• Rucking training replaces traditional dating for relationships and business.

• Exercise can increase the camaraderie of a group while helping people multitask and build fitness.

• A growing number of executives are embracing wellness trends to optimize health and performance.

Forget about the work lunch, a coffee or a happy hour. These days, executives throw on a weighted backpack and hike several miles with colleagues and new contacts.

pecking — walking while carrying weights, usually in a wearable pack — has skyrocketed in popularity in the fitness world as a way to increase longevity, build muscle and burn fat.

Now, coaching is replacing Zoom calls and offices as the face-to-face activity of choice to share ideas, develop relationships and create career opportunities. Welcome to the age of noise dating.

NFL player turned entrepreneur Jeff Byers told Business Insider that she hits a treadmill during meetings and invites guests to join her in the exercise during one-on-one time.

Lee Heisman, an Atlanta entrepreneur who is the CEO of several businesses, including Exit Stage Left Advisors, had been sitting for years. For Heisman, the unique characteristics of rucking make it an ideal activity for anyone who wants to work up a sweat, regardless of fitness level. As a networking tool, it can be used to improve connections while fitting a workout into a busy schedule, he said.

“I don’t have a lot of time or interest in sitting in front of somebody at a desk or in a desk meeting and not doing something while we’re doing it,” Heisman said. “We will have our meeting and leave feeling so refreshed. And it really helps your bargaining power when you’re working with someone and they’re in a great mood.”

Health conscious executives are redefining social work

Wellness has already infiltrated the workplace.

Founders, investors, and venture capitalists openly share the lifestyle changes they make to be at the top of their game in business, like intermittent fasting and becoming awake.

Casey Strunk, president of Strunk Insurance Group in Phoenix, said she started taking her fitness and nutrition more seriously in the past few years, and conventional social networking like cocktail hours and lavish restaurant meals weren’t always suitable for his purposes.

“I still longed for that sense of community with people I liked, who were leaders who helped me rise,” he told BI.

He first learned about rucking about a year and a half ago at an entrepreneur conference with Michael Easter, a journalist whose books led a tumultuous revival.

Strunk heard a friend was starting a buzzy networking event, and last fall launched his own local version called Rise & Ruck Phoenix.

Once a month, a hand-selected group is invited to meet at a local park at 7am on a Friday morning for an hour of bashing, followed by 30 minutes of coffee and conversation.

You need an internal connection to receive an invite, and discussions often involve hot topics in the community in areas such as business, economics, and medicine.

“We were very intentional. Although it is by invitation only, we are not exclusive. We are inclusive of anyone who knows someone who is a high achiever in some aspect of their life,” Strunk said.

pecking it’s a natural fit for the ambitious multitasker because it helps improve cardiovascular health, improves strength and stability, and burns fat at the same time.

“For me, rucking was really about optimization,” Strunk said.

The network appeal of rucking

Exercise at work isn’t just a convenient way to multitask in a busy schedule. It is also strategic.

“When you have those endorphins, how can it go wrong when you do this kind of exercise together?” Heisman said.

It can be humiliating; getting in and out of the pack can feel like a bug stuck on your back, Heisman said, and you risk looking out of breath if you go hard.

But rucking is essentially a scalable exercise, which makes it relatively affordable. It can be adjusted for different fitness levels by changing factors such as ruck weight, movement speed and terrain.

Since everyone’s gear is a backpack, it’s not about keeping up appearances; no one can compare weights like I do visually with a barbell.

“The beauty of the ruck is that there’s no blatant sense of ‘you’re doing less than me, or I’m doing more than you’. It’s a lot more about ‘we’re doing this together,’” Heisman said.

Heisman, a fan of ruck meets for years, said he puts a lot of thought into each meet, often starting his guests at a lighter weight, giving them an option to add on the return and even planning the route so that end on a hill. The overall effect is a sense of accomplishment and camaraderie that is hard to replicate in an office.

For Strunk, the meditative monotony of noise is what makes it so productive for a meeting. He and his associates have time to communicate and contemplate.

“I certainly wouldn’t want to be in an F45 or Orangetheory group with other people where we tried to communicate and network. But from a barrier-to-entry perspective, most people can walk for 60 minutes,” Strunk said.

Strunk’s group rucks end up with the trappings of a good social, but he packs coffee with protein bars, shakes and bananas to enjoy in a scenic park instead of pastries or donuts in a gym of conferences.

Still, a little challenge is part of what sets the ruck meeting apart. The increase in heart rate causes you to save your breath, going through the fluff: there is no ruck meeting that could have been an email.

“I think it lends itself to people contributing in more meaningful ways when they have something to say, rather than just talking for the sake of talking,” Strunk said.

Read the original article on Business Insider