We get older, it’s a given, unless you break before then by building your business and going through the hustle we all hear about day in day out. When you hit 40 your testosterone has already been decreasing for a decade and chances are you’ve been through a good few stressful situations, illnesses and even breaking bones maybe even some deeper health issues have crept up you have overcome.
These things catch up on you and being an entrepreneur over 40 there’s no way you need to let your body slide to the depths some people do, it isn’t the end, it is time to level it up. The generation we are living in people are becoming more and more successful not just at a younger age but also older generations too, life really can begin at 40 if you push you health to the level you once were years ago.
Here are 8 steps in order to implement and stay on top of your health to make sure you build the foundation because there really is 100% truth in the saying ‘your body is your business.
- Food Can Make You Healthier
People look for the quick fix, the medicine from the drug store or the doctors to boost your health but it really does start in the kitchen. I know, you haven’t got the time to prepare all your meals and I totally get that which is why finding somewhere you can get healthy food prepared for you will be key if this has been your excuse, simply relying on drugs to wake you up, to let you sleep and to lower blood pressure, cholesterol levels and thyroid problems amongst multiple other things can be solved for good with food being used as your medicine.
- Don’t Be Afraid To Ask For Help
You’re the Alpha, the guy people go to in order to get their advice, you’ve built the business from nothing to being a top performer in your niche and you should have all the answers, there comes a point when you won’t especially with your health. When should you eat, what should you eat, which workouts, what to do with your routine, optimizing productivity and what supplements amongst multiple other levels of guidance all can be outsourced to get the results you want faster than ever and more sustainable than ever. It just takes simply asking for help.
Go on, try it sometime, a problem shared is a problem halved, but a problem you hire a coach to fix is usually a problem solved – unless it’s a coach selling you coaching on how to coach coaches who coach coaches coach.
- Stay Aware Of Your History
As we get older we have a lot of potential time for small marks to get on our record, I am not talking about convictions but injuries and previous illnesses, these can have a massive impact not on just how you train now but also on the methods you need to utilize in order to get your nutrition and stress management ready to achieve the results you want whilst being on top of your business at the same time.
Take this into account and plan accordingly, I am at the point where what I used to lift is irrelevant to where I am now, I can push hard but I don’t need to deadlift 280 kilos and use my ego, it’s better for me, safer and more productive with recover to train with my brain not my ego.
- Schedule Recovery Time
Down time is crucial to keep you moving forward but the problem is that how can you justify down time when your schedule is packed with clients, meetings and media commitments? That’s where some trust it needed to know that taking your foot off the gas in order to build up your health and relationships is going to mean longer term you have more energy and focus to push forward.
Scheduling this in will be the secret to actually doing it, if you have someone who is above you in the business then schedule in a meeting with a made up client which you stick to and they won’t know any difference, trust me, once you notice the difference this makes you’ll be getting thanked for it.
- Prevention Will Always Beat The Cure
It won’t ever happen to me, that’s what I used to believe, it won’t happen to me therefore I can push forward without taking a check in on my health and focus then suddenly you hit a wall, you freeze with your progress due to illness, stress accumulation and exhaustion, if only you took that time off, if only you weren’t hustling and had to get take out 5 nights, if only you slept more. It’s easy to see if when you’re about to hit the cure for all it’s worth but with prevention, a bit of self love, you don’t have to even wait to break in order to fix yourself.
- You Don’t Have To Accept The Middle Age Spread
The society has welcomed the ‘dad bod’ making us think when we get older and we get lowered testosterone levels that it’s just fine to let it slide, I mean, the choice is yours but it doesn’t have to be something you just let go because society makes you think it’s the norm, you can boost testosterone levels as you age with the correct lifestyle, you can lower your waist, get leaner and increase your focus along with your energy exponentially with some small lifestyle and nutritional tweaks.
- You Can Still Boost Your Testosterone Levels Naturally
As mentioned in number 7, you can still boost your testosterone levels. Yes, the average male will have their testosterone drop by around 1% per year once they hit 30 but that doesn’t mean you have to just lay down and let it drop further. Healthy living and exercise will help you boost your testosterone, stress management, sex can also help allow you to keep your testosterone levels high.
