Black Working Man Lifestyle Magazine BWM Lifestyle Magazine - Premier Issue | Page 11

MAKING TIME FOR FITNESS IS YOUR BUSINESS FITNESS by Robert L. Selders, Jr. Robert Selders, Jr. is a health and fitness expert, author, speaker, and the owner of 3Q Fitness in Garland, TX. He helps busy professionals and business owners get the health and fitness results they want in the time they’ve got. For more information, please feel free to contact him at [email protected] or visit his website at www.3QFitness.com. Running a small business is time-consuming, to say the least. Finding time to eat, sleep and breathe — let alone workout — is a challenge when you’ve got meetings to attend, phone calls to return, clients to please, products to make, services to render, vendors to pay, and a team to run. Given that, most entrepreneurs know how important it is to stay healthy and fit. Operating a small business takes energy, stamina and perseverance. The healthier and fitter you are, the more mental, physical, and emotional effort you’ll be able to put into growing the business. So when it comes to choosing an hour at the gym or an important phone call you need to make, how do you make time for both? Here are a few strategies for fitting exercise into your busy business schedule. Use your workout to plan your day. While you’re running or swimming or playing tennis, start thinking about what you need to get done that day and how you’ll approach it. Make mental notes of people you need to call and projects you need to check on. When you get to the office, you’ll already have a game plan. Find a work-out buddy who’s as busy as you — maybe even a business partner or co-worker. You’ll be able to keep each other accountable for exercising, even on your busiest weeks. Hey, if he or she can find time to hit the gym, so can you, right? Turn your commute into a workout. If you live close enough to your workplace, run or ride a bike there. A 15-mile commute can turn into a fantastic cycling session. We’ve mentioned this in a previous article, but turn your employee powwows into “walking” meetings. Get out of the conference room and walk around the office or better yet, outside for some fresh air. Invest in a treadmill desk. It may sound crazy, but a growing number of desk-workers are using combo desk-treadmills that let them walk while typing away at a computer. Look for a fitness program that gets the best results in the least amount of time. High intensity interval training, circuit training and CrossFit, for instance, are highly effective fitness methodologies that include short, intense workouts which generate great results. Schedule your workouts like you would a meeting. Physically put it on a calendar and treat it like any other important appointment. Don’t cancel it or move it. Get a list of short body-weight workouts you can do in your office. Eight minutes of burpees, sit-ups, pushups, and squats will get your heart racing, your muscles quivering, and your adrenaline pumping. Consider investing in a pull-up bar you can attach in your office doorway. Spend just 10 minutes of your day working out and moving, and you’ll start seeing the results in your waistline, stamina, energy levels, productivity and mood…and more importantly in your business performance. BLACK WORKING MAN 11