The Busy Executive’s Magic Elixir

Exercise is one of the greatest systems for increasing your effectiveness as a leader in business and/or family. Exercise is so powerfully beneficial in multiple ways that it can be said to be the mother lode, the fountain of youth—the magic elixir.

Physical activity helps you in body and mind. It is clinically proven to reduce depression. It brings clarity of thought and reduces stress, energizing you to function at peak performance. It can even improve your sex life! What’s not to like?

Apparently, quite a bit, if we judge by the all-time high epidemic of inactivity in our world today. Physical inactivity is now one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The situation is grave.

Yet we all know that getting enough exercise is challenging. Most of us sit for hours at a time each day: at a desk, behind the wheel, or on the couch in front of a screen. Even when we are away from work, we spend many waking hours in sedentary screen-facing as we entertain ourselves with Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Netflix, TV, and messaging.

Fortunately, increased physical activity is available to all of us for the taking. It’s free. It costs nothing. Exercise doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive; you don’t have to join a gym or buy new workout clothes to become more active. This key to a better life is entirely voluntary and readily available to just about everyone.

First, we’ll take a look at the serious toll inactivity is taking on our health. Then we’ll provide some tips on how to build exercise into daily life, how to design a successful exercise plan, and how to incorporate three types of exercise into your busy schedule.

The Toll of Inactivity

Let’s take an unflinching look at the downside of inactivity. The news is increasingly bad.

Research has linked sitting for long periods with many health concerns. These concerns range from obesity to increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol levels. Prolonged sitting also seems to increase the risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Some experts say that inactive people have a 147 percent higher risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke. World Health Organization studies show that physical inactivity contributes to over three million preventable deaths worldwide each year (that’s around six percent of all deaths). Outside of infectious diseases like AIDS, inactivity is the fourth leading cause of death.

The Mayo Clinic did an analysis of thirteen studies of sitting time and activity levels. They found that those who sat for more than eight hours a day with no physical activity had a risk of dying similar to the risks posed by obesity and smoking.

However, there is no need to despair if you are stuck in a desk job! Mayo’s analysis of data from more than 1 million people found that sixty to seventy-five minutes of moderately intense physical activity a day countered the effects of too much sitting.

Exercise is preventive of sedentary lifestyle problems, and it is also curative when a sedentary lifestyle is necessary for significant portions of the day.

What’s more, too many people suffer from hip, joint, neck, and lower back pain. These kinds of maladies can be alleviated by getting up and moving around instead of sitting for long periods.

Human beings are built to stand upright, stretch, and move. Our heart and cardiovascular systems, as well as all the other systems in our bodies, seem more to function more effectively with that kind of stimulation. The human body is designed to move, to be active, to optimize its functioning through exercise.

When we are physically active, our overall energy levels and endurance improve. What is more, our bones and muscles become and stay strong. This is important because both muscles and bones lose density as we age. Exercise sends blood to weakened areas and strengthens cartilage and increases bone density, making physical activity a leading prescription for arthritis and bone mineral loss.

Choose to Move!

Many people find the idea of a regular, rigorous exercise regimen daunting. Yet there are simple ways to pack more physical activity into daily life.

  • Stand rather than sit whenever you can.
  • Rise from sitting at least every thirty minutes.

 Watching TV? Get up in the middle of a movie to do stretches, crunches, or lift weights. Jump up during commercials to do household tasks; don’t flip to another channel. You can walk on a treadmill or pedal a stationary bike while watching TV too.

  • Get a desk you can stand at, or build yours up so it is standing level height.
  • Take a walk with someone as a substitute for a sit-down meeting.
  • Position a work surface, including a computer screen and keyboard, above a treadmill to walk throughout the day.
  • Walk or pace while talking on the phone.
  • Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk on the moving stairs of the escalator.
  • Park farther away and walk more. This has the added benefit of losing the stress of finding a close parking spot.
  • Do squats while brushing your teeth.
  • Rather than sitting down to read, listen to recorded books while walking, cleaning, or working in the garden.
  • Stand up on public transport or get off one stop early and walk to your destination.

An Exercise Regimen: How Much Do We Need?

There’s no single workout routine or type of exercise that works for everyone. The most important thing is to find an activity that you can do consistently, either because you like it or because you like the results it gives you so much that you’re willing to do it regularly. This could be anything from walking to swimming to taking a dance class.

In general, thirty minutes of physical activity, five days per week, will serve a person well. In general, between two and a half to three hours of intentional physical activity a week is good. If you do a lot of sitting, though, you need more.

If thirty solid minutes of exercise doesn’t appeal to you, know that you can be active for ten minutes three times a day, and you will achieve the same goal. A simple breakdown of this would be a ten-minute walk before work, another ten minutes of activity during the lunch hour, and another ten minutes after dinner. That is very do-able for most people.

What is the biggest reason people don’t exercise? “I don’t have time!” Yet there is a way to maximize the effectiveness of exercise so that you save time but still get the benefits.

The guidelines say that seventy-five minutes of vigorous activity per week is equivalent to 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week. A recent study also found that as little as one minute of all-out sprinting, along with nine minutes of light exercise, leads to similar improvements in health and fitness as a fifty-minute workout at a moderate pace when done three times a week for twelve weeks.

The Three Types of Exercise Needed

Ideally, we would all get three types of exercise: Aerobic, Strength Training, and Balance and Flexibility Training.

Aerobic activity is the kind we often think of when we think of exercise—that is, strenuous activity like running or biking, breathing hard and dripping sweat. This kind of exercise is critical to boosting fitness. Yet the two other types of exercise—strength training and balance and flexibility training—are also important.

Dr. Edward Laskowski, the co-director of the Mayo Sports Medicine Center, says that aerobic exercise, while necessary, is “not as effective for overall health” on its own without the other two types of exercises. Doing all three types of exercise maximizes fitness and prevents injury.

