At the January TMT peer group meetings in Nashville the special guest speaker was Tony Horton, an American fitness trainer best known for the boot camp style P90X home fitness program. Tony invited us join him for a workout early in the morning on the day he was to speak to the group.

Not being the fittest, the thought of working out in public was a bit scary, however I figured I would give it a try. Tony started by telling us we would be doing his new P90X3 workout which he designed for the military (He called it “The Warrior” workout) and it was going to be 30 minutes in length. He took us through stretches, yoga and then exercises. After 30 minutes I was tired, winded but satisfied to have made it. Then he said the warm ups were over and it was time to start...oh crap...we hadn’t started yet?? When showing us each exercise there was also a modified version for those needing a lower level (excellent, no handstands or crazy moves expected from me!!). I will be honest; my personal goal was to survive 10, maybe 15 minutes so I could say I had at least tried. BUT I MADE IT!! I completed the whole workout—I was pumped (tired, winded, sore...but pumped!!).

As a speaker, Tony was funny, inspirational and VERY motivating. He talked about his early life and how he wasn't athletic growing up. Moving to California to chase his dream of acting he became fascinated with the gym scene; hoping improved fitness would help him land acting roles and meet girls!! Eventually his new fitness regime led him to training celebrities, the first one being Tom Petty.

Regarding nutrition he stressed the importance of eating properly. He pointed out that every meal is either your meds or your poison. He said to look down at your plate and ask yourself “would my great great grandparents be able to tell what this food is?” If not, you shouldn’t be eating it.

Tony shared his driving desire to continuously improve himself—in business, health and life. How he enjoyed reading self help books and attending seminars to learn new things. In order to get better personally, you need to learn a new skill and then practice the crap out of it so you can eventually walk the talk!!

His advice for achieving fitness and healthy living:

    1. Know why you want it and have purpose.
    2. Variety - to change up your workout routine so you don’t plateau
    3. Consistency - make a schedule and stick with it.
    4. Intensity - keep pushing yourself to improve
    5. To find like-minded people to help hold you accountable.

Pretty sound advice in the business world as well, wouldn’t you agree?