Walking While Working: How to Take Your Cubicle from 'Fattening Pen' to 'Fitness Center'

Media Appearances of the Treadmill Lifestyle 

Stroll on! We're doing a marathon

A study reveals that walking a marathon a week (3.7 miles a day) will keep us slim. A writer, a chauffeur and an office worker monitor their daily mileage

New treadmill desk lets you walk while you work

(CNN) Imagine getting a workout and getting in shape, all while on the job. That's what the makers of a new walking station desk had in mind. It's a work station that allows an office worker to use a computer while walking on a treadmill.

CNN.com - Paging Dr. Gupta Blog

CNN, July 09, 2007
A workout for your mind... and body!

Like any good journalist, I try to go into a story with an unbiased view. "Just the facts, ma'am" is my motto. But before I even arrived at the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester Minnesota, to produce a story on a treadmill built into a desk, I was rather skeptical. The story was simple. A doctor named James Levine, had designed a piece of office equipment for the Mayo Clinic that not only housed a computer and a phone, but a full-sized treadmill. The idea was to keep moving while doing your desk job.

Treadmill desks cut obesity

The idea builds on the notion that we all need high levels of spontaneous activity throughout the day, also called non-exercise activity thermogenesis ...

Nonstop Office: Maybe It's Good for You

James Levine believes that desks should be NEAT.

No, not just orderly, but compatible with Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. That's the tongue-twisting term for a design concept: that desks, cubicles and computer stations should allow people to move while they work, burning calories and potentially alleviating the buildup of stress.

Lean plate club: A NEAT idea: Working out while working

New technology, such as computers atop treadmills, may help us burn calories at the office.

Treadmill Office Hits MSM Big-Time - Angela Leitner takes it to the next level

That would be onto the front page of the Daily Life section of yesterday's St. Paul Pioneer Press.

In living color above the fold, no less.

Dr. James Levine at the Mayo Clinic, Tom Niccum (grand panjandrum of the world's best online treadmill-workspace-related resource - Walking While Working) and I could've beaten our bandwagon drums till we were brain-dead but it took 29-year-old Angela Leitner (above, hard at work while striding along on her spiffy new office treadmill) of Mendota Heights, Minnesota to light this firecracker.

St. Paul Pioneer Press | 09/26/2006 - Work that moves them

Some employees find walk-working, which includes a treadmill at the work station, energizes them.

Work out while you work

Perhaps you are familiar with the Mayo Clinic's Dr. James Levine, an obesity researcher and professor, who developed a program called the NEAT Lab (Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis). It deserves attention.

Levine and his team designed a fully functioning office that is like a workout facility. Desks and computer platforms are cleverly mounted on treadmills to create a slow moving workstation. Levine disliked visiting the gym after a long workday. He puts the treadmill on a very slow speed (as slow as 1 mph), slow enough to avoid sweating, but fast enough to burn an extra 100 calories per hour, and up to 1,000 extra per day on his average 10-hour workday.

workandwalk.com

Another fansite: workandwalk.com - Work at your computer and walk at the same time! It's good for you!

The Walking Desk

BookOfJoe started it for me--working at my computer while walking slowly on a treadmill.

Treadmills in the office bring workout to work | www.tucsoncitizen.com ®

Treadmills in the office bring workout to work
RYAN RANDAZZO

The Arizona Republic

No time for a lunchtime lap at the fitness center?

Mayo Clinic researchers say employees can squeeze a workout into the workday if only they'd connect a treadmill to their computers.

It's not a joke.

Gelf Magazine: Slow and Steady

Could a treadmill/desk mashup be the solution to America's obesity problem?

Reuters: Walking While Working

Workers of the world, walk. Fueled by research conducted by a Mayo Clinic obesity specialist, some U.S. workers are spending their days on treadmills or indoor tracks, walking as they talk on the telephone, send e-mails and even hold meetings.

Make Magazine Blog

Who knew there was so much going on with DIY "working while walking" - here are some of the links and resources sent in to us after our post "DIY Exercise office".

