When working long hours at work, there can little time to find time to stay active and stay in shape. If you prefer spending your spare time with friends and family instead of the gym, consider a career change.
Below are ten careers that bring in a steady paycheck and maintain physical fitness.
Key Takeaways:
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The top three jobs that keep you fit are dog walker, certified lifeguard, and registered nurse.
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All of these jobs require physical stamina and strength to be able to do them.
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Working a job that help you keep fit is great way to get a workout in during a busy schedule.
Jobs That Keep You Fit
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Average Yearly Salary: $21,466
Job openings: 6,007Most people do gardening as a hobby during their free time, but nursery plant maintainers get to do it for their job. Nursery plant maintainers grow various types of plants, from dainty flowers to giant fruiting trees. They have a hand in the entire process of growing from seed to purchase.
While gardening might not be considered the most physically demanding hobby, this isn’t the case with being a nursery plant maintainer as a full-time career. It’s hard work. Plants require a very particular environment to flourish as they should.
This is created by landscaping and hands-on plant care. The tasks required of nursery plant maintainers are almost exclusively manual labor, and it’s a position that’ll keep you in top health.
Skills needed:
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Attention to detail
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The ability to identify plants and know what they need
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Organization skills
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Physical strength
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Customer service skills
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Average Yearly Salary: $23,000
Job openings: 2,050Dog walkers generally take the pets of their client’s on scheduled walks to meet their needs while their owner is away. They also provide general care for the dogs, such as giving them food and handling their waste.
The majority of the time as a dog walker is spent going on long endeavors to give the animals some activity, which inherently gives the walker a workout.
In addition to the constant walking that the job demands, dog walks also need upper body strength to control up to 10 dogs at a time. If you decide to take on dog walking as a job, you’ll probably feel comfortable cutting down on time at the gym.
Skills needed:
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Physical stamina
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Good customer service skills
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Comfortable around animals
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Communication skills
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Knowledge of animal behavior
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Average Yearly Salary: $24,205
Job openings: 22,443Certified lifeguards are always on duty to keep watch when people are in the water. Lifeguards are the enforcers of safety rules and responsible for taking action when an emergency occurs.
This could include saving someone who’s drowning and performing first aid on them. Certified lifeguards may also give swimming lessons and be required to write up reports of any incidents.
Certified lifeguards have a massive responsibility as part of their job description, potentially saving a person’s life. To be up for this task, lifeguards need to be in top physical shape if it’s needed.
Before becoming certified, lifeguards must prove their stamina by completing physical fitness training. These fitness abilities are something that a lifeguard will use on the job, even if they don’t have to carry someone from the water.
Skills needed:
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Strong swimming skills
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Quick decision making skills
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Attention to detail
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Physical stamina and strength
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Understanding of first-aid and AED machines
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Average Yearly Salary: $25,000
Job openings: 856An agricultural worker is a farmer who handles the crops and livestock that goes on to be our food. While agricultural workers commonly utilize machinery to do some of their job duties, there is still a ridiculous amount of physical labor associated with the career.
Every crop that leaves a farm needs to be evaluated and harvested by hand, and every animal needs to be fed ritualistically to ensure its proper growth.
Many of these tasks are done in the early hours of the morning, making the position even more physically draining. While working as an agricultural worker is too tough for the average person, it’s a job that eliminates the need to do any extracurricular exercise.
Skills needed:
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Great hand-eye coordination
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Knowledge of agricultural work
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active listening skills
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Physical strength and stamina
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Knowledge of farm equipment
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Great communication skills
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Average Yearly Salary: $28,000
Job openings: 13,304For lovers of dance, working as an instructor of the art can be the ideal career. It allows you to be immersed in the local dance culture and pass on your knowledge to the next generation of dancers.
Dance instructors teach styles that are within their specialties, such as ballet and ballroom. There’s a fair amount of lesson plan creation that goes into being a dance instructor. Teachers must be able to effectively coach students from a range of skill levels.
Many dance instructors’ job is evaluating their students’ performance, but the position involves exercise. Especially with beginner students, dance instructors need to demonstrate their teaching moves, which often leads to spending much of the class moving around.
