSA Limits Released
Original post benefitspro.com
Change is not the order of the day for health savings account (HSA) limits in 2017.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued its new guidelines for contributions and out-of-pocket expenses for HSAs that are tied to a high-deductible plan this week.
Maximum OOPs for individual and family accounts won’t budge next year, and contributions will remain intact for family plans. Individual contributions increased slightly.
Here’s the run-down of the details:
- Out-of-pocket maximums are unchanged at $6,550 for individuals and $13,100 for families;
- Maximum contributions for family plans remain the same at $6,750;
- Individual contributions can increase from $3,350 to $3,400.
High deductible plans in 2017 will be those that have an annual deductible of least $1,300 for self-only coverage and $2,600 for family coverage.
HSAs are open to all men and women enrolled in a high-deductible health insurance program (exceeding $1,300 for individuals and $2,600 for family) aside from those policyholders currently covered by Medicare or listed as a dependent.
For both 2015 and 2016, IRS regulations mandating the potential contributions on plans covering families (a minimum of two people) held successive increases of $100. Individual restrictions, meanwhile, were bumped up by $50 in 2015, but remained stable the following year.
The annual fluctuations of HSA contribution levels are based directly upon federal cost of living adjustments. They will be applied for the calendar year of 2017.
A full account of the new guidelines may be read under Revenue Procedure 2016-28.
Compliance Alert: New Affordable Care Act FAQs Released
Original post jdsupra.com
The U.S. Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of the Treasury (collectively, the “Departments”) have jointly issued a new set of answers to frequently asked questions about the Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”). Below are some highlights from the FAQs.
Rescissions of Coverage
The FAQs provides some specific guidance regarding rescissions of coverage that is of interest for K-12 schools and higher education institutions. Under the ACA, a plan generally cannot retroactively cancel coverage (referred to as a “rescission” of coverage) unless the participant commits fraud or makes an intentional misrepresentation of material fact prohibited by the terms of the plan. The FAQs answer a very specific question about rescissions, which may have broader application. The question raised by the FAQs is whether a school can retroactively cancel coverage for a teacher who was employed on a 10-month contract from August 1 to May 31 and gave notice of resignation on July 31. The plan attempted to terminate coverage retroactively to May 31. According to the FAQs, such a rescission violates the ACA’s restrictions.
Preventive Care Mandate
Under the ACA, non-grandfathered group health plans must cover certain preventive services without imposing any cost-sharing requirements. In the new FAQs, the Departments issued the following guidance regarding preventive services:
- Any required preparation for a preventive screening colonoscopy is an integral part of the procedure and must be covered without cost-sharing.
- Plans and issuers that use reasonable medical management techniques for specific methods of contraception can develop a standard exception form and instructions for providers to use in prescribing a particular service or FDA-approved item based on medical necessity. The Medicare Part D Coverage Determination Request Form can be used as a model in developing a standard exception form.
Additionally, the FAQs clarify that if a non-grandfathered plan pays a fixed amount (a “reference price”) for a particular procedure, the plan must either (1) ensure that participants have adequate access to quality providers that accept the reference price as payment in full or (2) count an individual’s out-of-pocket expenses for providers who do not accept the reference price toward the individual’s maximum out-of-pocket limit.
Out-of-Network Emergency Services Coverage
The ACA also prohibitsnon-grandfathered group health plans from imposing cost-sharing on out-of-network emergency services in an amount that is greater than that imposed for in-network emergency services. The statute does not specify whether “balance billing” is included in the definition of cost-sharing. “Balance billing” is the practice of providers billing a patient for the difference between the provider’s billed charges and the amount collected from the plan plus the amount collected from the patient in the form of a copay or coinsurance. To avoid circumvention of the ACA requirements, the Departments previously issued regulations requiring a plan or issuer to pay a reasonable amount before the patient becomes responsible for balance billing. Under this regulation, the plan or issuer must provide benefits at least equal to the greatest of: (1) the median amount negotiated with in-network providers for the emergency service; (2) the amount for the emergency service calculated using the same method the plan generally uses to determine payments for out-of-network services; or (3) the amount that would be paid under Medicare for the emergency service (collectively, the “Minimum Payment Standards”). The FAQs now make clear that plans that are subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act must disclose the documentation and data they use to calculate the Minimum Payment Standards (1) upon request by a participant (or authorized representative) or (2) if relevant to an appeal of an adverse benefit determination.
