As busy entrepreneurs, it’s sometimes easy to let your fitness and health start to creep towards the bottom of the priority pile. As the days get longer and the weeks get busier, we often tend to start canceling or postponing our gym sessions.
However, instead of “saving time” by canceling our workouts when our days get tough, we should actually be figuring out ways that we can prioritize reaching our fitness goals. Here are four reasons why entrepreneurs and business owners should be putting their feet down and make fitness a priority.
1. You’ll find it easier to focus
Whether it’s yoga classes, a high-intensity group class, or a solo session at the gym, it’s pretty simple; moving your body every day will help your brain to focus and function better. That’s because if you are staring at a computer screen for hours on end, then it’s highly likely your brain will start to fatigue and you’ll find it hard to concentrate over the course of the day.
Regular exercise has positive effects on your brain, your energy levels and your mood, which all contribute to greater levels of focus and, ultimately, productivity. This happens through a number of different ways, including your heart rate increasing and your blood vessels dilating (which helps blood flow to your brain), as well as your muscles engaging your fine motor control skills (which drives oxygen to the areas where it’s needed most).
2. You’ll have more energy
Often, individuals find that when they start exercising (whether it’s going for daily walks or upping their weekly gym visits), even though they’re doing more physical activity and probably getting up earlier, their energy levels actually increase.
This is because exercising enhances blood flow, increases the amount of oxygen and nutrients that are being carried to muscle tissue. As a result, this improves the body’s ability to produce energy, which is otherwise known as the chemical adenosine triphosphate.
So, although sleep is crucial for hitting your fitness goals, the next time you go to “hit snooze” on your alarm before your early gym class before work— just remember that your body will be thanking you when the dreaded 3 pm work slump comes around.
3. You’ll have better relationships
When you exercise, your body produces serotonin, otherwise known as our “feel-good chemical.” Serotonin is responsible for our wellbeing and happiness and takes on the role of many biological functions within our bodies, including modulating cognition, reward, learning, and memory.
All of these functions are incredibly important for business owners, however, if your business is customer-facing, feeling positive throughout the day is absolutely crucial. No matter what else is going on, you need to engage positively with people, especially if you’re facing difficult or complex situations in a team context. A morning workout and the subsequent serotonin boost might be just the thing you need to maintain productive and healthy relationships with colleagues, clients, and friends.
4. It’s an awesome opportunity to learn and upskill
If exercise really isn’t something that takes your fancy, then think of it this way—the time that you spend in the gym can also be used as a time that can be dedicated to learning something new. This could be via an informational podcast on cutting-edge technology, a book, or catching up on business news. In other words, you’ll be able to kill two birds with the one stone and get more done with less.
