You’re Using Your Body Like a Rental Car and It’s Breaking Down

Andre Karl Misso
Oct 18
5 min read

Your body, like a car, is used to power through your ambitions.

You’ve got goals. You’ve got meetings. You’ve got deadlines. You’re grinding hard because you're building something big. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: if you're a high-performing executive between 30 and 60, your biggest asset, your body, is probably running on fumes.

You treat your body like a vehicle to power through your ambitions. But unlike your car, your body doesn’t have a dashboard warning light that screams “Overheating: Strength Failing. Fatigue Rising. Hormones Off. Muscles Vanishing.” And even if it did, would you listen?

Most don’t. Until it’s too late.

Let’s be real! Your physical well-being is silently degrading while you're pushing for greatness. You're not lazy. You're just distracted. And it's costing you.

The Body: Your First and Most Important Business Asset

Your body is not a machine—it’s the entire infrastructure. It’s the logistics hub, the productivity engine, the executive suite. Without it operating at peak, your mental sharpness, emotional resilience, and spiritual depth all suffer.

But the physical foundation? That’s where things start breaking down first and it happens gradually, so you miss the warning signs.

Here's What You’re Likely Dealing With Even If You Don’t Notice It

1. Strength Loss and Muscle Atrophy

Strength loss affects posture, stamina, injury risk, and even metabolism

After age 30, you begin to lose 3–8% of muscle mass per decade. After 60, the rate accelerates. It’s called sarcopenia, and it’s a slow, quiet thief. But strength loss isn't just a gym problem it affects posture, stamina, injury risk, and even metabolism.

A study in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle (2014) highlighted that muscle loss not only impacts mobility but also increases the risk of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular issues.

You may still look okay in a tailored suit, but underneath, you're slowly getting weaker. That power walk to the next pitch meeting? It's not as effortless as it used to be, is it?

2. Weight Gain and Hormonal Changes

Weight gain is deeper than just eating too much or not moving enough.

High performers often think weight gain is just about eating too much or not moving enough. It's deeper than that. Stress, lack of sleep, and poor eating habits hijack your hormones (cortisol, insulin, and testosterone).

When cortisol stays elevated (from chronic stress), it increases fat storage especially around your midsection. Combine that with less movement and more convenient, processed food, and your body's internal chemistry starts working against you.

The American Journal of Epidemiology (2008) found that long work hours and high stress correlate directly with weight gain, especially in men.

And it's not just cosmetic. Visceral fat (the stuff that wraps around your organs) raises your risk of heart disease, stroke, and even certain cancers.

3. Sleep Debt and Recovery Deficit

Executives often wear sleep deprivation like a badge of honor. But the body doesn’t play that game.

The CDC reports that more than one-third of adults don’t get enough sleep—and sleep deprivation is linked to memory problems, mood disorders, and metabolic dysfunction.

Sleep is when your body repairs itself: hormonally, neurologically, and physically. When you skip it, you’re short-circuiting your own operating system. Long-term? It kills productivity more than it fuels it.

4. Poor Nutrition and Energy Fluctuations

You wouldn’t put watered-down fuel into a Ferrari.

You eat what’s fast. What’s nearby. What fits between calls. But micronutrient deficiencies don’t show up overnight. They erode your energy, immune system, and focus over time.

Low magnesium, B12, Vitamin D, Omega-3s, these deficiencies are rampant in busy professionals and directly affect brain performance, inflammation, and cardiovascular health.

You wouldn’t put watered-down fuel into a Ferrari, right? Yet that’s exactly what happens every time you skip a real meal or grab a sugar-heavy snack.

5. Movement Deficiency and Sedentary Decay

You’ve probably heard that sitting is the new smoking. How often do you actually get up and move?

A 2017 study from the Annals of Internal Medicine found that prolonged sitting increases the risk of early death even if you exercise regularly. The key is movement throughout the day, not just a one-hour gym session.

When you don’t move enough, circulation slows, joints stiffen, and cognitive function dips. Your brain and body both start dragging.

6. Lack of Physical Relaxation and Parasympathetic Recovery

Relaxation is non-negotiable for physical renewal.

You schedule meetings, but do you schedule recovery?

Downtime isn't laziness, it's biology. You need moments of parasympathetic activation, these are times when your body isn’t in “go” mode but “heal” mode. That’s when digestion, detoxification, and cellular repair happen.

Harvard Medical School notes that chronic stress without recovery time weakens the immune system and accelerates aging at a cellular level.

Relaxation, whether it’s breath work, a nature walk, or time off screens, is non-negotiable for physical renewal.

The “Use Without Return” Trap

You wouldn't keep drawing money from a bank account without ever depositing into it. But that's how most hyper-busy high-performers treat their body.

You're demanding peak performance from an engine you're not maintaining. You're running the vehicle hard, ignoring the oil light, skipping the tune-ups and then wondering why it’s sluggish.

Here's the equation you should be using: Physical energy → Mental clarity → Emotional control → Leadership excellence → Business results

It all starts with the physical.

What Needs to Change (Without Wrecking Your Schedule)

These are strategic investments in your life.

You don’t need to overhaul your life. You need a system that fits into it.

Schedule resistance training like a meeting. Twice a week minimum. It’s non-negotiable for muscle preservation and metabolic function.
Walk more. 10-minute walks after meals lower blood sugar and improve digestion.
Sleep 7+ hours. Block it off like it's your biggest client call. Because it is.
Simplify nutrition. High-protein breakfasts. Real food. Hydrate.
Microbreaks during the day. Stretch. Breathe. Reset.

These are not hacks but strategic investments. You’re not adding to your plate. You’re protecting the plate everything else rests on.

You Can’t Outsource This

You’ve probably delegated everything else like your calendar, your travel, even your meal prep. But your physical health? That’s on you.

The cost of ignoring your body doesn’t show up today. It shows up when you’re 50, and you’re exhausted. Or 60, and you're stuck managing preventable conditions. Or when your brain slows down, and you wonder why things feel harder than they used to.

You don’t need to train like an athlete. But you do need to treat your body like a long-term asset, because it is. It’s not just a vehicle to get you where you're going. It is the business. Without it, nothing moves.

So stop driving your body like a rental. Treat it like the high-performance machine it is before it breaks down.