Skills needed:
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Leadership skills
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Patience
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Physical stamina
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Great communication skills
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Organizational skills
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Average Yearly Salary: $29,000
Job openings: 722When a traveler goes to a city that they’ve never been to before, they want to learn more about the area they’re visiting from someone who knows all the facts. That person is a local tour guide.
Local tour guides set up exciting activities to bring tourist groups that educate them about the city or country that they’re in a while still maintaining the energy of a fun vacation.
Local tour guides need to be extensively familiar with the area they’re teaching about, but their physical fitness must also be up to snuff. Tour guides often combine walking, talking, and leading a group of tourists through busy city streets, usually in the hottest season. That’s an intense daily workout while being on the clock making money.
Skills needed:
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Physical stamina
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Flexibility
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The ability to improvise and adapt quickly
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Being an engaging storyteller
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Knowledge of the tour area
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Charismatic personality
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Average Yearly Salary: $30,000
Job openings: 28,511There are hundreds of people whose diligence and hard work go into making movies and television shows. One of the crucial supporting roles is that of a production assistant. A production assistant supports the variety of other roles that go into video creation. Their tasks could involve things like:
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Distributing call sheets
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Setting up equipment like lights and props
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Running items between set stages
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Assisting with catering and meals for cast and crew
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Responding to requests from set directors
Skills needed:
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Physical strength and stamina
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The ability to work in high-stress situations
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organizational skills
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Enthusiasm
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Communication skills
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Administrative skills
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Average Yearly Salary: $40,000
Job openings: 3,036Being a brick mason is a physically strenuous job that specializes in working with rocks and stone. They work with different tools to shape the pieces into the desired shape, building sturdy structures like buildings and sculptures.
Brick masons are also responsible for fixing old stonework that’s beginning to disintegrate, which involves evaluating the structure and constructing a restoration plan.
While many of their jobs are cutting stones into shape, the position also involves carrying big rocks from place to place for hours. This is far from an easy job. It makes every day on the job a full-fledged workout, but at least you’ll stay in shape all year round.
Skills needed:
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Physical strength and stamina
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Creativity
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Knowledge of safety procedures
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The ability to life heavy equipment
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Average Yearly Salary: $60,279
Job openings: 10,504There are many different kinds of fisherman, but whatever their specialty is, the job involves a lot of physical strength and endurance. Commercial fishermen work on boats to catch various types of aquatic life using equipment, like nets and traps.
It’s an occupation that might only take them to shallow waters but often involves working in the vast seas for months at a time. In addition to being intense mentally, it’s exceptionally physically taxing to work as a commercial fisherman.
Being a commercial fisherman can put you right in the middle of deadly storms, in which you’re relying on your strength and endurance to make it through. Taking on this physical and mental challenge is a lot to bear, but one significant upside of the job is that it’ll keep you in great physical shape.
Skills needed:
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Knowledge of fishing laws
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The ability to operate fishing equipment
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Physical strength and stamina
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Effective communication skills
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Detail-oriented
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Average Yearly Salary: $63,000
Job openings: 297,538Registered nurses are the people who stay by a patient’s side to ensure their comfortable and quick recovery from the injury or illness that brought them into the hospital.
They work directly with these patients and their families to communicate the details of their condition and explain the best choices for moving forward with a healthy lifestyle.
Nurses coordinate with doctors and other healthcare facility staff to formulate treatment plans, perform minor medical procedures, and administer medication. Registered nurses are also expected to assist in emergency medical situations, depending on the type of healthcare facility they work in.
Nurses are on their feet running between various units for most of their shift, which is 12 hours long on average. The benefit to those extensive hours is that nurses get a regular exercise routine with their work.
Skills needed:
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Excellent communication skills
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Empathy
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Excellent bed-side manner
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Problem solving skills
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Physical strength and stamina
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The ability to work with others
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Author
Sky Ariella is a professional freelance writer, originally from New York. She has been featured on websites and online magazines covering topics in career, travel, and lifestyle. She received her BA in psychology from Hunter College.
