Firstly, and for the record, the author of this book was not a natural athlete and does not find training easy. Growing up, I was not particularly strong, fast or skilled at sport. At school, I was usually one of the last people to be picked for sports teams and I spent most of my teens warming the bench. I always had to work very hard at physical activity to improve or even compete with peers and would not be remembered by classmates for my sporting endeavours! This book is written on the back of 20 years of experience and knowledge gained through trial, error, lots of reading, learning, failure and success.

Secondly – as if you didn’t know – your health is massively important!

If you want to live the longest and best life you can, staying healthy is a big part of that. The challenge is, you may also want to do well in your career, enjoy life and spend time with family and friends. Modern life doesn’t tend to make it easy, particularly if you’re an office executive that spends a lot of time indoors, sitting at a desk.

Studies have shown that success is often linked to good health and fitness.

“Physical activity is associated with improved affective experience and enhanced cognitive processing.” – The National Center for Biotechnology (NCBI)

“Studies indicate that our mental firepower is directly linked to our physical regimen. And nowhere are the implications more relevant than to our performance at work.” – Harvard Business Review, 2014

“Without a doubt, the higher your level of fitness, the greater the capacity you have to perform your job, and the greater capacity you will have to deal with the demands in your life…” – Jack Groppel, PhD, co-author of The Corporate Athlete (John Wiley & Sons, 2000) and co-founder of the Human Performance Institute

Better fitness makes us better all-round performers. If you don’t believe me, here’s a quote I found online from my ultimate boss (at the time of writing, I work for Virgin Money):

“I definitely can achieve twice as much by keeping fit.” – Richard Branson, co-founder of the Virgin Group

I have definitely found in my own life that, while staying fit can be a challenge and an effort to fit into daily life, making time for fitness, better eating and good sleep pays back tenfold in my productivity and career. It also teaches focus, consistency, helps to reduce stress, avoid sickness and problematic health issues, like back problems, pains and strains. It’s worth noting that staying fit and healthy doesn’t mean giving up on all the good things in life. I still enjoy delicious food (including burgers) and a beer or three. Actually, staying in shape allows me to indulge within reason, with limited impact on my health and fitness.

This book is for busy people who struggle to find time for fitness and want to balance work, life and health, minimising the time required to keep fit and maximising the benefits with a challenging schedule. It will show you how, with the right focused effort, you can stay lean and fit in as little as three hours per week. I believe following the philosophy in this book, with the right balance in life, can make you fitter, healthier stronger and better – not just physically, but also mentally.

This is the Symmitarian Way.