The Mayo Clinic Executive Health Program joined the largest gathering of CEOs in the world in early November for YPO’s EDGE. The Mayo team answered questions on a variety of health topics, educating the business leaders on ways to stay healthy despite their demanding schedules.
The chief executives took advantage of Mayo Clinic Executive Health’s body composition assessments, which break down individual components of health, including body fat mass, muscle mass, bone, tissue and water.
“Many people hop on a scale to see their weight, but it only tells us part of the picture about their health,” says Thom Rieck, Wellness and Activity Specialist with the Healthy Living Center at Mayo Clinic’s Rochester, Minnesota, USA, campus. “Accurately measuring body fat and lean muscle mass can help us better understand what that weight scale is actually saying. Having a lower amount of body fat and a higher amount of lean muscle mass has been shown to improve our everyday and long-term health.”
Other popular topics included sleep and stress management, which comes as no surprise considering CEOs’ fast-paced lives.
Melissa Mapes, a national board-certified health and wellness coach with the Healthy Living Center, tackled these topics in 1:1 and small-group conversations.
“So many YPO members came to us to talk about not sleeping enough and looking for tips on how to get better sleep,” Mapes shares.
Mapes recommends scheduling a sleep study and working with sleep specialists to rule out underlying conditions. She also advises focusing on sleep hygiene practices to help the brain and body get quality rest.
Stress affects sleep, so Mapes instructs CEOs on stress management techniques to reduce stress, get better sleep and improve daily health habits.
“We talked about awareness and mindfulness with the YPO members and shared resources including apps and tools that can help when they are feeling overwhelmed. Stress reduction can come from lifestyle practices that can help CEOs find joy, meaning and balance,” Mapes explains. She adds, “I encourage chief executives to find helpful techniques to retrain their mind to not go into ‘work or worry mode’ but instead to get refocused on how your body feels and stop your brain from going into overdrive.”
Rieck and Mapes also covered the benefits of high intensity interval training (HIIT), a great way to challenge the cardiovascular system while not spending hours in the gym. HIIT is simply working hard for a certain amount of time, followed by time spent in lower intensity – then repeated. Even a 20-minute workout, where you work hard for two minutes, like walking, running and cycling quickly, followed by active recovery (gentle walking, jogging, leisure cycling, etc.) can burn calories, keep your heart heathy, and put a smile on your face, even if you first have to catch your breath.
To achieve their health goals, Rieck recommends using fitness trackers, which give users a better understanding of their movement, heart rate, distance, workouts and more.
Each Mayo Clinic Executive Health appointment is tailored to meet a CEO’s needs and interests. In addition to world-class physicians, Mayo Clinic experts can address questions and support exercise, sleep and stress management goals.
YPO members can learn more about the Mayo Clinic Executive Health services here. Mayo Clinic Executive Health campuses are located in Rochester, Minnesota; Scottsdale, Arizona; Jacksonville, Florida; and London. If you missed the EDGE, register to attend an in-person program at a Mayo Clinic Executive Health campus in Jacksonville or Rochester.