Mental Health Parity
Lastly, the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (“MHPAEA”) and underlying regulations generally prohibit group health plans from imposing more restrictions on financial requirements and treatment limitations provided for mental health/substance abuse disorder services than the “predominant” financial requirements and treatment limitations that apply to “substantially all” medical/surgical services. “Substantially all” for this purpose is a requirement or limitations that apply to at least 2/3 of all medical/surgical benefits in a classification. If a limitation meets the substantially all requirement, then the “predominant” level that may apply to the mental health/substance abuse disorder benefits is the one that applies to more than half of the medical/surgical benefits within the classification. In the FAQs, the Departments clarify that when calculating the “substantially all” and “predominant” tests, a plan or issuer may not base its analysis on an issuer’s entire book of business for the year. Group health plan-specific data must be used where available. If not available, data from plans with similar structures and demographics can be used.
The FAQs also clarify that under MHPAEA, criteria for medical necessity determinations must be made available to any current or potential enrollee in a group health plan, not just active participants.
This is the 31st set of FAQs issued by the Departments on the ACA, which reflects the complexity of implementing the ACA’s many requirements.
There’s the Wage Gap, and Then There’s the Sleep Gap
Original post lifehealthpro.com
More than half of men say worrying about money costs them sleep. Nearly 70 percent of women say the same.
That gap increased eight percentage points over the past year, according to a new survey by CreditCards.com. It makes sense, since women really do have more to worry about when it comes to money. Lower earnings means less in savings and Social Security benefits to fund longer lifespans.
"In general, people tend to lose sleep over things that feel out of their control," said Matt Schulz, senior industry analyst for CreditCards.com, part of the Bankrate Online Network. To him, the findings suggest you should "do whatever you can to take more control of your financial situation, whether it's just learning more, being more involved in your family's financial decisions, or starting a side gig."
The survey asked whether saving for retirement, paying for education, paying health-care or insurance bills, making the monthly rent or mortgage, and paying credit card debt were keeping people up at night. The poll, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, took a nationally representative sample of 1,000 adults.
The biggest fear cutting into a good night’s sleep is not having saved enough for retirement. The gender gap is narrower here than overall — 44 percent of women vs. 35 percent of men. All together, some 56 percent of men are losing sleep over money, compared with the 70 percent finding for women. In 2010, women received $12,000, on average, in Social Security benefits, a third less than a man’s average benefit of $17,856. At age 65 and older, women were 80 percent more likely than men to be impoverished, according to a study by the National Institute on Retirement Security.
Yet you can see worrying about retirement savings as a luxury, in a way, if it means you can meet your monthly bills. That's the most common sleep-stealing worry for people 30 or older with a college degree and an annual household income of $75,000 or more. Heath-care and insurance bills are the second-biggest sleep killer for women. For men, it's educational expenses. Those are a particular worry for millennials; 45 percent of people between ages 18 and 29 rank them as their worst anxiety. Among respondents between 30 and 49, a third said they lose sleep over educational costs. One of them is CreditCards.com's Schulz, who is 44 and has a son headed to college in about a decade. "In five years," he said, "you could see educational expenses being No. 1, or very close to No. 1, when we do this survey again."
How Employers Should Respond to Increased DOL Audits
Original post benefitnews.com
The Department of Labor says it will be stepping up enforcement efforts and employer audits, which should prompt brokers, who formerly worried little about such regulatory efforts, to prepare to serve as a trusted adviser to clients concerned about such efforts, says Julie Hulsey, president and CEO of Amarillo, Texas-based Zynia Business Solutions.
