»Many executives don’t realize that their muscle mass is decreasing. When they exercise, they often only do endurance training and thus worsen their situation.
Managers have a comfortable life and don’t have to use their muscles to work. Nowadays, executives are aware that physical activity is necessary to balance life. Whilst striving to also organize this part of their life efficiently, they unfortunately often do too much of one, (and exactly the wrong) thing. They concentrate too much on endurance training and many thereby worsen their state of health instead of improving their fitness.
The German Sports Academy’s “centre for health” in Cologne established that in 75% of managers tested, reduced muscle activity led to the breakdown of large muscle groups. This old age phenomenon was increasingly being observed in middle aged managers. Physically, these managers with low muscle mass often look fit and slim, 80% of those tested however complained of back pain.
Low muscle mass also affects the cardiovascular system, resulting in us not being able to cope with physical burdens. As the musculature is our largest metabolic organ, it’s then unable to break down stress hormones and our body’s temperature regulation is disrupted. Due to the metabolic rate being reduced and the often energy packed food consumed by managers, it becomes more and more difficult to maintain weight. When our metabolism continues to be out of balance, it often leads to high blood pressure as well. In the worst case this can even lead to diabetes.
When managers take exercise, these activities often take on the character of a hectically completed appointment. Many busy executives rearrange their training time to for example the night or early morning which is not very constructive as our body needs time to regenerate.
Many executives like to combine abstemiousness of food with extensive cardiovascular exercise. This combination is a good example how to aggravate the decrease in muscle mass: when our energy sources (glucose) are depleted, the body relatively quickly reaches for the muscle structures and you could say “cannibalizes” them.
Instead of achieving heroic deeds in extreme sports, it is more sensible to aim for balance and enjoyment whilst exercising.
The trainings schedule should absolutely include the following building blocks: endurance, strength, agility and coordination.«
Source: "Harvard Business Manager" issue 4/2010, pages 18-19