Strength training makes muscles stronger, which in turn helps to support and protect joints— and this could help prevent injury during aerobic exercise. Balance exercises use muscle strength in a coordinated way to stabilize movements and can also reduce the risk of injuries like ankle sprains. Flexibility reduces injuries and improves the range of motion around the joints. All three types of exercises support one another’s benefits, so it is important to find ways to incorporate all three into any workout system.

Let’s look at the three types of exercise in more detail.

Cardiovascular Aerobic Exercise

This is repetitive, rhythmic exercise that increases our heart rate and requires us to breathe harder, using more oxygen. It is often called “cardio” for short.

  • Running, swimming, dancing, brisk walking, playing a sport such as tennis, soccer or basketball, doing chores such as raking leaves or mowing the lawn
  • Activates air and blood efficiency in the body
  • Strengthens the heart so it pumps blood more efficiently
  • Lowers our overall resting heart rate
  • Increases levels of “good” cholesterol and lowers levels of “bad” cholesterol
  • Makes daily activities such as mowing the lawn or climbing stairs easier

You never know when you may need the power this kind of exercise gives you! While many of us may not have to run for our lives like Jason Bourne, being fit can come in handy. If your connecting flight is about to take off when you land, you might be able to run the terminal race to your next gate without keeling over!

Strength or Resistance Exercise

This is the process of building and maintaining muscles in the body by using progressively heavier weights (or resistance).

  • Resistance training, weight lifting, toning, or body-building, including push-ups, sit-ups or even intense gardening like digging or snow shoveling
  • Develops, maintains or prevents loss of muscle mass throughout your lifetime
  • Maintains or lowers body fat percentage
  • Strengthens bones and reduces the risk of osteoporosis
  • Increases lean muscle mass, which is crucial to burning more calories for weight control
  • Makes daily activities easier, like lifting a carry-on bag into the overhead bin of an airplane, carrying groceries from the car, and picking up bags of mulch for the                                    garden

Strength exercises should work all of the major muscle groups in the body over time—legs, hips, back, chest, abdomen, shoulders, and arms with a few sets of at least eight to twelve repetitions of an activity (like lifting a weight). To get the most benefit, each set of repetitions needs to work the same muscle to the point where it’s hard to do another repetition. Rest a minute or so between sets and then repeat another set of resistance repetitions working that same muscle. Do this for three or four sets of 8-12 repetitions of the same exercise working the muscle group you are focused on for that day.

When you first begin a strength training regimen, start with a light weight then gradually increase weight or resistance over time as muscles gain strength. Don’t exercise the same muscle group two days in a row because muscles need time to recover. They are rebuilt during the recovery time.

Flexibility and Balance Exercise

Flexibility exercise is exercise that stretches or lengthens our muscles.

  • There are two types: static stretching, where you stretch a muscle without moving, and dynamic stretching, which combines stretching with movements. Many experts advise doing dynamic stretching as part of a warm-up before a workout and static stretching after a workout. For static stretching, we should hold each stretch for ten to thirty seconds.
  • Helps us become more limber, which makes certain activities of daily living easier
  • Helps prevent injuries when you’re performing everyday body movements and especially during exercise
  • Reduces muscle tension, increases circulation, and improves posture

Balance exercises improve our ability to control and stabilize our body’s position. This type of exercise is particularly important for older adults because otherwise, balance tends to get worse with age.

  • Shifting our weight from side to side
  • Standing on one foot
  • Using a balance board or stability ball
  • Doing tai chi, yoga, or Pilates

Ideally, we should include all three of these exercise types in our workouts. Does that mean three separate workouts?

No. You can combine some exercises together, like strength and balance training. You could do bicep curls while standing on one leg. Some workouts, like yoga, include strength, flexibility and balance exercises.

Your workout might include running or walking briskly for thirty minutes for aerobic exercise, then doing strength and balance exercises combined, with static stretches at the finish.

Developing Your Own Exercise Routine

Some people find that the momentum of routine and habit help them to maintain a self-designed exercise program. Others find doing the same thing week after week very boring! Some find it helps to get into an exercise routine by exercising with a friend. Choose a buddy who can encourage you or do it with you at regular appointed times. An alternative is to get a personal trainer to hold you accountable. In both cases, you’re a lot less likely to miss a workout because you have someone waiting for you.

A general rule is to start out low and progress slow. This means starting with a level of activity that’s fairly light and gradually increasing the duration and intensity.

Experts emphasize that if you’re just starting out, low-impact types of exercise are best. Walking, swimming, biking, or using an elliptical machine are good ones to try. Low-impact exercises are best for beginners because they’re easy on the joints and muscles.

If people go from zero to one hundred, they’re not going to stick with the system. It’s better to start with small chunks of exercise and add in gradually to the point that it’s part of your lifestyle.

What system will you start with? Make a plan you think will work for you, and write it down. Revise it as you find what works best for your body and your lifestyle.

Making the Time

The biggest reason (or excuse) people give for not exercising is that they don’t have time. Exercise is important enough to our lives and well-being that we should make time for it. What’s more, even as little as ten minutes of physical activity can be beneficial. This can be as simple as getting up ten minutes earlier to do something vigorous.

Some people are motivated by setting a specific exercise goal, like running a 5K or improving running time or achieving other milestones.

If you want to feel better, have more energy, add years to your life, and increase your effectiveness in leading your family and business, just exercise! Create a plan, get a buddy to support you, and start doing something consistently, every day, to increase your physical activity. It will improve your life and be well worth the time you make for it.

For the busy executive or family leader, exercise can be the fountain of health, youthfulness, and optimal life and work. We’ve found the magic elixir. Let’s stop making excuses and start moving more!

Thank you

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