Some people now want work to come with a workout. A man in Fairfax, Va., works two days a week at a co-working space in a rock climbing gym. The gym’s marking director says it promotes productivity.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Working from home is so 2020. So what’s the next trend in remote work?
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Yeah, forget coffee shops. Some people now want work to come with a workout.
MIKE BLILEY: I feel like I can put in a day that’s 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. And I can get a lot of work done and also stay active and stay physically fit.
FADEL: That’s Mike Bliley, an attorney from Fairfax, Va., who works two days a week at a coworking space in a rock climbing gym.
BLILEY: It makes the workday more enjoyable. It takes the edge off a little bit. So I find that when I finish up a climbing session and start work, I feel like my brain is already mentally primed with that creative energy. So I’ll notice that I’m more productive in that session immediately afterwards.
MARTÍNEZ: Jeff Shor is the marketing director of Sportrock Climbing Centers in Alexandria, Va. He insists working out of a gym promotes employee productivity.
JEFF SHOR: Getting your blood pumping, reconnecting with your body, feeling physical sensation is a great way to pull you out of this really intense, cerebral workflow and allow you to come back in recharged and to be able to work productively.
FADEL: For Bliley, working at the gym is self-care.
BLILEY: The biggest stressor that I’ve been dealing with over the last few years is just trying to find that semblance of work-life balance, which is famously not great for attorneys.
MARTÍNEZ: And it’s a lot easier to get a workout done when you’re already at the gym.
BLILEY: Being able to get all of these leisure activity in in a day where I wouldn’t be able to do so. It really just helps with that balance.
FADEL: Jeff Shor hopes more people give working at the gym a try.
SHOR: We should all think about how much of our lives are spent sitting in a kind of stagnating way and how the integration of movement into our lives can be really impactful and beneficial. And I find great value in it.
FADEL: I wonder if NPR would let us do our jobs from the gym? Although I prefer a bakery, but whatever. What do you think, A?
MARTÍNEZ: Well, see – I consider the world to be my gym, Leila. I mean, the ground is right there. Do some pushups. I mean, why not? It’s right there. What’s the problem?
FADEL: I guess the world is my gym, too. But I usually run to the bakery, get cake and then walk home.
MARTÍNEZ: See – at least you’re doing some exercise. You’re running to the bakery.
FADEL: True, true.
(SOUNDBITE OF OWEN PHILLIPS’ “HAPPY”)
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