I thought I’d write a little today about the role that physical health has in my line of work and why it’s important to me. I work out regularly, usually five days a week in the morning for around 20 minutes to 40 minutes depending on the morning and what my workload is.

The reason I do this during the week and always in the morning before I work is because of a number of factors:

1) It wakes me up and literally gets my blood pumping into my brain.

2) I feel happier, less stressed out, less negative about my upcoming day.

3) I’m able to focus really well immediately when I do start working.

4) I’m less hungry later and able to focus on working in the morning and not on lunch, because my body is burning fuel instead of needing input to get going.

I’m naturally not really a morning person. It takes me a while to wake up and I need physical activity and a change in environment in order to do so. I call it my “I’m not good at things” time of the day. It’s the time of day I regularly spill coffee, trip on something, can’t focus, and am generally a zombie. Working out regularly speeds up the waking up process for me greatly.

The other benefits of working out regularly are building strength, muscle tone, physical endurance and keeping your body maintained. It’s the only one you have so taking care of your own little bag of flesh is never a bad idea.

And finally, I’ve noticed that my work and work ethic have improved from the benefit of regular physical exercise. I tend to be more focused, less stressed and happier, so what I draw, animate or design seems to have improved greatly with my routine.

If you can make it a priority and have the time as an artist to start a workout routine. I’d highly recommend doing so and sticking to it. It’s a really good thing to do for many many reasons.