Speaking at an industry conference in Hollywood, Fla. last week, Hulsey said employers are feeling pressured by the weight of increased DOL and health care reform regulations and brokers need to stay up to date on regulations, including those related to the Affordable Care Act and ERISA.
The ACA reporting requirements have brought increased scrutiny of employer-sponsored health care plans and the government is largely expected to respond to anomalies or red flags with an employer audit. But industry experts agree the government won’t limit its inquiries to ACA-related information only, and employers should be prepared for full-blown audits of health care plans.
Quoting from a DOL presentation in Austin, Texas, Hulsey says the Department said, “leniency is over; the EBSA has staffed up and is focusing its resources on health and welfare plan ERISA compliance.”
Additionally, in her small Texas town alone, she says she’s heard that the DOL has added 10-12 auditors, who are conducting random audits of employers, mostly on the smaller employee size.
Increased compliance needs can be a strain for small employers, some of which may not even have a designated Human Resources department or manager.
When a DOL audit is announced, an employer’s first phone call will be their broker or an attorney.
Among the topics that brokers should be aware,
- Variable Employee Testing: Based on employee classifications, an employer can group employees into different groups, such as part-time and seasonal.
- HR 3236-The Transportation and Veteran Health care Choice Improvement Act of 2016: This Act regulates that employees covered by Tricare can be excluded from counting employee numbers.
- Cadillac Tax: Although delayed until 2020, it is important to start planning now.
- Waivers: If employers offer a minimum-essential coverage plan that meets affordable and minimum value test and an employee declines coverage, it is important the employer have a signed waiver. “That waiver is gold,” Hulsey said.
- Individual Mandate: The period will run from Nov. 1, 2016 to Jan. 31, 2016.
- Special Enrollment Period: Presenting a sales opportunity to brokers, these enrollment periods take affect when an employee experiences any change that affects income or household size, such as becoming pregnant. Other special enrollments include marriage/divorce, changing place of residence and having a change in disability.
The DOL has the authority to audit for compliance with several laws, including the ACA, HIPAA and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. They also have the authority to audit for minimum loss ratio rebates and PECORI fees.
Why Do Some Workers Get Away with Bad Behavior?
Original post benefitspro.com
Researchers from Baylor University are seeking to explain why some workers get away with sleazy behavior on the job.
After three studies that included over 1,000 employees, they are convinced they have found an answer: You can get away with breaking the rules or acting less-than-honorably as long as you’re productive. A valuable worker can afford to cross the line occasionally, while those whose performance lags cannot.
It’s an intuitive answer, but one that is no doubt often overlooked by disgruntled employees who wonder why they are being disciplined by their superiors or ostracized by coworkers while others have not.
The study’s lead author, Dr. Matthew J. Quade, a Baylor professor of business, wrote that productive workers who ignore rules or act unethically present a dilemma to employers because of their “contrasting worth.”
“The employees’ unethical behaviors can be harmful, but their high job performance is also quite important to the organization’s success,” he explained in the study, which was published in Personnel Psychology. “In this vein, high job performance may offset unethical behavior enough to where the employee is less likely to be ostracized.”
But that calculus is often flawed, argued Quade. If a worker is regularly engaging in unethical behavior, the employer will likely pay a big price for it down the road. As any observer of the subprime mortgage crisis might say, the short term gains of crooked business are often more than offset by major losses later on.
Unsurprisingly, the study authors concluded that employers should establish that they have no tolerance for unethical behavior from employees, no matter how good they are at their jobs.
Furthermore, they argue, employers should make clear that workers can come to organization leaders with complaints about unethical behavior from colleagues. This point is aimed not only at stopping poor behavior, but to prevent divisions among coworkers.
Another recent study found that employees are more likely to be stressed and unhappy at work when they perceive a lack of “organizational justice,” meaning that rules are not applied consistently or fairly.
The Cadillac Tax: Myths & Facts
Original post benefitspro.com
Americans love a good story. From fairy tales to hair-raising films that leave us cowering in our seats, we enjoy when our hearts pound in anticipation. Sometimes, though, we keep ourselves up at night by creating myths about things that shouldn't be worrisome at all. One example: The Affordable Care Act's 40 percent excise tax on high-cost health care plans, commonly referred to as the Cadillac Tax.
