Making Time for Fitness

By Robert Selder, Jr

FitnessWe all know the importance of fitness in our lives but running a small business can be 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, 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:
    You can 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:
    Run or ride a bike there if you live close enough to your workplace. A 15-mile commute can turn into a fantastic cycling session.
  • 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 that 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 to your office doorway.

Spend 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.