Dr. Jack Groppel is an internationally recognized authority and pioneer in the science of human performance and Co-Chair of the newly formed Global Alliance for Health & Performance. Groppel realized he could use his coaching skills to help people perform better in their careers and their lives. Groppels advice will change how you look at habits and your work. He teaches how to maintain your energy level, how to handle and recover from stress, and how to derive value from each day.
Overview
Overview:
Mindset
A “corporate athlete” strives for health and fitness in order to perform better in business, just as a sports star trains to stay healthy for competition
You need 21 days to break a bad habit and 90 days to form a new healthful habit
Eat well, exercise, rest, and be present and mindful
Do daily interval training - letting your heart rate increase, letting it recover and repeating the process - to bolster your body’s response to stress
Schedule frequent mental health and movement breaks throughout the day
Plan your meals around the low-fat Mediterranean Diet, which is based on fruit, vegetables and whole grains
Having a light lunch and a healthy late afternoon snack will help you avoid errors
Carbohydrates make you calm, and proteins sharpen your focus
Stay hydrated; drink eight glasses of water daily. Soft drinks don’t count
To be a corporate athlete, heed to 12 principles:
1. “TRAIN”
Test yourself - Use what you learn to grow
Recover - Take time out to strengthen your mind, body and spirit
Affirm - Recommit to your goals
Intensify - Put more effort into your work, but take frequent breaks
Nourish - Take care of your physical and emotional needs
2. Take Ownership and Responsibility for Who You Are
Take responsibility for yourself by balancing performance and recovery
You’ll accomplish much more when you prioritise your health and happiness Don’t wait for a significant emotional event to force you to alter your life; take positive responsibility now
3. Stress and Recovery
Focus your workouts on training to cope with stress
Much of your impact on others derives from how you move, stand, inhale, exhale and communicate nonverbally
Easier tasks can provide a break. Don’t skip taking the down time you need for recovery in order to make it to some finish line
Interval training - increasing your heart rate, letting it recover and continuing to repeat the set - encourages a quicker, larger spike of catecholamines with a more rapid recovery
To reduce stress, work out in the late afternoon. This launches endorphins and will help you enjoy your evening. If you can’t squeeze in a late afternoon workout, exercise whenever you can
No matter how unexpected a negative development is, you can tap into physical methods for coping with its stress. For example, if you receive an upsetting phone call just as you’re about to pitch a big project, take a moment to breathe. Climb two or three flights of stairs to improve heart rate and chemistry so you can handle the situation better
4. Consistent Energy
Maintaining your peak performance level demands high energy
Jeff Sklar, a vice president at a Manhattan private bank says he thinks like a “sprinter, not like a marathoner”
5. Prioritise Nutrition
For maximum nutrition, follow the heart-healthy Mediterranean Diet, which calls for:
Eating complex carbohydrates from fruit, vegetables and grain as half your daily intake
Add protein from fish and grain as 15%-25% of your diet
Keep your fat intake below 20%-30%, using only fat derived from plants or fish
Have fruit or fruit juice at the end of lunch and limit your sugar intake
How you eat affects how you feel. To feel more energised, stop eating three meals a day. Have an early breakfast so your brain gets glucose, its main source of energy; then enjoy small snacks
7 nutrition secrets
Weight doesn’t matter - Lower your fat intake, heed your body fat content and increase your muscle mass
Don’t punish yourself - Enjoy desserts and snacks, but primarily stick to smart, light, low-fat and nutritious foods most of the time
Eat right and avoid hunger pangs - Eat healthier, smaller portions more often
Exercise more to prevent muscle loss - To become leaner, expend more energy. Train yourself to change - Re-educate your food preferences. Nix the saturated fat habit
As you upgrade your diet, remember it takes 21 days to break habits and 90 days to change behaviours and create new patterns
Eat to recover - Balance your nutrition to help you relax and sleep better.
Allow for backsliding - If you stray, return to healthy habits quickly.
6. Drink Well
Drink eight glasses of water - not soft drinks - daily
Cut down on tea and coffee, which are diuretics and cause your body to shed water
If you are ill, drink healthy fluids to recover
Chill your water, add a slice of citrus fruit for flavour and drink bottled water if you prefer it
Always carry a reusable water bottle, even into meetings
Limit alcohol to one drink a day and your caffeine to two cups a day
Skipping caffeine altogether is best
7. Weight Doesn’t Matter
Your body’s fat content matters - not your weight
To see how you are doing now, measure your body mass index (BMI), which equals your weight in kilograms divided by the square of your height in meters
A normal BMI is between 24 and 27 for a man and between 23 and 26 for a woman
To estimate your “body fat pattern,” figure out your hip-to-waist ratio. Measure your waist at its smallest part and divide that number by the distance around your hips. A woman’s goal is to have a ratio of less than 0.86, and a man’s goal is a ratio of less than 0.95
Losing weight takes time, so be patient. Eat several small meals and take in the same amount of calories each day
8. Figure Out a Menu for Your Life
Plan tomorrow’s meals today
Adhere to the 80/20 rule: Eat well 80% of the time and “stray a little” 20% of the time
To be at the top of your game coming up to a big meeting or event, create a 10-step eating plan:
Eat your “pre-event meal” before you feel really hungry
Choose healthy foods consistently for a few days prior to the occasion
Eat lightly before your important moment
Avoid alcohol
Avoid high-fat items
Increase your endorphins by eating a meal of half protein and half carbohydrates
If you need to wake up, consume protein
If you are anxious, eat carbohydrates and skip the protein
To help your mood, eat foods you enjoy
Respect the impact food has on your energy level and mood
9. Life on the Run and on the Road
You can still eat well while on the go
A healthier option is to order pizza without cheese and with extra tomato sauce and vegetables
Eat carbs if you want to sleep on the plane; protein will keep you up.
If you land in the morning and have to rush off to a meeting, choose wake-up food, like “whole-grain cereal or a low-fat protein breakfast”
Rest at your hotel for an hour and take a quick walk to wake up. If you land the day before your meeting, mesh with local time as soon as possible. Get to bed at a reasonable hour.
10. Use Vitamins, Supplements and Herbs Wisely
Absorb your nutrients from food and take supplements just in case
Reduce the effects of carcinogens with vitamins A, C and E
Brazil nuts have selenium, an important antioxidant;
Carrots offer vitamin A;
Leafy vegetables have vitamin E and
Citrus fruits provide vitamin C.
Phytochemicals, like carotenoids and flavonoids, are “plants’ natural protection against disease.” They can “stimulate immunity” and even inhibit cancer growth. The best sources are fresh plant foods, such as fruits, vegetables, wine, soy and flax seed
11. Always Exercise
Participate in daily physical activity to boost your mental performance. Exercise releases positive hormones and helps you live longer and better.
12. Heed Your Spiritual Fitness
It doesn’t matter what type of spirituality you prefer. What matters is that you feel internally congruent, that your “actions agree with your words.” Rather than pray only during a crisis, try to live a life of substance and meaning. Nourish your spirit by being aware, present and thoughtful. People who embrace spiritual commitment handle stress more effectively and suffer less depression, so it’s a good idea to make time for prayer.
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