Although we are several years away from its implementation, brokers are wondering what these health care changes will mean for their business. The Cadillac Tax is confusing and prompts questions from employers and benefits professionals — especially about when to make changes to benefits plans and whether voluntary insurance is affected.
Let's take some time to distinguish between the myths and facts so when you communicate with your clients about their plans this year — and in years to come — you have the facts to ensure you’re providing clients with accurate information to make effective business decisions regarding benefit offerings.
Myth: Employers should make benefit changes now to avoid the Cadillac tax.
Fact: The Cadillac tax has been delayed until 2020.
- As part of the Congressional spending bill signed into law in late December 2015, the Cadillac Tax is delayed until 2020.
- Considering implementation of the tax is several years away and regulations will evolve, employers can wait before considering changes to their policies.
Myth: All voluntary benefits are included in the tax.
Fact: Generally, voluntary insurance products do not count toward the Cadillac Tax calculation.
- Only two types of voluntary coverage — specified disease and hospital indemnity — are subject to the calculation of the tax, but only if they’re paid for with pretax dollars, such as through a cafeteria plan, or with excludable employer contributions. Otherwise, they are not subject to the calculation of the tax.
- Voluntary insurance products are defined as HIPAA-excepted benefits.
Myth: Employers should switch their pretax voluntary insurance products to after-tax versions.
Fact: Only employers with benefits plans considered “high cost” need to consider after-tax strategies.
- Employers and their workers receive tax advantages for retaining pretax voluntary products.
- Only two types of voluntary coverage — specified disease and hospital indemnity — are included in tax calculations, and only then if they’re paid with pretax dollars or the employer pays any portion of the premium. Other voluntary insurance benefits won't trigger the Cadillac Tax, regardless of whether they’re offered before or after tax.
Myth: Employers or workers will be responsible for paying the Cadillac Tax when it goes into effect.
Fact: In most cases, the insurance provider will be responsible for paying the tax.
- Most small businesses are fully insured, meaning the insurance provider sets the premium and pays the claims. When that's the case, the insurer, not the employer, is responsible for paying the Cadillac Tax when it goes into effect in 2020.
- If an employer is self-insured, meaning the employer sets the premiums and pays the claims, or the coverage offered is a health savings account (HSA) or an Archer medical savings account (MSA), the employer or the plan administrator will be responsible for paying the tax.
The bottom line is that myths and rumors have made the Cadillac Tax seem more confusing than it already is. It isn't even expected to take effect for another four years, so it shouldn't prompt your clients to exclude voluntary insurance from their benefits options. After all, the security voluntary coverage provides can help ensure your clients and their employees sleep well instead of worrying about medical costs that are continuing to rise.
The Dish with Lauri Hauer
April’s Dish is serving up Saxon’s own, Lauri Hauer’s favorites!
Dine In
Lauri’s favorite dish to serve when staying in is her Easy Summer Salsa, and this is not your traditional tomato salsa. It is black bean and corn based, and best enjoyed with friends and neighbors around the fire pit. The best thing about this salsa is, as the name alludes, it’s easy to make and perfect for entertaining. Also, it just gets better the longer it sits, so making it ahead saves you more time and makes it more delicious!
EASY SUMMER SALSA
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can yellow/white corn, drained
1 medium sized red onion, chopped
Mix these ingredients together in a bowl
½ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup sugar
Mix these together and let sugar somewhat dissolve, pour over above ingredients
Chop a few cilantro leaves and mix through
Dine Out
For a night out Lauri recommends checking out the WOOD FIRED GRILL PIZZAS at The Works!!! This is a family fun spot OR a great date night by the bike trail in Downtown Historic Loveland. The Works is located in the old firehouse in Loveland. This place has an atmosphere you can’t find anywhere else around Cincinnati. Their wood fired pizzas are the BEST, Hauer says! Check out their pastas, salads, seafood, burgers, craft beers and so much more.