Future Tense - February 7, 2006

February 07, 2006
Fighting fat by walking while working

As technology advances, we become more sedentary. At home, we spend more time in front of our computers and televisions. In the office, we type e-mails instead of walking down the hall to talk with colleagues.

Thomas Niccum, president of Twin Cities-based Lancet Software, has decided to fight the motionless lifestyle of a modern white collar worker by rigging his office so he can do most of his work while walking on a treadmill.

Niccum's treadmill-equipped office was inspired by the work of the Mayo Clinic's Dr. James Levine, whose research finds that the more people move around during the course of a normal day, the thinner they'll be. He calls it "NEAT" (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis).

Levine says we need to incorporate more motion into every part of our day.

(links to a real player audio file)

WCCO-TV - 5pm News, February 7, 2006

Walking while working on TV - With Reporter Rick Fuentes. Tom demonstrates his treadmill office.

A good day on the treadmill

As answers to obesity go, the idea two American scientists dreamed up could transform our notion of work.

Instead of having the overweight walk to walk, the pair have designed a desk that enables them to walk at work.

The walking desk - or "vertical workstation" as the researchers prefer to call it - is fixed to a treadmill which enables the office worker to kill two birds with one stone - send emails, check invoices and write reports and burn calories at the same time.

Case study: 'I would use it again'

Prof Levine persuaded me to try his vertical treadmill. Little did I realise that this would lead to endless leg pulling in the office and provide a new meaning to the modern fear that work is a treadmill.

Walking and Working May Be Winning Combination for Weight Loss

A specially designed vertical workstation allowed 15 obese office personnel to work on a standard personal computer while walking on a treadmill. They more than doubled their energy consumption compared with the calories they burned while seated at a desk, said James A. Levine, M.D., and Jennifer M. Miller, of the Mayo Clinic, here.

US company turns office into a gym

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in the US have come up with a novel method of tackling worker obesity.

Dr James Levine has transformed his entire office into an exercise area, with workstations mounted over treadmills and a walking track for meetings.

He came up with the idea by discovering that lots of very light activity caused the body to greatly increase the rate at which it burns calories, a process called non-exercise activity thermogenesis.

The nine-to-five treadmill

Walking while you work can help shift those extra pounds, say scientists. But can you really work and exercise at the same time? The Magazine finds out.

News You Can Use 

Treadmill Workstation Relieves Back Pain

Some experts estimate that at any given time, 35 million people are suffering from back pain.

Fifteen years ago, Bala Vatti was one of them.

A computer engineer, Vatti had spent 30 years sitting for 10 hours a day and rarely, if ever, exercising. As a result, his back hurt so badly he had difficulty leaning over the sink to brush his teeth.

Vatti saw a physician, took physical therapy and practiced stretching at home. But every time he resumed his long sitting days, the pain returned, as acute and intractable as ever.

"I'd see a little improvement, and then I'd sit and it undid the physical therapy," Vatti said.

In his frustration, Vatti took to his garage, tinkering for hours on end with the idea of producing a device that would relieve back pain. The result of his research and experimentation is the SpinoFLEX, a body support system that works by unloading a specific amount of the user's weight.

7 steps to better health

Increasing the amount of unstructured activity in your daily routine can help you achieve a healthy weight as effectively as working out at the gym. Here are ways to do it.

Can't sit still?

People who stand up to work or wiggle in their chairs or fidget in other ways have the right idea. Researchers have found that spontaneous physical activity is as good for our health as structured exercise programs.

Middle-aged people can walk off extra weight - USATODAY.com

As you age, walking can keep the pounds away, according to new research presented at the annual meeting of the Obesity Society, an organization of weight-loss researchers and care providers.

When you get bored with cardio machines . . .

Fitness instructors are modifying treadmills and other gym equipment to help break up the monotony.

Tedious Treadmill

THE workouts that cardio machines get are usually pretty monotonous. Treadmills are walked upon. Elliptical trainer foot beds move forward and back, forward and back. Stair climbers and stationary bikes are pedaled the same way, day after day.

Not a terribly exciting life, even for an appliance.

