Last week, I was in a CQF Alumni meeting and one of the younger founders asked a question. “I would like to know, what other founders, you know the ones who have had a few exits and started several businesses are doing to keep going strong? You know, physical and mental health stuff.”
In this post, I am going to share with you what worked for me as an average size guy with average athleticism. I am 6 feet tall and have maintained a weight between 170-187 lbs for the past 25 years. I currently sit at a fairly lean 178, have no idea of my BMI etc. My goal has always been to simply stay healthy.
My first entrepreneurial experience was just out of college in 1999. At the time, I was working for a bank 8-5 and started a real estate investment company in the evening. I would work the phones from 7-9 PM calling homeowners who wanted to sell their home.
Shortly thereafter, the children started to come.
I was in my early to mid 20’s, my wife and I walked the wheels off of two strollers. We literally returned the strollers with one less wheel while still under the warranty. Our walks typically started right after dinner and consisted of two one mile laps. For the first 5 years out of college, walking and push ups were my go to exercises. (100 pushups a day and taking as many sets as necessary.)
Shortly after, we moved closer to the city and joined the YMCA. I had swam some as a kid through high school and the pool called me again. Through this experience, I found out that while swimming laps I would think and solve problems that my business was facing. So I came up with two swimming workouts.
For the first workout, I used the swim clock. I would start with an easy 500 meter warm up and then swim 10 to 15 100 meter semi sprints at 2 minute intervals. That means finish the 100 in a little over a minute and then rest for 45 seconds or so. You may try this and need to increase or decrease the interval time. Regardless of where you start, interval training will help you get in shape and sharpen your mind.
The second swimming workout was for when I needed to solve a problem. It was very simple, jump in and swim slow and steady for 25-30 minutes. No breaks. Just listen to the weather slip by your ears and focus on the steady rhythm of the stroke. During these swims I solved complex real estate deals, through staffing issues and marketing plans. Come to find out, water seems to have this effect on people.
Beyond being just a low impact full body workout, swimming also increases your VO2 max. This means your body becomes more efficiently operating when deprived of oxygen.
As I moved into my 30’s, life became more and more hectic. I would take walks when I could, and go swimming when time was available. At the time, I was working for a large commercial bank in Wealth Management. My job was to work with high net-worth individuals. I had a corporate card with instructions to entertain my prospects and clients. Between breakfasts and dinner parties with clients, my weight went to its highest ever at 187 lbs.
Then the YMCA opened childcare. For no charge, you could drop your children off when you went and worke out for an hour or two!
Boom! Free childcare AND a workout! So nice. The YMCA became a refuge almost daily between 5:15 and 6:30 PM. The most difficult part was the meal prep for the children. Kids do not tend to like dinner at 8:00 PM. It does not help much with an early bedtime either.
At the YMCA, I found two fun workouts. Rowing and BodyPump.
Rowing, like swimming, offers a full body workout combined with cardio. I can assure you that if you can go hard for 25 minutes on this machine, you are in shape. Building up is as simple as 60 seconds as hard as you can go with a 90 second rest. Repeat as many times as you want. For me, the goal was to be able to go 80% effort for 25 to 30 minutes.
BodyPump is a one hour group class that is a full body workout. Just think of one high energy song and one muscle group to workout. Different song, different muscle group. Repeat 15 times. I do not care what kind of shape you are in, this class will give you a good workout.
Moving into my 40’s the YMCA became less of a destination as I built a home gym. I miss the swimming and people I would meet at the YMCA. I do not miss the drive there and back. I enjoy saving the 30-45 minutes! I now use that time to take an early morning walk in addition to my weight training at the close of the business day.
At age 47, I have become an “empty nester.” So now I have a little more time AND still maintain a simple exercise plan. A morning walk or jog 3 to 5 times a week for 45 minutes and an evening close of business workout and stretch.
My home gym is simple and serves a single purpose. Health. (I have included some general costs of equipment for reference. Lightly used equipment can be found on Facebook Marketplace at a steep discount.
At the home gym, I follow a simple pull, push routine. Odd days are push, even days are for pull. Stretching and legs are daily.
Let me explain.
You push the bar up in a bench press
You pull the weight up in a arm curl
You push your weight up in a dip
You pull your weight up in a pullup
You push weight with triceps extensions
You pull weight with a horizontal pull up or lawnmower pull
If you want some more benefits, and exercise visit here.
Finally, just a few years ago, when COVID hit, I was 45 and my workout changed again. I went from being able to use the gym at my office building after work, to the gym being closed. Certainly, most of us faced this challenge together.
Exercising during COVID taught me a few lessons;
First, the dumbbells next to the work desk are transforming. Every work day they sit there and stare at you. A quick set of curls, triceps extensions, and shoulder raises makes for a solid quick break from the computer. If you work from a home office, give this a try for 30 days and let me know what happens.
Second, I really enjoy the stealth core trainer. Play all sorts of games while engaging your core in the plank position. Three to four sessions a day at 2 minutes each, like the dumbbells, was transforming.
Third, I picked up a new sport. Disc golf. I learned that I am not that good at it, and needed practice. The most enjoyable part was being outside and playing a sport with friends.
So what is my practical advice? Three things.
First, find something, find anything, that gets your blood flowing. Talk a walk with your family, go for a run with friends, play a squash game with a friend or someone you meet at the YMCA.
You can find your local YMCA here.
Second, push ups are your friend (no equipment needed and many variations to target different muscle groups) and a home gym is your best friend (simple equipment can target all the muscle groups).
Third, keep it going and do not take breaks. It is easy to not take a week or a month off when all you have to do is get out and go for a walk and do a few pushups. It is not easy to lose 20 lbs. It is much easier to maintain or improve your health.
Here is to your health and winning the race!