The Missing Element Of Success: Taking Care of Your Body

The past few weeks I have been putting together the contents for a blog on the importance of personal training and why its imperative for leaders, managers, professionals and individuals young and old to focus on their physical, nutritional and mental health. The basic message is you must incorporate taking care of your body into your day-to-day life. If you want to be successful at your profession and with your family then you have to workout and eat the right foods. However as life happens I wanted to share an experience from this evening that in my view reinforces the absolute need for all of us to exercise, build strength and eat the right foods.



Tonight's experience has its roots in some major personal changes I made the past several years, and particularly the last 2 months. Most of my life I have been overweight, even obese as my career and life took priority later in life. However 6 years ago I began the process of losing weight, and a little over two years ago I found the right program that helped me drop over 100 lbs in 22 months. With the right nutrition and exercise I went from a waist 44 to 33 and never felt better in my life. 


Then two months ago I realized that with all that weight loss and running (I was doing about 22 miles a week) my body had lost a lot of muscle mass and while fit, I was weak. I decided to get help from an expert, no different than in my work when I seek those who have the knowledge and expertise that I lack in order to achieve the objective. I researched some personal trainers and found the right guy for me, Coach Corky - hey its his name. Coach Corky and I began training 5 to 6 days a week, changing my diet and eating habits, and really focusing on building physical strength. That meant less running, more weight room with a balance of cardio. And of course it meant eating more protein, less carbs in order to burn fat and build muscle. Much more protein, much less carbs.


As fate would have it, I got the perfect reason to blog about this topic this evening here in Nevada, where the temperature has been above 104 F degrees for the past two months, and where the sun goes down around 7pm (which is pertinent to my story).


As I mentioned above I have got into a routine of working out 5 to 6 times a week, but today was my day off. The funny thing about training is that your energy is 10 times more than when you don't exercise. So after playing 90 minutes of indoor badminton (don't laugh) with Coach Corky, I decided to head out for a little twilight golf at 4pm. My home outside of Las Vegas is only 15 minutes away from Boulder City, home of the Hoover Dam, and I had been wanting to try Boulder Creek Golf Club out in the desert. With about 3 hours I thought I could get a round of 18 before the sun sets.  Oh, probably worth mentioning I picked up a little Scottish habit this past year in Edinburgh where I walk the course instead of riding in a cart. Its incredible exercise (you burn a little under 2,000 calories for 18 holes, more in this heat) and makes for a tougher round of golf because you have to compensate for the physical exhaustion while keeping perfect control of your golf game. So I bought a large bottle of water and headed out to play Boulder Creek by myself in 106 degrees.


I'm a terrible golfer, hardly ever break 90 in a round. I shot a 48 on the front nine and was well into the back nine when something happened. I was on hole 14, lining up for my second shot with my 7 iron in hand, the sun fast setting and the desert shadows getting longer. I'm about to take the shot when my senses took over and my body said TURN AROUND NOW. I turned my head and my eyes caught motion. I see two wild coyotes in full trot towards me from the desert bush, teeth bearing. Everything happened very quickly. My body was still following my head when the first one leapt in the air heading straight for my face. With my seven iron in hand, I swung the club as hard as I could and landed it right on the side of the coyote's head. I heard a scream and a crack. I had struck bone. The second coyote stopped short of me in fear and started to retreat, looking back and forth at its whimpering partner and waiting for my next move. I screamed a few obscenities and it took off back to the desert where it came from. I didn't wait around to see what happened to the first beast - it was twitching and howling as I made my way towards the next hole. It got up and followed after its partner by the time I lost sight. 


