The Busy Executive’s Magic Elixir Exercise is one of the greatest systems for increasing your effectiveness as a leader in business and/or family. Exercise is so powerfully beneficial in multiple ways that it can be said to be the mother lode, the fountain of youth—the magic elixir. Physical activity helps you in body and mind. It is clinically proven to reduce depression. It brings clarity of thought and reduces stress, energizing you to function at peak performance. It can even improve your sex life! What’s not to like? Apparently, quite a bit, if we judge by the all-time high epidemic of inactivity in our world today. Physical inactivity is now one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The situation is grave. Yet we all know that getting enough exercise is challenging. Most of us sit for hours at a time each day: at a desk, behind the wheel, or on the couch in front of a screen. Even when we are away from work, we spend many waking hours in sedentary screen-facing as we entertain ourselves with Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Netflix, TV, and messaging. Fortunately, increased physical activity is available to all of us for the taking. It’s free. It costs nothing. Exercise doesn't need to be complicated or expensive; you don't have to join a gym or buy new workout clothes to become more active. This key to a better life is entirely voluntary and readily available to just about everyone. First, we’ll take a look at the serious toll inactivity is taking on our health. Then we’ll provide some tips on how to build exercise into daily life, how to design a successful exercise plan, and how to incorporate three types of exercise into your busy schedule. The Toll of Inactivity Let's take an unflinching look at the downside of inactivity. The news is increasingly bad. Research has linked sitting for long periods with many health concerns. These concerns range from obesity to increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol levels. Prolonged sitting also seems to increase the risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer. Some experts say that inactive people have a 147 percent higher risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke. World Health Organization studies show that physical inactivity contributes to over three million preventable deaths worldwide each year (that's around six percent of all deaths). Outside of infectious diseases like AIDS, inactivity is the fourth leading cause of death. The Mayo Clinic did an analysis of thirteen studies of sitting time and activity levels. They found that those who sat for more than eight hours a day with no physical activity had a risk of dying similar to the risks posed by obesity and smoking. However, there is no need to despair if you are stuck in a desk job! Mayo’s analysis of data from more than 1 million people found that sixty to seventy-five minutes of moderately intense physical activity a day countered the effects of too much sitting. Exercise is preventive of sedentary lifestyle problems, and it is also curative when a sedentary lifestyle is necessary for significant portions of the day. What’s more, too many people suffer from hip, joint, neck, and lower back pain. These kinds of maladies can be alleviated by getting up and moving around instead of sitting for long periods. Human beings are built to stand upright, stretch, and move. Our heart and cardiovascular systems, as well as all the other systems in our bodies, seem more to function more effectively with that kind of stimulation. The human body is designed to move, to be active, to optimize its functioning through exercise. When we are physically active, our overall energy levels and endurance improve. What is more, our bones and muscles become and stay strong. This is important because both muscles and bones lose density as we ag