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Health Habits: The Gym Makes You Smarter

Guest post by: Michael Hume

Article Overview: According to researchers at the famed Mayo Clinic, exercise boosts blood flow to the brain, and helps it absorb and utilize the oxygen and nutrients which literally fuel your thinking. The better shape you're in, according to these reports, the faster you may think....

Health Habits: The Gym Makes You Smarter

Use The NEWSS To Fuel Your Brain How's your brain working these days? Are you "quick on your feet" as you plow through the decisions you make every day? Whether you're a leader at your company, or own your own business, you need to think fast - all the time.

Many of my clients are entrepreneurs, and they are constantly under the gun to sort things out. Every day is filled with problem-solving, "putting out fires," making sure the business is properly equipped, attending to staffing concerns, dealing with investors and bankers, working with customers, you name it. The rigors of business grind on them, and soon it isn't just the body that's been slowed. And when the thinking becomes slower, the client's business is threatened.

According to researchers at the famed Mayo Clinic, exercise boosts blood flow to the brain, and helps it absorb and utilize the oxygen and nutrients which literally fuel your thinking. The better shape you're in, according to these reports, the faster you may think.

That's one reason I suggest a disciplined approach to the five key daily health habits I call "The NEWSS" - Nutrition, Exercise, Water, Sleep, and Supplements. In the long run, it's more time-efficient to maintain a good NEWSS lifestyle than to skip or skimp.

Eat right... or, at least, cut the garbage "food" from your diet in favor of fresh, real food. Drink at least two liters of water every day, and get at least eight hours of sleep every night. Take a good supplement (at least one) to give your body a fighting chance to get the sort of nutrient support it can't get from today's modern convenience diet. And, to keep your brain happy and working well, make sure you exercise at least three times a week, getting your heart rate up to your personal aerobic zone.

If you find your mental energy flagging, take a ten-minute exercise break in the middle of your day. Just do some stretching - that's often enough to get the blood flowing better, and that's going to improve your mood, as well as your ability to produce the sort of brilliant thinking for which you're famous.

And if you want to avoid these low-energy, slow-thinking episodes, think about ramping up your exercise level. Even the busiest person can find a way to work out six days a week (recommended) if she has a system to make her workouts efficient. I make it to the gym (or the outdoor track) six days a week, and I never spend more than 40 minutes on any workout, alternating cardio workouts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday with strength training on Tuesday, Thursday, and one of the weekend days. Ask at your gym, and undoubtedly a staff trainer can help you work out a time-efficient process. If not, contact me and I'll talk you through it.

Do the math: your business can't afford to lose your smarts, and that means you have to keep exercise in the equation as you build your career and live your life to the inspirational fullest.

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Article Tags: health habits, health wealth and happiness, personal responsibility, successful entrepreneurs



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