The WORKS is located @ 20 Grear Millitzer Lane, Loveland, OH 45140
In Case of: Effective Responses to Workplace Emergencies
Within sixty seconds of its launch on November 14, 1969, the Apollo 12 spacecraft was struck twice by lightning, which caused critical navigation systems and fuel cells to shut down.
A N.A.S.A. engineer who remembered his training for a similar scenario immediately recommended a fix, which saved the entire mission and quite possibly the lives of the Apollo 12 astronauts.
Four months later, those same engineers faced and successfully responded to challenges that they never anticipated with the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission.
Emergencies can and do happen in every workplace, but it does not take a rocket scientist to plan for them or to fashion an intelligent response when they do happen.
Emergencies and Violence: The Stats
Workplace emergencies are not limited to high-tech or high-risk operations light rocket launches. Statistics compiled by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reveal more than 23,000 employee were injured in 2013 solely from workplace assaults.
The latest data available from the BLS show that the annual rate of workplace violence has held steady for more than twenty years, and violence continues to be the second leading cause of employee fatalities after transportation accidents.
This does not even account for injuries or fatalities that result from other workplace emergencies, including fires, natural disasters, chemical spills and contamination, or civil disturbances or terrorism. In 2010, more than three million workers suffered injuries following workplace emergencies. How a business responds to emergencies is typically a function of the nature of the emergency itself.
What Is Categorized as an Emergency?
OSHA defines a workplace emergency as an “unforeseen situation that threatens your employees, customers, or the public; disrupts or shuts down your operations; or causes physical or environmental damage”.
Most individuals might limit their concept of a workplace emergency to newsworthy, large-scale evacuations caused by natural or man-made causes, but lesser-scale emergencies are far more common. One employee might suffer an injury or a sudden medical event.
A small fire might be easily contained by sprinkler systems, but that fire will be no less disruptive of business operations than a larger conflagration. A single disgruntled individual can start an emergency situation that shuts a business down for days. If that individual is armed, the emergency becomes a national tragedy.
OSHA has issued Emergency Action Plan standards for workplace emergencies that are codified in the Federal Regulations. Those standards define, for example, when and where businesses need to have fire extinguishers, building evacuation plans, and medical emergency response protocols.
The New Focus: Armed Shooter Scenarios
Because of high-profile publicity and responses, businesses are also becoming more attuned to armed shooter scenarios. Although not without objection or controversy, some workplaces are training employees in a run/hide/fight protocol that was popularized by a video produced by the City of Houston.
The gist of that protocol is to train employees first to run from an armed assailant. If running is not possible, the employees should hide, and if hiding is impossible, only then should employees attempt to fight the assailant.
Technology can be a boon during a workplace emergency if it is used as a tool and not a solution. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) places a high priority in communication technology in emergencies. Excessive reliance on technology can be a downfall, however, if an emergency removes the option to use technology. Businesses should consider deeper contingency plans in the event that the emergency takes down their communication networks.
A Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) is a notification that is sent to mobile devices in cases of tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis and other serious emergencies. These emergency alerts are complimentary public safety service provided by participating wireless service providers. But, if employees have trouble with cellphone reception inside their workplace, they may or may not receive these alerts.
If workplaces were able to plan for all possible workplace emergencies, then to the extent that they were anticipated those events would not be emergencies. The responses by the NASA engineers in the Apollo program are more instructive in developing an effective workplace emergency response plan.
The Apollo 12 lightning strike shows the efficacy of contingency planning for potential emergencies and trusting an employee to implement his or her training when the emergency happens.
The engineer who recommended the solution after the lightning strike was in his early twenties, but his co-workers and the ship’s crew had developed enough of a cohesive relationship and a sense of trust among themselves that they did not hesitate to implement his solution.
During the Apollo 13 mission, the entire workforce again worked cohesively toward a common purpose to develop an effective response that, almost fifty years later, remains one of NASA’s finest efforts.
A workplace will not always have the luxury of implementing thorough contingency training to prepare for an emergency. A business’s ability to survive a workplace emergency is on a par with the conduct of its regular business operations. As with other aspects of those operations, the most effective emergency response requires mutual employee trust and cohesiveness.
