Disease Proof

To be honest this article seems like an idea for a beer commercial—postal workers, FedEx drivers, and contractors the same as professional athletes? It’s not as crazy as it sounds. Bradley Melekian of The New York Times explains many blue-collar workers are getting fit to better endure the rigors of their jobs:

But today, a growing number of men and women whose jobs are unrelenting marathons of exertion have realized that they have more in common with professional athletes than deskbound professionals…


…To be able to run up flights of stairs with a hundred pounds of roofing material on his back, John Entrekin, a self-employed contractor in Cherry Hill, N.J., hired a personal trainer. Several nights a week, he undergoes a cross-training regimen at a branch of Velocity Sports Performance, a nationwide personal-training facility.

Melekian explains that many employers are embracing this trend and hiring on-site athletic trainers to help these “industrial athletes” develop exercise routines.

Even though this still makes me think of construction workers in plaid flannel downing cold ones after a hard day’s work, I totally relate to the trend. Having worked on my feet during most of my adolescence, I can honestly say I was never more fit than when I was stocking shelves and unloading boxes. And to make my job easier, I did a lot of exercising.