The physical benefits of exercise have been beaten to death. You’ve no doubt heard countless times that exercising could help you control your weight, reduce your risk of disease, and help you build an attractive physique. By 2017, that’s likely been thoroughly burned into your psyche.
Yet, most professionals don’t fully understand the tremendous cognitive benefits exercise brings. Here are a few of the most notable benefits (source here):
- Reduced stress
- Increased memory capacity
- Greater concentration
- Higher mental stamina
- More creative outlooks
Improved performance in the above elements would give you a clear advantage over your competitors. The only problem of course, is who has time to exercise? Getting in your car, driving to the gym, warming up, exercising, cooling down, driving home to shower, and then heading back to work could easily be a two-hour affair.
Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be this way. There are a number of innovative coworking spaces looking to make you a healthier and more effective professional. Long commutes between your workplace and gym are a thing of the past. Check out these amazing coworking spaces with top-notch on-site gyms.
#1 Re:creative
Re:creative is one of the most modern coworking spaces in the world. With a contemporary design and cutting edge attitude, just sitting in the coworking area makes you feel sharp. The inspirational environment and unlimited coffee lend themselves nicely to startups and those in the early stages of their entrepreneurial ventures.
As we said earlier, however, Re:creative isn’t all old school hustle. Work/life balance is a priority at this space. Work doesn’t need to leave you feeling burnt out. Members of Re:creative enjoy a number of excellent amenities and privileges.
For one, consider that the space is both cat, and dog-friendly. Playing with your furry friend is a great way to get the blood flowing after several hours of sitting at your desk. Alternatively, there’s also a pool table for those craving human interaction and some friendly competition.
Once you’ve loosened up a bit, don’t forget to check out Re:creative’s fitness center. Accessible 24/7 via keycard, this fitness center is always open on your schedule. Moreover, this isn’t a token gym simply meant to check a box on the coworking space’s amenity list.
The fitness center has a lengthy list of equipment. The cardio collection consists of treadmills, stationary bikes, stair climbers, and ellipticals. Free weights and various strength training machines are also available. There’s even a stretching zone with mats for yoga enthusiasts to reconnect with their practice.
It doesn’t matter which type of exercise aligns best with your goals. You’ll have ample opportunities to keep in shape as a member of Belgium’s Re:creative.
#2 Endeavor
Continuing on over to the United States brings us to South Carolina’s Endeavor. An entire book could be written about the benefits you’ll enjoy as a member of Endeavor. We’ll try to keep things brief for you, however, by sticking to the highlights.
It’s impossible to discuss the Endeavor coworking space without talking about its community. Though the city of Greenville has a population just now nearing 70,000, the quality of Endeavor’s members is surprising. Many of the city’s most elite professionals choose to work from this space.
More importantly, the members of the community are dedicated to sharing their knowledge and cultivating relationships. Much of this networking and skill sharing is done at the monthly community events called “Collaborators & Cocktails”.
Past speakers at these events have included innovative marketing minds from corporate leaders at Southwest Airlines, Chick-Fil-A, and Denny’s. Best of all, these educational networking events are free to members of the Endeavor community to attend.
Just because Endeavor has hosted talks by fast food marketing executives, however, don’t think that you can’t enjoy your Endeavor membership as a health-oriented individual. Endeavor includes a few amenities with its membership to help you maintain your health.
Most notable is its gym. The Endeavor gym includes ellipticals, treadmills, strength training machines, as well as free weights. The gym is also open 24/7 (to office and desk members) and overlooks downtown Greenville.
Beyond allowing you to workout at work, Endeavor also has private showers and baths. Freshening up after your workout while maintaining ample privacy is both convenient and easy at Endeavor.
Bonus tip: Take advantage of Endeavor’s private kitchen to put together a healthy low-cost meal after your workout!
#3 Brooklyn Boulders
We’ve saved the most interesting of the coworking spaces for last. If you’re a fitness enthusiast you’ll love Brooklyn Boulders. True to its name, the Brooklyn Boulders coworking space began in New York. Nowadays, however, there are spaces in NYC, Chicago, Somerville, and Boston.
The reason Brooklyn Boulders is such a unique coworking space, however, is that it was initially designed as an exercise facility offering free wifi. What the founders noticed, however, was that members were frequently attempting to complete work tasks between climbs or sets.
At the time, members would actually sit on mats on the floor to work. Since then, the founders of Brooklyn Boulders have upgraded their facilities significantly. Take Brooklyn Boulders Chicago as an example.
The Chicago coworking area has both tables for members to work at, as well as standing desks. The incredibly unique thing about the standing desks, however, is that pull-up bars are located just a couple feet above you while working.
Lifting your arms along with a small jump is enough to begin a set of pull-ups. Many members do just that when they feel fatigued, stating that the physical exertion reenergizes them.
Of course, as the name Brooklyn Boulders suggests, extensive rock climbing opportunities are available to you as well. There are walls for both beginning and advanced climbers. Yoga and aerobics classes are available for those wanting a change of pace maintaining their active lifestyle too.
While the Brooklyn Boulders coworking spaces lack some of the amenities of more traditional coworking spaces, these spaces are surprisingly affordable. Even in pricey NYC, a monthly membership costs just $135.
Conclusion
Maintaining an active lifestyle doesn’t have to compete with professional success. In fact, joining any of the coworking spaces above would even give you the potential to do both in the same building.
P.S. This post would be too lengthy to cover every coworking space with a gym in detail. Yet, you may not live in or be interested in visiting the USA or Belgium. For that reason, we’ve listed other cities and linked to their respective coworking spaces with gyms below.
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Location: Calgary, Canada
Location: Rotterdam, Netherlands
Location: Puerto de la Cruz, Spain
