Work Out as You Work
May 16, 2007 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
From the door of Charlie’s room you can run (and he often does) a straight line through the short hallway and into the garage via the wooden ramp built for his grandparents. Charlie often runs all the way to the driveway and then back, and sometimes a few times in a row, and often ever he has been sitting and working at his desk for a period of time: As I noted in an earlier post, it seems good to intersperse physical activity with academic learing for Charlie, perhaps to refocus his thinking. Sitting still in a chair—-sitting really still, without hands and legs and shoulders too much a-jitter—is not so easy for Charlie and so I have to wonder how something like a work station containing a computer, keyboard, mouse, and a treadmill might be of use for a student like him who often seems to learn best when in motion.
The workstation was developed by the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for sedentary office workers to use—to work out while they work. The May 15th BBC notes that, according to the workstation’s designers, someone might lose up to 30 kg (66 lb) a year if they use it (the BBC article also contains a photo of the workstation). Today’s Living the Scientific Life notes that the 15 volunteers burned an average of 191 calories per hour while “working out and working,” vs. 72 calories an hour while sitting at their desks. I would also be curious about how their work productivity, thinking processes, and so forth might have been affected.
Makes me wonder a bit: What if Charlie’s classroom had trampoline floors—–just a thought.
Alex can do fast and HARD Maths calculations mentally when in rapid motion. He doesnt seem able to do this when sitting down.He’s still good but not brilliant then.
You are an amazing mother to be able to tie together what I think are two totally separate ideas and come up with something that makes a lot of sense. If Charlie gets one of them workstation, workout contraptions, I’ll be coming to your house soon!
Sometimes I’ve thought Charlie would just do better learning if he could stand up more—–sitting in circle time has never been easy.
Ah, circle time. *shudder*
Luckily Patrick does a lot of his learning standing up. (but he’s only in kindergarten so I guess that’s not so unusual at this point)
Charlie has gotten better at sitting over the years but he does need to get up after 10 or so minutes. He’s not exactly hyper, but needs to re-regulate. In the past, an OT put him on a sensory diet with bins of beans and rice to put his hands in and those were not a good idea—-I realize that Charlie really nees to get out of his chair and work out his whole body!
We use an exercise bike with a book holder for my daughter. She loves to read and ride!
Kristina, is it possible that we are related (or at least our sons)?? We are seeing much of the same sort of thing with Nik. He needs LOTS of gross motor activity to regulate himself more consistently. (Hm, realization just hit me—that’s why I perceive that he does “worse” in the winter time! DUH!) Niksdad and I are making a concerted effort to get Nik to the park after school every chance we get. Not only is it great for Nik’s developing balance and mobility but he’s getting so much sensory input. He’s even starting to avercome some of his tactile defensiveness toward grass and wood chips. (Of course, that has it’s drawbacks, too, as Nik is now interested in EATING them! UGH.)
Charlie and I have spent so much time in the park—on walks round the neighborhood—-just now he was having a hard time going to sleep and, at certain periods, I urged him to get up and run around and then back to bed: This somehow resettled him and he’s gone to sleep. Charlie was always in motion while he was in utero.