Anyone on the grind squad will tell you their most precious commodity is time, so the thought of dedicating a full hour or more to exercise seems like time you cannot afford to spare. Especially considering the fact that your energy is so tapped from keeping your business afloat during the pandemic, adding in working out might make you feel as if you have to advance to freebasing your Red Bulls.
On the flip side, maybe you just caught a glimpse of your full body reflection and saw what a year of Zoom meetings has been concealing, which ironically is a major contributing factor to your lack of energy, and in turn is affecting your energy and confidence.
Fortunately, this isn’t just black and white, there is a grey area (see what I did there) and a solution. But to get it you need to start thinking of exercising as an investment into your business and make it as necessary as posting on your social media every day. If you can invest 10 minutes of fitness into your day, you will rise above your competition by increasing your energy, memory, confidence, and productivity.
Like everything else in the life of an entrepreneur or small business owner, the buck stops with you, so if you are not your best self, you will never get the best for yourself.
All it Takes Is 10 Minutes
One of the biggest misconceptions about exercise is that you have to work out for hours or do some insane routine to be effective. When I played women’s football we did some crazy workouts, pushed cars across parking lots, ran up mountains carrying logs, power lifting weights, etc. I was trained with the mindset that the more intense the workout or the heavier the weight, the better the benefit.
Then one day my girlfriend brought me to one of her Pilates workouts and the trainer handed me two, three pound hand weights. I literally started laughing and asked if she was serious. Then she laughed and said “you’re about to find out”. She told me extend my arms straight out holding the 3 pounders and slide into a squat. I can tell you with complete certainty that I am not sure where my cockiness ended and my full body earthquake began. It made no sense to me, how could I bench press 200 pounds, play full contact tackle football, and not hold two 3 pounds hand weights. Control and resistance uses an insane amount of energy and focus. When you fully embrace just how much your mindset matters in your work out, you will notice a huge shift in your mindset for work.
Physically speaking getting in a 10 minute workout at least 3 times a week with lower your blood pressure, reduces stress, and increases flexibility.
Olga Hays, an American Council on Exercise-certified wellness promotion specialist at Sharp Health Care in San Diego says, “There is overwhelming evidence that even a short 10-minute workout performed at moderate to high intensity can make a huge difference in your health and fitness level.”
Above all of that, even when things aren’t going your way, exercise has an outcome you can control so it is a way for you to get a fulfillment of success and accomplishment every single day.
I have listed five exercises below that I created exclusively for GREY Journal readers. So when you look in the mirror next month and see your sexy and confident self looking back, just know I’m right here whispering “you’re welcome”.
10 Minute Workouts for Entrepreneurs
1) Commit
Yes your first workout is to commit to doing this at least 3 times a week. Remember successful entrepreneurs make a commitment and the others make excuses. If you can’t master this one, forget the rest below.
2) Tik Toc Squat
Sometimes the hardest part of committing to a workout for entrepreneurs is not being able to multi-task, so here ya go. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Grab your cell and log into your Tik Tok account or Facebook then hold your phone or tablet straight out in front of you. Click on a video and then slowly slide into a squat and hold while you watch the video, then slowly stand back up while pushing through your heels into the ground and maintaining good posture with you arms still extended holding your phone. Your squat should be no shorter than watching one full Tik Tok video or the time it takes you to read and reply to one post on Twitter Instagram, or Facebook. If you’re in boss mode, watch one DIY or adorable 3 minute Dodo video. If you need back support use a wall to lean against to maintain an inline spine.
3) The Kneed to Succeed
Sit straight up on the edge of your desk chair or a flat surface where your feet can be flat on the floor. Cross your arms across your chest, then with your knees together and maintaining a bent sitting position, lift both together, hold for a count of five, and then slowly lower, tap toes on the ground, and back up. Do 10 of these. Boss mode on this one is to extend your legs after each knee lift.
4) Give Yourself a Raise
A calve raise that is. Standing with your hands on your hips, feet shoulder width apart, slowly and controlled raise your body up on your tip toes and slowly back down. Do this 10 times. Boss Mode: After ten calve raises hook your right foot behind your left ankle and repeat the calve raise using just your left leg then switch to your right.
5) Paper Pusher
A standard typing test requires punching out 35 words per minute minimum, this workout is going to require you to just throw 35 punches in 60 seconds. Tape a sheet of paper to the back of your desk chair just enough so it stands up on its own. You can also use a doorway taping the paper landscape. In a boxer stance you are going to punch the paper repeatedly 35 times in 60 seconds. The punch you will throw will be full force, but when it lands on the paper you are already reducing the force into a snap so it’s just a tap on the paper not a full strike so the paper still stands. This exercise is all about control and focus. You will be surprised how much more energy it takes not to land a full punch. Boss Mode: After your first round, stand sideways towards the paper and twist your body to throw your punches then switch to the other side.
Kick it Up a Notch
After a month, review where you are at and if you are ready to advance add in a brisk 10 minute walk for cardio on the days opposite your 10 minute workout. There are also some phenomenal apps you can download for 10 minute workouts if you are ready to kick it up a notch.
I promise you, dedicating this time to yourself and your business will reward you with some amazing ROI stats. Just remember, if you have those days when you get interrupted and can only get 5 minutes in, and trust me, you will, don’t skip it all together. Just commit to the time you have at that moment even if it is only 60 seconds and make up the rest of the 10 minutes later.
Always remember that the level of commitment you make to yourself will define if you are committed to excel or to exist.
Have any more 10 minute workouts for entrepreneurs to try? Let us know down in the comments.
This article originally published on GREY Journal.
