feel well

Work It Off

If only your boss would let you take a few hours off in the middle of your work day to go to the gym. Not likely, but now companies do have the option of bringing the gym to the office.

Employers looking to promote the health and well-being of their employees are singing the praises of the Treadmill Desk, a workstation that allows you to walk slowly on a treadmill while working at a desk built around the treadmill.

Dr. James Levine, an obesity researcher at the Mayo Clinic came up with idea of the Treadmill Desk after his research study, entitled NEAT—Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis—concluded that people could work and burn 100-130 more calories by simply walking slowly (at one mile per hour) rather than sitting at a desk. That’s a potential weight loss of 40 pounds a year if incorporated into an eight-hour workday. Simply put, Levine believes people can visit the gym to get their daily requirement of exercise, or incorporate fitness into daily living by making minor changes in the amount of physical activity expended.

“It’s about more than weight loss. It’s about being sharper during the day and being more energized,” Levine said during a Good Morning America television interview in October 2007. The doctor also stands behind the safety of the machine, stating that since the walking speed is so slow, it can be as easy as walking and chewing gum at the same time.

The stand-up workstation is produced by office furniture manufacturer, Steelcase, and retails for $6,500. To read more about Levine’s NEAT study go to mayoclinic.com.

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