Executive Health: Just do something

The first step toward staying fit as a busy executive is to get moving.

Most fitness experts agree that people don’t have to start off running marathons or working out for hours at their local gym. What they do need to do is walk. Walk around their neighborhood. Walk around the office. Walk up and down stairs.

“Wherever you are, everyone can do a little bit of cardiovascular exercise in the morning, before the day gets going. It will help to speed the metabolism,” said Bonni Raderman, a personal development, wellness and fitness coach in Boulder.

She recommended that everyone, including executives, set a morning routine where they get up early and do some type of exercise for 20 to 30 minutes. When you get up and get moving, besides increasing metabolism, it provides energy and mental clarity.

If executives need to be motivated to exercise, she recommends they go to the gym, put in an exercise DVD or pop open their phone or tablet, and call up workout videos on YouTube. Many of them are short, only seven to 35 minutes long. This way, the execs aren’t exercising alone and have some accountability.

Matt Hoskins, performance fitness coach at Cheetahfit Training and Massage Center in Boulder, agreed that doing some activity every day is important. He stressed that it doesn’t have to be in a gym. Even the busiest people can make a little time every day to stay fit.

“People prioritize everything else over that, over their fitness plan,” he said. “If you don’t have dreams, they don’t come true. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

Busy executives should focus on mobility-based activities instead of weight training because those types of exercises can be done several times a day, throughout the day. Hoskins said one easy way to get in this type of movement throughout the day is to replace your desk chair with a Yamana ball.

“You can move 360 degrees, sideways, get into the fascia and muscle structure that way,” he said.

Exercises should be more dynamic. Instead of going to the gym and working out on the same  exercise machines over and over, Hoskins encouraged individuals to mix it up. Only stick with that type of routine for a couple of weeks because the body adapts quickly and then the workout doesn’t achieve the same great results.

Hoskins is a big proponent of spiral or rotational movements over bilateral exercises because they involve moving, twisting and reaching — things that get a person off of a machine and up and moving, such as exercise bands and cables.

Bilateral exercises such as dead lifts or bench presses lock people into one type of movement that doesn’t mimic everyday motions. That’s why so many people blow their rotator cuffs or tear their ACLs. They aren’t used to doing twisting or reaching movements, so they aren’t building up their strength in those areas, he said.

People who start their day with movement are more likely to make better food choices throughout the day, Raderman said.

She is not a big fan of diets and would rather people just eat healthfully as often as possible.

“It is something you have to love for a lifetime,” she said. “If you are an executive who is traveling, it is not realistic to say you have to be on a special diet. Call it simple healthy eating. What that looks like is foods that are higher in clean proteins or fibers and good fat.”

Simply avoiding things such as pasta, bread and alcohol can go a long way toward increasing one’s overall health.

“If your body gets enough good protein and fat, even chocolate, it won’t crave bread and pasta. If you avoid bread and pasta, you can take off 10 pounds in a 30-day period. If you add exercise and eat every two hours, you will take off 20 pounds from that nutritional shift,” Raderman said.

Individuals who travel a lot for work can continue their exercise regime on the road. They can get up early, do some walking or visit the hotel gym and walk on the treadmill. It is important that people do their exercise routine before they eat because it burns off calories from the body versus calories in the belly, Raderman said.

She recommended that people maintain good health and a balanced weight by eating smaller meals six to seven times per day. Every two hours, they should have something to eat: a piece of fruit or a protein bar.

“When you eat smaller portions, every two hours throughout the day, two things are occurring,” she said. “Through grazing you are never hungry because you are always munching on something and you are training your metabolism to stay fast.”

Metabolism is the body’s engine. When given the right food, the machine spins. When you stop eating, the machine or metabolism begins to slow down.

“By grazing throughout the day, seven or eight meals or snacks, you are constantly firing up the engine; gasoline in the engine will stay running through the day and will keep off the weight,” she added.

Skipping meals will make the body panic and hold onto the food it does have. By eating small meals throughout the day, the body burns those calories for fuel rather than holding onto them.

Raderman and Hoskins believe deep breathing is an important element of any exercise regime.

If executives do nothing else, Raderman said, they should set aside five minutes in the morning and evening to do deep-breathing exercises.

“Take five minutes to scan the body. Check in with yourself,” she said. Executives can sit with their eyes closed while taking deep diaphragmatic breaths.

“If people can sit there for five minutes in the morning and five minutes in the evening and become very present, that forces presence,” Raderman said. “That presence will lower blood pressure immediately. It will clear the mind, and when the mind is clear and everyone is present, they will make better choices and create better outcomes.”

It also helps reduce stress, said Hoskins.

“If you destress and tune into your body, you subconsciously realize you need to seek more balance, strength,” he said. “Because otherwise we are just telling ourselves, ‘I need to work out. I need to do it.’ That doesn’t get anybody anywhere. There is not enough guilt in the world to get people motivated on a regular basis.”

Shorter workout routines actually can have a more positive effect on the body and mind than circuit or interval training. Hoskins doesn’t believe anyone should spend more than an hour at the gym. Muscles need time to rest and repair themselves. Also, if people push themselves too hard, they are less likely to go back and do it all over again.

Executives who want to succeed with their fitness goals need to stop early so they can maintain proper form and technique.

“Get your intensity up and your time down,” Hoskins said. “Just stimulate the system and get out.”

If people are new to exercising, he said, they should set up an appointment with a trainer who can show them how to use the machines and can teach them different exercises that will help them achieve their fitness goals.

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