shell script: run a block of code in the background without defining a new function?

Question

Is there a way to 'inline' a block of code the run in the background without defining the block as a function? I was thinking something like:

( do something; a bit more; finally this ) &
( more things; etc ...; ) &
wait
proceed ... 

I suppose it's only one line extra define a single-use function and then immediately use it but I was curious and didn't find anything searching.

Answer 1

#!/bin/sh
{
    echo "sleeping for 5 seconds"
    sleep 5
    echo "woke up"
} &
echo "waiting"
wait
echo "proceed"

Output

$ ./bgblock
waiting
sleeping for 5 seconds
woke up
proceed

Answer 2

I could do it with something like this:

#!/bin/sh
{
    echo "sleeping for 5 seconds"
    sleep 5
    echo "woke up"
} 1>/dev/null 2>&1 &