Life Time Fitness is more than your typical gym laden with treadmills and ellipticals. Members of the fitness center can lift a few weights, take an elevator to the fourth floor, and finish up a big work project in Life Time Work, a coworkers-only productivity zone.
The high-end coworking space is filled with plenty of seating, long wooden work tables, and an on-site cafe with protein smoothies and energy grain bowls.
The trend of melding fitness and coworking is not a new one, but it has certainly gained traction. Other operators within this niche sector include: Brooklyn Boulders, a rock-climbing gym with coworking spaces; Soma Vida, an office that combines yoga, life coaching, and herbal wellness; and luxury fitness brand Equinox, which debuted its first coworking space in 2016.
It is evident that professionals have largely started valuing convenience and the ability to have a healthy work-life balance. This has led many coworking operators to start including or, at the very least, being in close proximity to such amenities.
Although having a gym within the workplace could seem contradictory to the separation of work and life, members of coworking-gym hybrids see it as a solution and not fueling the prospect of burnout and isolation.
“If I was driving five minutes down the road to Planet Fitness, I’d still be thinking about work,” said Doug Young, founder of a communications consulting agency and member at Life Time. “What’s different is I don’t have to get in the car.”
