As entrepreneurs and business owners, our health and fitness tend to come last. To be specific, I am not referring to the entrepreneurs and business owners who quote on quote, “made it”. I am not referring to the people with the personal assistants, money for personal trainers, free open schedule etc.… Those of you who are in the process of building and owning a company while working a full-time job. Wife, husband and children at home while you’re struggling bootstrapping your business. I am talking about the business owners who must be customer service, technical support, CEO, janitor and all of the above. Yes you.
As a result of this crazy, impossible lifestyle we’re into, we easily put health and fitness on the back burner. We all know that we must do something. How sad would it be to experience all the pain and sacrifice for all those long years, just to end up in the hospital or even worse; dead. I will be providing very helpful tips and tricks to stay healthy while growing your business. I plan on being short and sweet, all while providing outstanding life changing information. This will be the first of many series.
Business & Health Tip 1 – Get Creative.
The Office
If you work in an office setting, lucky you! All you need is one small space behind your desk and you’re literally good to go. Below are some very good exercises to conduct while you’re working in a small space. Business & Health Tip 1 – Get Creative.
- Push ups
- Sit ups
- Leg lifts
- Mountain climbers
- Planking
- Weightless squats (important: don’t just work your upper body)
- Lunges (In place)
There are of course more exercises you can conduct in a small space. Some may require some small weights, bands and elastic ropes. Consequently, I purposely made a list of very effective exercises that require no equipment. With all of this said, I understand that we do not want to get too sweaty and nasty while we’re working. This is why you do not have to conduct full sets of these exercises. It’s very important to execute these exercises throughout the day.
- First hour: Pump out 15 to 25 pushups. For the advanced, pump out 40-50.
- Second hour: Execute the same for your sit ups.
- Third hour: Lay and on the floor and pump out 25 leg lifts.
- Fourth hour: The mountain climbers are a bit more difficult but will get the heart rate going crazy. Execute 5-10 at a 1,2,3 count.
- Firth hour: Plank for at least 5 mins if possible.
- Sixth hour: Take a few minutes and knock out at least 50 squats. It’s very important to work your legs.
- Seventh hour: Knock out 25-50 lunges. You can easily execute lunges while standing in place.
If you complete this five days a week, after a few months, you will literally see a big difference. Get it done. Don’t accomplish your goals just to end up in the hospital or bed ridden.
The Downtime
Most of you are not going to like what I am about to say. We all have some down time. I don’t care if you’re the next Steve Jobs or Elon Musk. Oh, you have some downtime. Therefore, take 45 minutes to an hour out of your downtime, get up off of your asses and work out.
This downtime can be 2 days per week. If you commit 45 mins of good exercise two days per week, after a few months it will turn into 3-4 days per week. With that said, be sure that you’re executing high volume, consistent activity.
Why is this important?
As business owners and entrepreneurs, we are literally the most stressed-out people on earth. Up until we hit our goals. Produce a large amount of income. Hire employees to limit the work load etc., we are the most stressed-out humans on earth. We must be very conscious of our heart and respiratory system. Therefore, it is important that we participate in executing high volume, consistent activity. If you of course can make the time, lift weights, but that is for a different article.
What is so great about downtime?
Downtime does not need a schedule. This is our problem as busy business owners. Our full-time job is on a schedule. Our business is on a schedule. Health and fitness? Forget about it lol. Do not worry about what time you’re going to exercise. Don’t worry about what day. When you’re sitting on the couch about to watch a movie for two hours, turn the tv off, get your ass up and work out for 45. You can come back home and watch that movie afterwards.
Again, when Steve Jobs and Elon were first going through the motions of building their companies, they had downtime. Take strategic advantage of this down time.
Lastly
When you get up out of the bed & Before you get into bed
When I was just a teen, my father said, “boy, do your pushups and sit ups when you wake up in the morning and before you go to sleep”. If my father was alive today, I would love to tell him how correct he was. Again, I don’t care how busy you are. Don’t want to hear of your spouse, children and busy household atop of owning a business. Do not tell me that you cannot pump out a few sets of push-ups, sit ups and squats before bed. Yes, I’m throwing the squats in being that a vast majority of people (especially men) only work their upper body.
Again, Push-ups, sit ups and squats when you wake up in the morning and before bed.
I cannot express this enough
What is the use of sacrificing all of these years trying to be successful in your business, just to be in the hospital?
We’re building business to be more financially free. To have more time with our families. We’re building to take great vacations and have more time to do what we actually want to do. Most importantly, we’re building business to put ourselves in a position to really help others and to change lives.
Darren McDuffie is a husband, father, two time combat veteran and currently a lieutenant in the Buffalo Police Department. Darren is also the Founder/President of McDuffie Marketing, LLC.