Treadmill Buying Basics

Treadmills are a large investment financially and in your fitness, therefore much thought and preparation should go into the purchase of your new treadmill.

Daily Activity Reduces Chances Of Dying In The Elderly

Bethesda, MD (AHN) -According to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association Older people who utilize their energy in their daily activities are less likely to die as compared to those who are less active,.

Making Exercise A Permanent Habit In Your Life

The most difficult aspect of getting in the habit of working out is making it a habit you don't even need to think about. For me, I MADE myself go at the exact same time every single day during my lunch break at work so I could never have the excuse that I didn't have time to walk on the treadmill. Oh yes I did and it was during lunch. Day after day after day.

The hottest new exercise equipment: The TV

One piece of exercise equipment is becoming so popular that some people can't bear to face a workout without it: the television. Just as many people are glued to their TVs at home, so they are at the gym, intently focused on CNN or "American Idol."

Almost every gym offers some form of TV entertainment, and the more magnificent the club, the better the options. Uber-complexes feature individual screens integrated into cardio machines, allowing exercisers to watch whatever they like. Others have banks of wall or ceiling-mounted screens, some offering headsets so users can listen to particular shows....

Feel the burn: Scientists have measured the caloric equivalent of some everyday activities

In the 10 minutes it takes to read this article, you'll expend about 15 calories, assuming you're sitting upright and weigh 150 pounds. If you're reading this while lying down, you'll burn even less. If you plan to spend the next hour leaning over a casino table, you'll burn 156 calories. Praying to hit the jackpot? Praying (while kneeling) is 68 calories...

bookofjoe: How to calibrate Your treadmill

How to calibrate a treadmill - 'This is the gold standard!'

bookofjoe: Treadmill Desk Version 2.0 beta

bookofjoe Treadmill Desk Version 2.0 beta
I'm getting so much email begging for a look that I've decided to let you take a peek at what things look like here at bookofjoe World Headquarters...

Walking Desk at MaisonBisson.com

Joe Stirt of BookOfJoe got excited about Levine's treadmill desk and eventually built his own. Mine was especially easy to setup because the arms are perfectly level and large enough to hold that big cherry board I use for the desk surface.

Shangri-La Diet Doc has Treadmill Computer Desk

Seth Roberts (pictured on this page with his treadmill-computer desk) is an associate professor in the Psychology Department at the University of California, Berkeley. He is known as a promoter of the technique of self experimentaton to generate hypotheses and to test the hypotheses generated - in other words, he uses himself as a human guinea pig. One of the things that Roberts has developed using this technique is a weight loss system that he dubs the Shangri-La Diet. Although Roberts says that friends and acquaintances have used the Shangri-La Diet successfully, in the end it comes down to one guy doing something that he thinks caused and helped maintain weight loss.

Study finds that one bout of exercise can boost mood of depressed patients

Just 30 minutes of brisk walking can immediately boost the mood of depressed patients, giving them the same quick pick-me-up they may be seeking from cigarettes, caffeine or binge eating, a small study found.

Simon Says: Move Your Legs. And Arms.

Incorporating activity -- any activity -- into your daily routine will help combat the nasty consequences of sedentary modern living. Says a new book by a Harvard Doctor.

Join the 10,000 Steps Program

Typically, American adults average 3,000 to 5,000 steps a day. Increasing your daily steps can give you more energy, less stress, better weight management and decreases your chance of developing many diseases. Get stepping today and count on feeling great!?

I discovered that my health plan (HealthPartners in Minnesota) has created an on-line way to keep track of your "steps per day" and offer some motivation. For $20 (for members; non-members pay $30) you get a pedometer and a website that will help you along.

Smallstep.gov has great resources

Don't know how to begin on your walk towards health? Start with this website's list of small steps and find a few that work for you.

Dr. Levine's 'Classroom of the Future' 

Research in Motion

Tyler Bicknese, who also intends to pursue a career in the medical field, was impressed with a talk by Dr. James Levine about non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT), which deals with how active a person is throughout the day and how different activities can burn calories.

