In shape for business.

                                                             
    Now you may be thinking, what the heck is this guy talking about? You need to be in shape to run a business, preposterous. Well I wouldn't go as far as to  say that being in bad shape will make your business fail, just that being in good health will make everything run smoother. Last time I checked, if I didn't eat something all day, I was quite on the grumpy side. On more occasions than one, you might have thought of starting some kind of exercise routine, but lack of time, typical excuses or sheer laziness may have kept you away from actually starting it. It's never too late to begin, and considering the many advantages of exercising, you should find a little time each day to fit in an exercise program.

      To begin with, exercising helps to keep your body more fit, which in turn wards off various health problems. Also a toned and energetic body gives you a sense of wellness and boosts your confidence. Exercising relaxes your body, giving you the ability to think clearly as it relieves most stress. You also sleep a lot better at night when your worn out from a good workout. However, if you are exercising after a long gap of time or have a certain health condition, you may want to consult your doctor before you proceed.


You can start your exercise routine with these 5 steps below.

     • Warming up

   Never start off on heavy exercising immediately. First you must do some light warming up exercises to prepare the body for more intense exercising that is to follow. This helps to increase the blood circulation in your body and generates heat in your joints and muscles. Warming up exercises may include walking, squats ( I know guys are going to say "Are you kidding me?" to this one, but you wouldn't say that if you could squat a thousand pounds like some of the world's strongest men.) , and some light dumbbells to curl with, five pounds will do, remember, your not trying to strength train yet, just getting the blood to flow through your body.


    • Stretching

   This helps to increase the range of movement of your joints, improves your flexibility, boosts circulation, and also relieves stress. Stretching for 10 to 30 seconds each is recommended, and you should breathe freely while doing so. Stretch light after a warm up, but don't stretch hard until after your done with all of your exercises, as it weakens your muscles and you won't be able to exercise as well as you could have.



     • Cardiovascular Activity

   Once warmed up, you can start with an aerobic kind of activity like running, cycling, speed walking or just walking. Outdoors is the best method for this, but a gym is a good alternative. You must begin with a slower walk or peddle and gradually increase your speed, or adjust the incline if your using a treadmill. Cardiovascular exercise should be ideally done for 20 to 30 minutes. Any easy way to know if you are overdoing it is to see if you can talk normally after this exercise, if you feel too tired then slow down.


    • Strength Training

   This helps to tone up or build up your muscles. Different kinds of exercises are done to target separate muscles groups. You can find out what workouts work what muscle by a simple Internet search. You do more reps with low weight for endurance and tone, you do fewer reps with  heavy weight to rip your muscles so they scar over and get bigger. ( Now the girls are going,  "No way, I'm not doing that" it's not as bad as it sounds). Reps are how many times you lift a weight without stopping for a break, sets are how many times you do those reps. So 3 sets of 5 reps would be lifting the weight 5 times and then take a break and do it again, until you reached 3 sets. Free weights like dumbbells and barbells, and weight machines are used for this activity.


    • Cooling Down

   Like warming up, cooling down is also important. After exercising heavily, you must continue the exercise at a reduced intensity till your heart rate and breathing normalizes. An abrupt stop is not desirable. So now that you are all set to start on your exercising regime, remember to start very slowly, and to increase the intensity and duration of the exercise as your body gets more and more used to the regime, then slowly winding back down.

• Eating food

   Here is where I'll tell you to eat healthy and blah blah blah, and don't forget to eat nothing but vegetables, no this isn't about loosing weight, it's about doing business to the best of your ability. It's more of a make sure you get enough food in you so you have the energy to do what you need to do during the day. This should include breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For best results though, It's better to eat 5-6 small meals during the day to keep you going. I would recommend though to lean more on lean meats instead of fried food and stuff like that, as it gives your body more nutrients, thus giving you more energy.

• Conclusion

   That's about all there is to relieving stress and giving you energy to carry yourself throughout the day. Remember to eat well, do a little bit of stretching, spend a couple minutes of warming up, do some strength training and some cardio. If you follow this you should feel confident, with a clear mind, and ready to tackle anything!