To finish the story, I got to the next hole and put my bag down, sat down by the tee. I looked at my seven iron, it had a little blood on it, not much but enough to know I had made a perfect connection with the animal's head. My hands were shaking, adrenaline was pumping through my body and I was breathing like I just sprinted two hundred yards. I was also laughing, hard. My mind slowly played out what just had happened. I checked for any scratches on my body. Coyotes don't attack people unless they are rabid. I got up after a few minutes, drank some water and tee'd off on the 15th hole. I shot a par. The adrenaline was so intense and the light was getting bad, I skipped the next three holes and headed for the club house, every part of my body alert, my mind as clear as water from a spring. The club house was closed, the parking lot empty, the clock on my car said it was past 7pm. I headed home but could have easily done an hour in the gym.


Now, about 4 hours later as I type this blog, I am showered, fed and ready to crash for the night. But my mind has also slowed down, the adrenaline has left and that nomad perspective has set in such that I can't sleep a wink until I blog. There is no way my body and mind would have reacted so in synch had it not been for the steps I have taken the past several years, but especially the past two months, to take care of my physical being. Sure, as human beings we have a survival instinct, but thats not enough to depend on when it comes to life and death. Dramatics aside, I fundamentally believe that each of us can be a better human being if we simply take better care of our bodies. I believe we can achieve more. Much much more.


From my personal experience I would recommend each of you consider taking the following steps:


1) Ask yourself what kind of shape you are in? I mean today, not what you once were. Do you eat the right foods? Are you healthy? If you are not preparing for a triathlon, a marathon or working out 300 minutes a week then you can use a personal trainer to help you focus on your body and diet.


2) Find a personal trainer - one that is right for you. Personal trainers are generally frustrating because they are awful at selling themselves. They focus too much on themselves - I this, and I that. It doesn't take a genius to look good when they spend every day in the gym all day. What you want to focus on is are they knowledgable about your body and how to help you get results? Thats a very different song from the guy charging $25 an hour to count reps in the gym.


3) Incorporate working out into your schedule. Again, everyone is different. When I met Corky he advised me that he could get incredible results for me if I followed his program. I told him he had one hour a day for 5 days a week. Thats all the time I can give when I'm working full force. I made a deal with myself - one hour a day, no more no less, travel or no travel. Just make it happen. Corky heard me where other trainers didn't He designed a program that was just right for me, incorporating one hour a day, five times a week. Its been just over two months and I haven't skipped a single workout such that its now part of the routine...even with the 21 flights I have taken during that time.


4) Incorporate eating right. There is way too much to talk about here, but know this - 90% of all the food the average person eats is nutritionally bankrupt or harmful. Corky, and another mentor and friend, Dr. Joe, have taught me so much about nutrition and what the body needs. Once you understand its really not too hard to make the necessary changes. And thats the first step - find a personal trainer who can help you understand nutrition. I am no expert, but I could write 10,000 words on this topic. I'll spare you tonight, and give you a basic tip that is working well for me: drink a lot of water all day, eat your carbs early in the day, eat an equal amount of protein to carb (50-50), and eliminate all carb intake after 4pm such that you only eat protein and greens (salad, spinach, broccoli, asparagus) with the only carb coming from a dash of sauce or dressing. Oh, and never be hungry, better to have 5 or 6 small meals throughout the day than a Thanksgiving meal at night. It sounds a lot tougher than it is, trust me.


5) Get at least 7 hours of sleep per night. This one is tough with the kind of schedules and workloads most of us keep, but it can make all the difference to your physical and mental wellbeing. Rest is as important as exercise.


6) Reward yourself. I'm a big believer in rewarding hard work. Some call it cheating, I disagree. Take the weekends off, have one day in 6 where you can eat whatever you want. Satisfy that sweet tooth with a bite, sleep in, whatever your vice do it. Its healthy.


And I believe by taking better care of your body by exercising and the right diet you stand a better chance of achieving your personal and professional goals. I have previously discussed the 6 basic human needs - the need for certainty, the need for uncertainty, the need to be significant, the need for connection and love, the need to grow and the need to contribute. While these basic human needs appear not to be physical in nature, they all share one common thing at their core: you. Take care of yourself, you never know when the coyote might strike.