Say ‘hey’ to Chris, an Urban devotee with a penchant for Sports massage. Although you’ll usually find him cruising the capital on his bike or travelling all over the country for work, he kindly sat down with us during some spare moments to talk through how he tries to strike a balance between wellness and big city life.

Routine is key

‘As a Sales Manager, I spend a lot of time travelling up and down the UK, meeting with clients and researching potential new ones. The rest of my time is filled with general admin work, interspersed with planning meetings for the future – so it’s fair to say my brain always gets a great work out.’

The fluid nature of my job and the amount of travelling I do makes me crave routine outside my work life, so I have a really rigid structure down to a ‘t’. I rise at 6 and do some basic cardio and stretching and, if there’s time, I’ll head to my boxing gym for HIIT training. After hitting punch bags, I’ll attack the inbox and work phone, have breakfast and then head out to work.’

Bikes for life

‘In my spare time you’ll be able to find me on some kind of bike – whether it’s a pushbike or a motorbike. I started up a cycling club in East London with some friends about five years ago and lead rides and the social programme for the group. It’s great to have a hobby that you can share with other people that have the same passion for as you.’

As Chris mentioned earlier, he spends a lot of his working day travelling, so having two wheels makes the challenge of the daily commute that little bit easier. ‘Travelling around town and nationally can be so stressful, especially with the delays and cancellations we all know and hate.’

Wellness for the win

‘I see wellness as an investment in myself and I don’t regret what I spend. I reckon, over a month, I’ll splash out £100 – £150 a month on it – including massage.’

‘The first time I used Urban was to help maximise my recovery time when I had two cycling events in quick succession. You’ll almost always find me booking a Sports or Deep Tissue treatment purely because of the amount of physical activity I do. However, I’d really like to book myself one of more therapeutic treatments then next time I’m feeling run down or recovering from an illness. Also, because the treatment happens at home, I know I’ll simply be able to finish the massage and go straight to bed, surrounded by the candles I was burning and my own playlist!’