Staying healthy is a must for directors but how do you spare time for fitness training when there's a business to run? Three company owners reveal their secrets

Finding time to exercise in a nine-to-five job is hard enough, but what about when you're running your own business? Life as a busy director can involve long working hours and perhaps a tiring commute, not to mention family commitments and domestic chores. It's easy to see how physical activity can become a low priority.

But failing to find a work-life balance can take its toll. A study published in April by University College London revealed that working more than 11 hours a day, rather than the usual 9am to 5pm, raised the risk of heart disease.

The study followed 7,095 British civil servants for more than 10 years. Although those surveyed were not typical of other professionals, the findings highlighted the need to create time to attend to your own physical and mental needs.

Cathy Ross, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, says the risks of ignoring exercise and healthy eating are numerous. "An unhealthy lifestyle can increase your risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, heart disease and diabetes. And you are more likely to put on weight," she explains.

The effects on productivity are enormous too, adds Matt Roberts, eponymous owner of a personal training company. "People are less productive when they're unhealthy," he says.

And it's not just increased working hours that present risks. Roberts points out that the workplace harbours many health hazards including postural problems – such as back and neck ache – associated with sitting at a desk for long periods, eye strain from staring at a computer screen all day, and stress, culprit for a host of medical conditions.

Other dangers are habitual things we do in the workplace. Roberts explains: "In meetings there are invariably coffee, tea and biscuits on offer and we inevitably reach for what is around us. We tell ourselves we need it because we are stressed or anxious. We create this self-destructive pattern. Combine that with a very small amount of time that we have each day to ourselves and the excuse not to exercise is quite an easy one."

Adrenaline rush
The benefits of regular exercise are various, says Ross. By being physically active for 30 minutes a day, five days a week, you can help reduce blood pressure, increase levels of protective cholesterol, reduce risk of diabetes (which can lead to coronary artery disease) and control your weight. "Physical activity is one of the best ways to release stress and clear your mind," she adds.

Roberts says regular exercise results in a strong body and a balanced skeletal structure, which helps ease back, neck, shoulder and knee problems. On top of that are psychological gains. "First, you can tell yourself you have been good to yourself. Second, higher oxygen levels give you a natural sense of wellbeing. Third, exercise gives you a rush of adrenaline that makes you feel elated."

He believes that 40 to 60 minutes of physical activity four times a week makes a big difference. This should be a blend of cardiovascular exercise (swimming or running) and resistance training (muscle work). You should be working the heart and lungs for at least an hour and 30 minutes every week. Frequent exercise periods bring better results. "Doing one big session isn't as good as doing four or five small ones," he says.

But Roberts warns that someone with high stress levels must be careful. "You often see an alpha male go into a gym and the first thing he wants to do is whack the hell out of a punch-bag or lift heavy weights. It's a recipe for a heart attack. A person with high stress levels needs to be doing controlled, moderate exercise," he says.

Having worked with many high-level executives, Roberts reckons the best way to fit exercise into your schedule is to write reminders in red ink in your diary and allow no one to move them. "You have to prioritise yourself otherwise productivity will drop and you won't get to where you want to get to," he says.

"Boxing is great for building confidence"

Who? Allan Meek
Age 50
Position Managing director, SCS Group
Sector Building services

Allan Meek, co-founder and managing director of building services specialist SCS Group, isn't keen on swimming. But he's been taking the plunge a lot since Christmas because he's competing in a triathlon at the end of July.

"I like doing things that challenge me so I sign up for events that I don't think I'll be able to do and then I find a way of doing them," he reveals. Meek, 50, has always enjoyed sports. As a youngster he took up football, which he played until his mid-thirties when he turned to more adventurous activities. Now he takes part in triathlons, trekking, mountaineering, scuba diving and skiing, alongside his main sport of boxing.

On the morning he is interviewed by Director, Meek has cycled into work – 15 miles uphill. "I'm a morning person so I tend to do some form of exercise on the way into the office. I get up at 6am, put my kit on and then I'm out of the door running, cycling or heading for the pool," he says.

This is as well as a weekly personal training session with a boxing coach, which usually happens in the afternoon or evening. As he's his own boss, Meek's hours are flexible. "If I want to do something during the week I'll manage to fit it in somehow," he adds.

