What is executive wellness?

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF RESISTANCE TRAINING FOR EXECUTIVES AND HOW DOES IT RELATE TO WELLNESS?

Before we go on what is “Wellness”?

Wellness – Interventions intended to enhance and fortify the body’s innate ability to resist disease, promote self-healing, maintain high levels of well-being, and increase “quality of life”.

What is it about weight training that helps a person to perform and function better? How do gains in lean mass from weight training really help a CEO, President, or owner of any business affect your wellness to be productive? We could answer this from several perspectives but let’s choose one real world scenario: a business work environment.

As the CEO/President of a company, it is your responsibility to lead your employees in many ways. One of those is how you (CEO/President) represent the company in health and wellness. In a physical capacity, this is equally important, as you are the focal point to your employees. In The Wellness Revolution, Pilzer explains wellness as “the quality or state of being in good health especially as an actively sought goal”. Business owners require physical exercise, both aerobic exercise and specific weight training, to keep healthy and functional for the medical wellness benefits.

As the CEO you might ask the wellness coach: “Exercise? What type is appropriate?” The answer:

Another question the CEO might ask is “how many times per week should I exercise?” Resistance training once a week will yield nominal gains at best and you essentially are using your workout as a physical learning/re-educational experience. Training twice a week, one can expect to make gains at a slower or reduced rate, and it normally takes 2-3 months before noticeable changes occur. Exercising three times a week is optimal and is what Paramount Performance suggests. Exercising at this frequency, one can create a perfect blend of aerobic and resistance-training workouts that will create significant results. Blood work indices and body composition changes begin to occur usually around 6-8 weeks.

The health of an executive participating in a wellness program comprising of strength and resistance training, will create a health and wellness stimulus that is both measurable and offers positive return on the time invested in the wellness program. The executive then becomes a walking example to his/her employees and improves their “quality of life” from participating in a wellness exercise program.

  1. Matteson D., Bomonti F. Prevention or Wellness: The Evolving language of Integrated Healthcare. Integrated Medicine Vol. 4, No. 3 pg. 26 June/July 2006
  2. Pilzer, Paul Z., The Wellness Revolution. 4, John Wiley & Sons Inc., New Jersey: 2002
  3. Pilzer, Paul Z., The Wellness Revolution. 115, John Wiley & Sons Inc., New Jersey: 2002