It’s 1:30 p.m. on a Thursday, and while my co-workers are toiling away at their desks, I’m in a tank top and sneakers, halfway through a workout on an elliptical machine. I’m worried my editor is trying to get ahold of me. I hope I haven’t forgotten any scheduled meetings. I have 40 more minutes until I have to rush back to the office. I haven’t eaten lunch.
This trip to the gym is an experiment. I’m part of the 23 percent of adult Americans with full-time jobs who, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, actually bother to exercise regularly during the week. To fit it into my schedule, I usually do it in the morning, at an obnoxiously early hour. If I wait until the evening, I find that I’m either too tired, too lazy, or both. But there’s an elusive third option I’ve always wanted to try: to become one of those people who exercise in the middle of work.