Levine's research focuses on new treatments for obesity. He has received national attention for his research, particularly the NEAT concept. NEAT is associated with burning calories not by exercise, but during regular, daily activities. Levine has taken his research a step further by designing what he describes as the office of the future, a computer desk stationed at a treadmill, instead of the typical desk and chair.

Audio of the broadcast article

To hear the article by go to the link above, or paste this link in your browser address bar:

rtsp://archivemedia.publicradio.org/5559/news/features/2006/03/14_stachuras_classroom.rm

Mayo obesity study tests theory of kids in motion

ROCHESTER, MINN. -- Katie Knetter barely had time to talk Tuesday morning. Amid the step-lively Dance Dance Revolution machines, the miniature golf course, the two-story jungle gym and in-class work with wireless laptops and iPods, not to mention the assembly of a skeleton kit called Mr. Bones, the fifth-grader had little time to sit still.

Breaking News: NEAT and Video Games 

Company Combines Video Games, Exercise With Healthy Results

SAN DIEGO -- "Exertainment" is a new way to help both kids and grownups keep fit and lose weight.

It is a combination of physical exercise and video entertainment and it is the brainchild of a Sorrento Valley company.

The company uses wireless technology to create games that will keep you moving and losing.

Washington Post - Videogame Treadmill Hybrid Annouced at ICES

GameRunner Inc., a start-up company from Grass Valley, Calif., is betting that gamers are secretly itching to get off the sofa and burn some calories.

Most action games let players run around by pushing a few buttons on a keyboard or a controller. This company has rigged a treadmill to some PC games to let players actually work up a sweat and knock out a few miles during their game sessions.

Jared, the Subway Guy, Blames Video Games and Sedentary Life Style for Weight Gain

Most people know part of Fogle's story, he said, but don't realize he started gaining weight in third grade. "I can trace it back to when I was given the best birthday present of my life: a Nintendo."

At that point, Fogle said, he started playing video games more and riding his bike and playing sports less. He became sedentary. With his love of video games, he developed a love of junk food.

GameRunner website

Fusing exercise and video gaming into one exhilerating and healthy experience for game enthusiasts, the GameRunner is a revolution in medical science and electronic entertainment. The activity of playing a video game generally leaves players physically inactive for prolonged periods of time. The GameRunner solves this problem by allowing players to use their body to play games instead of having the player sit and use only their hands. Naturally this makes playing games on the GameRunner beneficial to your heath by burning calories and keeping your heart rate up.

Breaking News: Exercise Lowers Dementia Risk 

Preventive Maintenance For the Brain

Preventive Maintenance For the Brain

By Alicia Ault
Washington Post

If it seems you're forgetting more as you grow older, you are. Like most other organs in the body, the brain gets smaller as we age, leading to a decline in memory, decision-making ability and verbal skills. That doesn't necessarily mean that you're on a steep downhill slide toward certain.........

New Scientist

Exercise linked to big drop in dementia risk

USA Today

Study finds exercise helps delay dementia

Med Page Today

Exercise Fends Off Dementia in Older Adults

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER

A dose of exercise to thwart dementia
Study adds to belief that lifestyle may delay disease

Annals of Internal Medicine

Exercise Is Associated with Reduced Risk for Incident Dementia among Persons 65 Years of Age and Older

DO IT! - Getting Started 

Joe's Treadmill Desk

Joe details his desk setup, v1.0

Tom's Treadmill Desk

Tom details his desk setup, v1.0

Dr. Levine's original Desk

A photo of the original walk-behind, treadmill desk created by Dr. Levine

Dr. Levine's home desk

A photo of the desk Dr. Levine uses at home.

bookofjoe: Laptop Stand for Treadmill Desk Version 2.0

Joe details an approach to adding a laptop stand to his treadmill desk.

Information: Walking While Working Articles 

Study measures calories

A Mayo Clinic study of obese and lean people's unstructured activity levels suggests that some of us are born to be sitters and some to be standers. But sedentary tendencies can be overcome.

