Is it a Computer? Is it a Treadmill?
How about this for the office of the future – a combined treadmill / computer. What a great idea. Sure might help all of us ‘glued to the computer’ bloggers get some exercise on the job.
The brainchild of Mayo Clinic endocrinologist Dr James Levine, this ‘vertical workstation’ offers exercise for both the mind and the body.
Levine’s team enlisted 15 clinically overweight people to participate in a study using the vertical workstation. The exhaled breath of the volunteers was measured to determin how many calories they burnt while walking on the treadmill and doing office work. The results showed that on average 100 more calories an hour were burnt while walking slowly (1.6 km/hr) than while sitting and working.
Dr Levine, who has focused his whole career on how humans expand energy, determined from this research that “it’s metabolically more effective to put more NEAT — ‘non-exercise activtiy thermogensis’ — into your life to achieve a healthy body weight, than seek organized exercise.”
In other words, walking while you work is NEAT.
So you what do you think?
Want a ‘vertical workstation’?
No problem.
If you already have a treadmill, there are a number of options:
The Walk n Work, a standing desk that fits over the treadmill. ($499)
The Airdesk Laptop Stand that is secured to the treadmill. ($189)
The Treadpute which is still in design phase but will have two levels of computer shelves that fit around the treadmill. ($825)
And for those made of money (no blogger or writer I know), there’s the Steelcase Workstation, an all in one treadmill/workstation. ($6000).
Or you could just follow the lead of this guy and make your own…
For more on making your own, head over to The Treadmill Desk.
Not convinced? Check this out – How I burn 600 calories a day blogging.
Our boss has been hooked on this idea ever since one of my co-workers saw it on the news several months ago – at that time, all of the options were $1000+ and not very realistic for our small office. We are still thinking about getting one to share, but now none of us want to be the guinea pig! The good news is, we were able to parlay this desire to work some fit time into work time into a wellness initiative that lets us take a 20 minute walk “on the clock” every day.
I tried to get my husband to make something like this for me a while back. My concern is that I wouldn’t be able to work very well while walking. I don’t think I could hold my hands steady enough to type or write. But – maybe if I used the Dragon naturally speaking software – that could solve some of the difficulties.
@Trish: Normally, you walk on the tread mill VERY slowly, around 1 mph. Holding steady shouldn’t be a problem.
@Trish: as @Red said, you keep it slow and it works fine.
We’ve started a social network around this topic. Please join us http://officewalkers.ning.com/
Exercise in the workplace is a great idea whether it’s via machine or just getting up and moving.
But I really love this computer / treadmill idea…but like Trisha wonder how I’d manage to type and walk even though as Red says you are walking very slow…
Still, I won’t have to worry as the odds of getting one for my home office are non-existent and as for my day job as a nurse, the walking is never ending…
Brad thanks for the link – am heading over now to visit.
As much as I’d adore a contraption like this, I have trouble even reading on a treadmill. Not sure how typing/surfing would go.
But I suppose if one magically appeared in my office, I’d be willing to give it a shot.
@liz: I have been wondering about getting (male) nurses shoes, as I now walk ~ 10 miles/day while I work. Does that make sense? Any specific suggestions?
@Liberty: At ~ 1MPH, it’s very easy to work – really!
Also, you can get a desk setup pretty simply and inexpensively. Find a treadmill on craigslist or maybe even freecycle and go to Hope Depot where they’ll cut wood for you for free. I was given a treadmill so I have a total of $25 into this. You can see some pics at http://officewalkers.ning.com/. There are a lot more examples at http://www.treadmill-desk.com too.
I do wonder if once I go back to working in an office in November if I’ll be able to bring my treadmill desk. I anticipate objections re: risks of falling as well as it not being a normal business setup. But the very best thing an organization could do would be to encourage and even pay for treadmill desks. I’m a missionary with Mission Aviation Fellowship, so there’s no 4K Walkstation in my future, but I am hopeful they’ll at least let be bring what I have.
Hi Brad, you know in all my years working as a nurse I have never had a pair of ‘nurses shoes’. In fact, the ones I presently wear are a pair of $10 sports shoes from a shoe warehouse – and they are the most comfortable shoes I’ve had for a while…so, I guess, all you really need is a pair of shoes that are comfortable and provide good support for when you’re walking…
Will be interesting to see if your organization will allow you to bring the treadmill desk to the work place — wonder what the regulations are about that — safety etc…
I’m going to have to thing about this again as an option. I now think 1 mph wouldn’t be a problem for me, and mine goes down to .5 too. I’m not trying to lose weight with it, just keep more active and move around more.
I’ve been using my own home-built treadmill desk for a couple of months, now. I have found that 2.3 miles is the perfect gait for me… it keeps the bounce from affecting my typing too much. I’m a writer by day and a programmer in the evenings, so I spend a fair bit of time at the computer. Last weekend, I burned 1600 calories and walked 15 miles in about 8 hours that spanned the two days. The thing is, I was so focused on my work that it wasn’t like exercise at all… I barely noticed that I was walking. Also, when I sit at a desk, I find that I’m easily distracted with wanting to check email and foxnews.com and such, but that my focus is much better when I’m on my treadmill working. I wasn’t expecting that side benefit!!
I finally got me a treadmill desk! I just posted pictures of it on my blog!
I have to walk at at least 1.5 though or my pedometer won’t count it as a step. (I’m trying to walk 10,000 steps a day.)
I vote for the DIY walkstation, but then again I’m a little biased. Here’s a video of my Treadmill Desk . Yeah that’s me, showin how it’s done!
Amazon has a “Treadmill TV stand for just over $100.00.