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Executive Workouts

Walid Wahab, 46
Principal, Wahab Construction, Miami

Walid Wahab
One with Yoga
Wahab's Yogi: Wayne Krassner
Where: Yoga studios at the holistic Lido Spa at The Standard in Miami Beach
Mantra: Remember to breathe.
[Photo: Daniel Portnoy]

For Walid Wahab, fitness is not about participating in a competitive sport or golfing with the Miami business set. It is all about Ashtanga yoga. "It makes you sweat like there's no tomorrow; the session is so intense. It's so relaxing that you really detach in the sense of business and personal life. It helps me make the right decisions in my life," says Wahab, who has been doing yoga for 20 years.

Wahab says yoga's breathing techniques help him stay calm in stressful business situations and make him a better father, husband and businessman. "Construction is a tough business. Yoga helps me be patient, take a step back, listen and avoid confrontation."

Wahab practices yoga at The Standard. His company played an integral role in transforming the Miami Beach hotel into a hip, boutique hotel and holistic spa in 2006. Wahab was instrumental in the design of the yoga areas as well as connecting hotel management with top yoga instructors he knew in the area.


Brett Craig
President, Transitions Optical, Pinellas Park

Brett Craig is training for the St. Anthony's Triathlon. This will be his third consecutive year competing in the St. Petersburg event and just one of the major competitions for which he is preparing. He typically finishes in the top 30% to 35% in this triathlon. During weekdays, he bikes, spins, runs and takes yoga.

Brett Craig
Spinning His Wheels
The experience: "There's a rush you get athletically both from an endurance perspective as well as speed on the bike. It's also the camaraderie with a unit of people having to work together to be successful."
Cycling is one of Craig's favorite workouts. After Transitions relocated him to St. Petersburg from France three years ago, Craig joined a cycling group, The Training Ride, and pedals with them every weekend in the spring and summer. This year, Craig will be participating in one of the premier cycling events in the world, the Tour de France, as part of his company-sponsored Garmin-Transitions Professional Racing Team.

When he's not doing cardio workouts, Craig is on the golf course. He plays on the ProAm circuit and has an index of 7.7. "I'm all about variety," he says. "I just love the sports environment." Marta Montenegro, 34
Founder/publisher/editor-in-chief, SoBeFit magazine, Miami

Marta Montenegro says her father's sudden death from a heart attack when she was a teen was the turning point in leading her to a fit and healthy lifestyle. Since then, the Venezuelan journalist, fitness trainer and businesswoman has earned master's degrees in finance and exercise physiology. She is an adjunct professor at Florida International University and in 2009 launched SoBeFit, a fitness lifestyle magazine. She just completed a set of DVDs called "The Montenegro Method," a 21-minute daily workout.

Marta Montenegro
Workout Routine
Diet: Mini-meals every three hours. "I don't starve. I eat a lot. I always have food on hand."
Wake-up call: 2:45 a.m.
Bedtime: 9:30 p.m.
[Photo: Steve Shaw Photography, Inc.]
Montenegro is serious when it comes to fitness, beginning each day at 2:45 a.m. when she has the first of three mini-breakfasts. Her first consists of black coffee. She reads magazines and by 3:20 a.m., she's on the treadmill clocking a seven- to nine-mile run. After a second mini-breakfast, she's off to the gym to lift weights for an hour. Two to three times a week, she throws in a kickboxing class.

Montenegro says her fitness routine takes focus and organization — not to mention sacrificing a social life when you go to bed by 9:30 p.m. But she says she thrives on the feeling of well-being.

"It's not just about the 2½-hour daily workout," she says. "It's about what you do the rest of the day — how active are you?" Montenegro encourages her employees to be active, "to get up from your chair and walk over to talk to somebody instead of sending an e-mail."

"If you want a better quality of life, the best supplement you can get is to have a healthy lifestyle, a good diet and exercise," says Montenegro. "When your body is strong, your mind is strong."