The Office of the Future

"This is a fully functioning office. My entire staff works here," explains James Levine, M.D., as he walks on a moving treadmill that serves as both desk and computer platform. "The idea is to introduce an environment that will encourage activity in the workplace. Just as it's hard to be a couch potato without a couch, it's hard to sit all day at work without a chair or a conventional desk or cubicle.

A Short Introduction to NON-EXERCISE ACTIVITY THERMOGENESIS (NEAT)

Check out this short introduction to the concepts around NEAT.

10 Neat Things About NEAT

The most detailed and data-rich study of obesity ever undertaken was performed at the Mayo Clinic and published January 27, 2005 in the journal Science. Results show that it's metabolically more effective to put more NEAT -- "non-exercise activity thermogenesis"-into your life to achieve a healthy body weight, than to seek organized exercise... This link takes you to the list of 10 Neat Things About NEAT...

Work out while you work

Perhaps you are familiar with the Mayo Clinic's Dr. James Levine, an obesity researcher and professor, who developed a program called the NEAT Lab (Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis). It deserves attention.

Levine and his team designed a fully functioning office that is like a workout facility. Desks and computer platforms are cleverly mounted on treadmills to create a slow moving workstation. Levine disliked visiting the gym after a long workday. He puts the treadmill on a very slow speed (as slow as 1 mph), slow enough to avoid sweating, but fast enough to burn an extra 100 calories per hour, and up to 1,000 extra per day on his average 10-hour workday.

Mayo Clinic Discovers a Key to "Low Metabolism" -- and Major Factor in Obesity

Wiggle, walk, tap your toes, shop, dance, clean your basement, play the guitar to boost your NEAT -- or if you're a scientist, your "non-exercise activity thermogenesis." Mayo Clinic researchers report in the journal Science that NEAT -- more powerful than formal exercise -- determines who is lean, and who is obese. Obese persons sit, on average, 150 minutes more each day than their naturally lean counterparts. This means obese people burn 350 fewer calories a day than do lean people...

The NEAT Lab at Mayo

You can expend calories in one of two ways. One is to go to the gym and the other is through all the activities of daily living called NEAT (Non-exercise activity thermogenesis). It appears that NEAT is far more important for calorie-burning than exercise in nearly everyone.

NEAT is the focus of our laboratories.
We study NEAT in people; young, old, lean and obese.
We study NEAT in populations.
We study NEAT within the brains of humans and animals.
We study how microtechnology can be used to measure and change NEAT.
We study how to change NEAT in our sedentary world.
Our goal is to understand NEAT and to change our world for active health.

BehindTheMedspeak: Walk - Don't Run

The October 2005 issue of the journal Chest published a provocative paper which concluded that walking may provide as good a workout as running - under certain circumstances.

I'm done with today's papers - and a four mile walk to boot

So what, you say?

But consider the following details:

1) The papers in question are the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Charlottesville Daily Progress.

2) Every word of each paper has been read.

3) Each paper's crumpled, torn pages now rest in peace in the mass of newsprint behind and surrounding my treadmill (the current wave height is about two feet - but rising daily).

4) The reading was done between 9:30 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. this morning - while walking four miles on my treadmill.

I cannot emphasize how much better I feel now than in the days B.T. (before treadmill).

BehindTheMedspeak: bookofjoe going mobile - after a fashion

The big news in medical circles last week, about how fit people constantly move around and fat people don't, focused on the study published in Science magazine by Dr. James Levine (above) and colleagues from the Mayo Clinic.

BehindTheMedspeak: A treadmill in the O.R.?

No specialty better lends itself to being performed while on a treadmill than anesthesiology.

When I'm in the O.R. I pace constantly, in a circle around the perimeter of the room.

I walk slowly but steadily.

