Fit to lead: Utah business presents the 2008 Fittest Execs.

• Author: Moon, Jacob
• Position: Special Report

The real purpose behind this inaugural Fittest Execs program was twofold. First, we at Utah Business thought it was time for a bit of old fashioned physical competition. Just like a healthy BYU/Utah rivalry (but with less blood), we wanted to put the state's most physically fit executives head to head in friendly opposition.

Second, and most importantly, we realize that fitness and health care have become of utmost concern among 21st Century corporations. Business leaders have realized that not only does fitness and healthy living translate to a more comfortable bottom line, but it creates a real sense of productivity in the workplace. Summed up, physical fitness in all its forms equals healthy employees who are able to handle the stresses of the job on a much more manageable scale.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"There are lists of hundreds of benefits of fitness that you can look at on the Internet, but the key is to get out and move your body," says Mark Fuller, four-time Olympian and area manager of Golds Gym.

Because of these compelling factors, it is essential that corporations encourage healthy living throughout the organization, and there is no better way to accomplish that than from the top down.

"Executives are individuals who lead and direct large business efforts," says Dr. Frank Yanowitz, medical director at the Intermountain Health and Fitness Institute. "The idea is the more fit the executive the more productive and able that individual is to encourage people working under him or her to excel, to improve their own health and fitness, to reduce health care costs of companies, and to enable. people to enjoy their lives a lot better."

Thanks to the team at the Intermountain Health and Fitness Institute at LDS Hospital, we were able to measure the fitness of the Utah executives who participated in our program. The details of that evaluation are listed below and profiles of the 2008 Fittest Execs are found on the accompanying pages.

They sweated, they strained, they sprinted. And in the end, it all paid off with victory. Take a glance at this year's fitness champions:

Deborah Eppstein, President and CEO, Q Therapeutics

When Deborah Eppstein, president and CEO of Q Therapeutics, was in high school, the only sport girls could participate in was cheerleading, so she found herself cheering on the sidelines. The day she started at Grinnell College in Iowa was the day she found herself in the game. "I joined the swimming team, field hockey and even basketball," she says.

And the game didn't stop after Eppstein...