Exercise Habits of Ultra-Successful People

What is one habit nearly all highly-successful people seem to have in common?

Exercise.

Exercise has been credited as Richard Branson’s number 1 productivity secretand the number 1 thing super-successful people do before 8am.

Here are exercise habits for some of the world’s most successful people:

• Barack Obama, President of the United States: Exercises for 45 minutes a day, 6 days per week. He exercises first thing in the morning, alternating between lifting weights one day and doing cardio the next
• Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Group: Wakes as early as 5am to kitesurf, swim, or play tennis in the morning. He claims he gets 4 hours of additional productivity every day by keeping up with his consistent exercise schedule
• Mark Zuckerberg, Co-Founder and CEO of Facebook: Works out at least 3 days per week, usually in the form of taking his dog running first thing in the morning
• Anna Wintour, Vogue Editor-In-Chief: Wakes up at 5:45am so she canplay an hour of tennis every morning
• Condoleeza Rice, Former U.S. Secretary of State: Gets up at 4:30am to get in 40 minutes of cardio, usually on a treadmill or elliptical machine
• Mark Cuban, Owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks: Does an hour of cardio per day, 6–7 days a week. He does the elliptical and stair gauntlet, plays basketball, and takes kickboxing and other gym aerobic classes
• Tim Cook, CEO of Apple: Wakes at 4:30am and hits the gym several times per week. He also enjoys cycling and rock climbing.

Whether it’s running, tennis, or kitesurfing, these highly-successful people clearly prioritize exercise into their busy schedules.

If starting (or sticking to) an exercise routine is on your New Year’s Resolution list, consider following public heath recommendations to get in some type of moderate-intensity aerobic activity for 30 minutes at least five days a week.

Here are some additional exercise tips for optimal brain performance that are outlined in John J. Ratey’s best-selling book Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain.

Exercise certainly seems to sharpen the minds of today’s top business leaders, and maybe it will help give you an edge in the New Year as well!

This Habit Will Change Your Life

What if there was one habit that could achieve all of the following:

• Improve your learning ability and grow brain cells
• Alleviate stress, anger, anxiety, and depression
• Increase focus, attention, and alertness
• Improve mood
• Build self-control, resilience, and motivation
• Boost confidence and social activity
• Reduce the risk of age-related disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and other forms of Dementia

Not to mention strengthen your cardiovascular system, lower blood pressure, regulate glucose levels, reduce obesity, boost your immune system, and fortify your bones.

If one habit could do all of this, would you build it into your lifestyle?

It turns out that this habit does exist, and it has been scientifically proven to do all of the above.

This habit is called Exercise.

John J. Ratey MD details all of this in his best-selling book, Spark, calling exercise “the single most powerful tool you have to optimize your brain function.” Ratey is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, a widely recognized expert in Neuropsychiatry, and has conducted extensive research to prove the remarkable effects of exercise on the brain. I highly recommend Spark for anyone who would like to better understand how exercise improves brain health.

But if you are short on time and just want to quickly know what to do, here is Ratey’s recommended exercise regimen for optimal brain performance:

• At a minimum, we should be following the Public Heath recommendations which call for some type of moderate-intensity aerobic activity for 30 minutes at least 5 days a week.
• Going a step further, Ratey says it is best to do some form of aerobic activity 6 days a week, for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Go on the longer side for 4 of the days at moderate intensity (65–75% of your maximum heart rate), and then 2 of the days should be on the shorter side at high intensity (75–90%). Make sure not to do the high-intensity days back-to-back in order to let your body and brain recover.
• For your aerobic exercise, activities like running, cycling, or swimming are great, but the best type of aerobic activity is really whatever you will truly be able to build into your lifestyle. If you haven’t been active in a while, the best way to begin is to start walking.
• On your shorter, high-intensity days, add some form of strength or resistance training to build muscles, strengthen bones, and protect joints (do 3 sets of your exercises at weights that allows you to do 10–15 repetitions in each set).
• Make efforts to mix in more complex activities that will build skills, challenge the brain, and help you stay agile — for example rock climbing, martial arts, gymnastics, dance, yoga, pilates, or balance drills. Racket sports are especially great because they simultaneously tax the cardiovascular system and the brain. According to Ratey, “The combination of challenging the brain and body has a greater positive impact than aerobic exercise alone.”
• Ratey talks up the benefits of exercising with other people. Social interaction is great for health, reduces stress, and boosts motivation. “Exercise cues up the building blocks of learning, and social interaction cements them in place,” says Ratey. So consider joining an exercise group to get going and keep you on track.

Overall, Ratey’s advice for people is to “get fit and then continue challenging themselves.” He advises to do something almost every day, but keep your program flexible and keep adapting to try new things.

Exercise is incredibly powerful for both the mind and body. We’re awake for at least 16 hours each day. Spending just one of those hours (or even half an hour) exercising will be the most important thing you do all day!