Tools: Products used to create a Walking Office 

Anthro Sales

Mobile, adjustable carts configurable exactly for your application. Extremely strong, with a Lifetime Warranty and over 75 accessories to add

Treadmill: Smooth Fitness 5.15

Smooth 5.15 folding treadmill sold factory direct at substantial savings. Rated *Excellent* for value - Treadmill Doctor. (Sold out - replaced by the Smooth Fitness 5.25)

Treadmill: Smooth Fitness 5.25

The Smooth 5.25 folding treadmill is the much-anticipated upgrade to the wildly popular 5.15 model. Rated as a best treadmill by Treadmill Doctor for three consecutive years, we had a solid foundation with proven performance to build on. The new Smooth 5.25 takes the best and makes it even better with exciting new upgrades you won't expect to find at such a great discount. Treadmill quality is also improved without compromising affordability. About.com rates the 5.25 a "Top 10 Budget Treadmill."

Computer Cart

Superbly constructed, the Basic Fusion Computer Cart is the ideal choice when mobility is paramount. Each platform adjusts independently, providing versatility and functionality for multiple users regardless of height. Steel clamps secure equipment in place, holding even oversized CPUs with the utmost stability while stationary and in motion. The rubber-coated casters roll smoothly and lock in place easily.

Shelving

Put one together in a few minutes with no tools, and you've got a shelf that you can use alone, or stacked! Steel rod construction holds up to 200 lbs. per shelf. Wedge-lock connectors let you stack another shelf (or two) of the same size on top in seconds. Corner posts have leveling feet for rock-solid stability on uneven floors

Shelving

Industrial, chrome-plated steel shelving at breakthrough prices

Strong and sturdy, this heavy-duty steel shelving holds just about anything that's cluttering your garage, basement, or work area.

Plantronics Wireless Headset

This Plantronics wireless headset makes hands free phone calls possible - a must for the phone-oriented office work-walker.

Ergotron - Monitor stands and desks

Fit Your Workstation to You:
Online Workstation Installation Tool finds the right height of workstation components for each individual.

Contour NoteRiser Product Information Page

Contour NoteRiser - Laptop riser - possibly for using a laptop on a treadmill desk.

bookofjoe: Kensington FlexClip Computer Copyholder

You don't need a treadmill to find this nicely-designed accessory useful.

DashTrak Pedometer

The DashTrak combines features of a pedometer, heart rate monitor and sports watch into one sleek device.

Anthro Corporation, Computer Carts, Computer Desks

Shop for ergonomic office furniture, computer furniture, computer desks, computer carts, and workstations. See AnthroCarts for LAN furniture and editing consoles, too.

In The Media 

Relevant Articles about Work Related Exercise

Older Women Who Sleep Least Gain Most Weight

May 23, 2006 - Women who sleep 5 hours or less per night weigh more on average than those who sleep 7 hours, according to a study of middle-aged women to be presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference on today.

U.S. News: Fidget? No! Walk? Yes!

U.S. News and World Report
By Katherine Hobson

Fidgeting is not enough. That's the message from the author of the much-buzzed-about recent study that threatened to turn us into a nation of obsessive toe tappers and knuckle crackers, all with the aim of burning calories. "Nonexercise activity thermogenesis," a fancy term for exercise accumulated as part of your daily routine, actually involves a bit more. Standing up. Putting one foot in front of the other. In other words, walking (the "wiggling" in the press release got people focused on fidgeting their way to skinniness).

WaPo: Working Out Your Issues

The Latest Twist in the Exercise-Mental Health Movement: Do Crunches While Talking Through Problems

By John Briley
Special to The Washington Post
Tuesday, June 14, 2005

MSNBC: Everyday activity critical to weight loss

Ordinary daily movements can shed pounds, research finds.

Jan. 27, 2005

MINNEAPOLIS - It turns out some couch potatoes spend more time on the couch than others. And that could be a key to obesity.

NatGeo: Some Couch Potatoes Born That Way, Fat Study Says

Are sedentary obese people intentionally lazy? Not according to a new study, which says some people are natural-born couch potatoes. The study also finds that people who are overweight can take some easy steps to shed pounds.

Microsoft Works on Computer Foot Pad - Yahoo! News

Ever feel like you're not making good enough use of your feet when you're catching up on your e-mail or sorting through all those digital pictures you took on that last vacation?