Wellness: Get a Lunchtime Workout, Even if You Can't Leave the Office
Original post washingtonpost.com
It can be one of the most exhilarating things you do during the workday, but nailing the lunchtime workout can be tricky. Should you eat before or after? How much should you pack? Shower? No shower? And most important, how much exercise can you pack in during a lunch hour?
The good news is that there are all sorts of tricks for getting the most out of your midday workout and several products that make it easier to navigate.
The key is to have a plan. The night before, pack a light bag of just the essentials: a change of underwear, travel-size deodorant and wet wipes — if you won’t have time for a shower.
Need to shower no matter what? Consider throwing in a bottle of dry shampoo to cut down the amount of time you spend away from your desk, said Tami DeVitis, an instructor at Vida Fitness in the District. She also recommends (if your hair is long enough) wearing a ponytail that requires no maintenance post-workout.
Another way to stay prepared is to keep a pair of sneakers and toiletries in your desk at work. That way, you can just grab what you need and go. Personal trainer Lee Jordan has noticed clients bringing no more than what can fit into a rolled-up T-shirt. In other words, pack light.
You also should consider arriving at the office a little early just in case it takes you longer than expected to get ready, said DeVitis, who teaches several lunchtime classes.
Scarfing down a hoagie right before a run might not be the best idea, but you should eat something, said Nancy Clark, author of “Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook.”
“The goal is to enter into your workout with a normal blood sugar level,” Clark said. “If you’re exercising at a pace you can maintain for a half-hour, your body can digest the food and use it during the workout. You could eat five minutes beforehand; it all depends on your tolerance level.”
If you’re planning a high-intensity workout of burpees or jump squats, she recommends eating a hearty breakfast. For less strenuous exercise, Clark said, it’s perfectly fine to eat a banana or half of your lunch before getting started.
What you eat post-workout is also very important. To recover from a tough routine, Clark says, down a smoothie, peanut butter sandwich, chocolate milk or any other mini-meals with a balance of carbohydrates and protein.
“Protein builds and repairs muscles, but it does not refuel muscles. Carbs fuel, so you actually want three times more carbs than protein,” Clark said. “The mistake people make these days is just having a protein shake after the workout, but you’d be better off having a fruit smoothie to get carbs andprotein.”
If you’re lucky enough to work near a park or somewhere with good trails, going for a run outdoors is a great way to break up the workday. Too cold? Hit the treadmill at the gym and add in some intervals — one minute of sprints followed by a 30-second jog for several rounds could help you get the most out of your run.
Circuit training is another option for burning calories that could also build muscle if you throw some weights into the mix. Jordan recommends four to five sets of compound exercises, the kind that work two or more parts of the body. You could, for instance, grab a pair of dumbbells for a squat with a bicep curl or lunges with a lateral raise.
“You can either time your reps, say 45 seconds or a minute, or do a set number, say 10 or 15 squats with a curl,” said Jordan, an American Council on Exercise-certified health coach.
If designing your own routine is a lot to ask, there are apps for that. Nike Training Club, Sworkit, Spitfire Athlete and a host of other apps have cardio and strength-training routines that you can do in 30 minutes.
Even Fitbit, the wearable fitness monitor, is getting in on the act. This month, the company released Fitbit Blaze, a touch-screen tracker that comes with access to the workout app FitStar. The app offers diagrams that show you how to execute the moves in each routine.
Game for a class? Just about every gym has a variety of 45-minute classes, allowing you enough time to get in, get to it and get going.
“Consider classes where you don’t get as sweaty, a barre class. You’re going to sweat, but you can clean yourself off and go,” DeVitis said.
Leaving the office in the middle of the day is a no-go for some folks. In that case, Jordan recommends heading to a stairwell, one without traffic, for a quick workout. All you need is a pair of sneakers, if that much, to do a few sets of calf raises on the stairs. Or you could do high-knee runs or squats or sprint up two flights for eight-to-10 minute intervals.