Are you fit for business?

| June 9, 2018

June 11-17 is Men’s Health Week and aims to highlight men’s health issues and bring awareness to potential risk factors that men face in todays world.

Men are still dying on 4.4 years earlier than females and live the last 11 years of their life in relatively poor health.  Up to 70% of a man’s health can be determined by their lifestyle and stress can be a major contributor to this decline.

Suzzanne Laidlaw, a professional business coach,  has worked with many male business owners and high performing men over the past 10 years and sees the first hand effects that stress has on men.

“Men think that their business is more important than their health.  But if you’re dead, you can’t run your business”, says Ms Laidlaw.

Ms Laidlaw goes on to say, “What men forget to understand is that in order for their business to perform at the peak level, the driver – i.e. them – needs to be in peak mental and physical fitness first.  Men need to take a close look at their priorities and re-order what’s important to them”.

Laidlaw is all too familiar with the pressures of business and being busy.  A mother and young grandmother, Laidlaw has stayed fit by competing in triathlons while running a successful business.  She has also run businesses alongside her husband of 30 years.

“I get it.  I really do.  There’s so much pressure on business owners as it is and sometimes men can place extra pressure on themselves to be the main breadwinner and at times, time to self and time to exercise can be put on the back burner”.

Inactive men are 60% more likely to suffer from depression than active men and men die earlier than women from heart disease.

“This is so important.  If you’re alive, you can be fit and it doesn’t have to take much time or effort.  Simple things can be done to incorporate wellness and fitness into your life”.

Laidlaw lists the following top five tips that busy male businessmen and business owners can implement straight away.

1. Take time to exercise every day for just 20 minutes. Take the dog for a walk, go and play outside with the kids and kick the footy.

2. Park the car an extra three blocks away from work and walk.

3. Instead of sitting in a café and having a meeting, meet at an appealing place to walk and talk. Be productive and active.

4. Try and meditate for even just 10 minutes a day. There are now many apps on the market that can assist you.

5. Pencil in at least one session a week of formal exercise such as a gym session, boxing, yoga, running, cycling, footy or rugby.

“We know that when we exercise we feel better! It fills our body with endorphins and our bodies love it!”

“This Men’s Health Week we all should be encouraging the men we love to exercise and look after their health.”

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