He also encourages a healthy attitude among his 25 employees by paying for either gym membership or fees to the local boxing club. "Boxing is great for building confidence. Before some of the staff started boxing many of them hadn't done any sport for a long time. It has made them feel healthier and more confident. If they're now asked to give a presentation to a customer they are much more comfortable with that. After you've walked out of the corner in a boxing ring, going out and speaking to people is not as scary as it was before."

Meek is "crotchety" if he can't train. "I don't feel as good if I don't train regularly. It helps me cope with stress. While I'm training I have an hour of thinking time where my brain is off somewhere else. That's important."

"Running clears the mind of silly worries"

Who? Yolanda Hinchliffe
Age 26
Position Co-owner, Suka Sport
Sector Sports retail

Despite launching sports boutique Suka Sport in London in April, Yolanda Hinchliffe still finds time to run 10k five times a week as well as take part in four sessions of circuit training and three classes of power yoga.

"Lots of people ask me how I take the time out of my day to train – I get up early," says Hinchliffe. She rises at 5.45am to pound the streets of London. "I turn my alarm clock off, get up and train immediately. If I started reading emails I would just start working," she says.

Hinchliffe, 26, who has three marathons and six half-marathons under her belt, finds her exercise regime fits well with her life as a director. "The beauty of running and circuit training is that I can do it anytime, anywhere. I don't need to go to the gym; I just need my trainers and me.

"When you're running your own business there are no set hours. But regardless of how late I've gone to bed I get up at 5.45am to train," she says.

Hinchliffe says exercise helps her focus. "It's important to the way I feel during the day. When I'm training I clear my mind of all the silly little worries that can bog you down – particularly when starting a business – and I prioritise what I'm going to do that day. When I come back I feel I've had that time to myself so for the next 12 hours I'm focused solely on work.

"The reality is that while I'm running I can't answer the phone or reply to emails so I have to switch off and that gives me a sense of freedom."

For Hinchliffe one of the key benefits of exercise is that she never experiences the dreaded energy slump that many people have mid-morning or mid-afternoon. "I never feel the need for an 11 o'clock coffee or three o'clock need for sugar. And you get sick much less often too," she says.

This is probably helped by her healthy diet. For breakfast, Hinchliffe eats porridge, which releases glucose slowly to maintain even energy levels, and she also eats more than the five recommended servings of fruit and vegetables every day. With plans to open a second store, in the City, within the next 12 months, Hinchliffe obviously needs all the energy she can get.

"I make sure there's a pool wherever I stay"

Who? Rob Baines
Age 47
Position Co-founder, Snog
Sector Food and drink

When Rob Baines is not running his healthy frozen yoghurt company, Snog, he is racing up and down a swimming pool or practising yoga. A competitive swimmer at aged eight, Baines, now 47, still swims daily and performs the same 45-minute routine of fast drills.

"I always set priorities," he says. "In today's business environment you can be working 24/7 and still not get everything done. I value the quality of my life so when it comes to the business I just stop when I need to stop and don't let it overtake me."

Originally from Vancouver, Baines moved to Britain 22 years ago. After a spell in investment banking he set up catering outlets at Westminster Abbey and St Paul's Cathedral followed by Tinto Coffee shop in Fulham, west London. Two years ago he and his partner, Pablo Uribe, launched the first Snog shop in the capital.

Baines hatched the idea for Snog on travels around Australia, Japan and North America where he developed a taste for frozen yoghurt. "I used to eat a lot of it until I realised how unhealthy it was," he says, explaining that these versions were full of sugar. "It was crazy that a product deemed to be healthy wasn't. There wasn't a company making a healthy one." Snog uses organic skimmed milk and agave nectar, a healthy alternative to sugar.

Baines and Uribe want to build Snog into a global brand and are opening outlets – as partnerships and franchises – in Dubai, Colombia, Brazil, Spain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. This means the pair travel a lot but this doesn't affect Baines's exercise routine. "Wherever we go, whatever hotel we stay at, we make sure it has a 25-metre pool," he says.

Baines starts his morning with a walk in the park followed by meditation. "This shifts my perspective of the world and any stress points," he says. He also tries to eat healthily and doesn't drink or smoke. Cutting gluten out of his diet six years ago had a big effect on his energy levels. And keeping fit and healthy offers balance to his work. "It gives you a window during the day where you totally detach from everything – and that is very healthy," he says.