Look to get your diet in check and if you need to do so with extra accountability alongside stress management and exercise planning with your busy schedule please do drop me a message and we can discuss your personal Revitalization Blueprint
- You Only Need 10 Minutes
People think it needs to take a real long time to workout, now I am not saying you are going to build a ton of muscle in 10 minutes but if you know me by now you will know that I will always look for the minimum to get health benefits before pushing something with their momentum to go into the longer sessions, once they know they can fit exercise into their schedule.
I have had multiple clients do workouts in 10-20 minutes and get amazing results, in fact, a lot of my workouts when I do resistance training can be completed in 20 minutes, you really don’t need that long to stimulate the results to build your body to fuel your business ambitions.
Super setting, circuit training, compounds, trisets multiple different ways to get workouts in at home and in the gym to not just save time but buy more for the rest of the day with the extra focus and energy you develop as a result.
You don’t have to accept you’re getting older and the body will slack as a result, that’s what the average person does, not the successful individual you are. Trust me, it isn’t always easy but it will be so worth while, actually no, fuck that, that’s the typical fitness thing to say. It’s up to you if you accept it but I know multiple clients who chose not to accept that getting older means their health has to suffer, what are you going to choose?
If you’re ready to push forward then let’s talk right now, get on a call and work out the quickest method of pushing your health to the place you want it to be.
You start sweating, your heart rate increases, your digestion slows down, and your blood vessels constrict. You may even feel tension or pain.
You may feel like running away.
Particularly if you’ve had a letter from the ‘tax man’, or you’ve just had a minor altercation with someone in the car park.
Another way your body may react to stress is by shutting down or freezing. If your body feels real danger or senses that it can’t escape, the parasympathetic nervous system may kick in to create a shutdown.
You may feel hopeless, numbness, shame, a sense of feeling trapped, disconnected. You may disassociate. You may feel nauseous, experience a decrease in your immune response, sexual desire, and sensation of pain. Your digestive system slows down, and you have difficulty speaking.
These experiences of flight-or-fight or shutdown are supposed to be short events. A healthy nervous system and the vagal nerve are supposed to ‘shake off’ this stress and bounce back to a calm, safe, and connected state.
However, people who are experiencing poor vagal tone due to childhood abuse, trauma at any age, or other factors, are experiencing this response constantly. When fight-or-flight or shutdown becomes a chronic state, that’s a major problem. It increases the risk of both mental and physical health issues.
So how does good vagal tone affect our bodies?
- Lowers blood pressure
- Lowers heart rate
- Manages stress and anxiety
- Regulates mood
- Decreases inflammation or pain
- Delivers information between the brain and the gut
- Provides sensory information from the throat, lungs, and heart
- Regulates swallowing
- Regulates speech
But – and this is important – Your vagus nerve doesn’t have to be damaged to not function correctly. Symptoms of poor vagal tone even without nerve damage may include:
- Anxiety and or/depression
- Poor emotional regulation
- Lowered attention span
- High stress
- Being in ‘flight-or-fight’ mode constantly
- Increased inflammation
- Pain
Chronic stress and poor sleep, childhood trauma, head injuries (even a seemingly minor bump to the head), poor breathing – yes, that’s a thing – chronic infections and high toxic load such as polluted air, tap water, and processed foods, are just a few of the things that can affect your vagal tone.
So now you’re thinking, a few of those things apply to me, what can I do to ‘test’ whether I do have poor vagal tone?
- Test your pupils – get someone to shine a light on your eye. The pupil needs to constrict for at least 10 seconds then dilate. If it takes less than 10 seconds to do this or doesn’t constrict at all, you probably have poor vagal tone.
- Heart rate variability – some smart watches measure this stat and it’s a good indicator of how much stress you are under. There should be a high variance on a regular basis (say around/over 60).
- Blood Pressure – your systolic pressure (the one on top) should be between 100-140 and your diastolic should be 70-90. If these measurements are repeatedly lower or higher than these ranges, this is an indication you have poor vagal tone.
- Going dizzy when moving quickly from a sitting/laying position to standing (also known as orthostatic hypertension), resulting in dizziness or lack of balance.
Your vagus nerve is one of the most important nerves in the body and is responsible for many important functions, including regulating your heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, breathing, and emotional state. If you experience some of the symptoms noted above, it may mean that you have a poor vagal tone, and your vagus nerve needs some attention.
Your health can really be improved just by training this one thing, so no excuses!
Email me to discuss how we can improve your health and get you feeling great.