Now I’ve seen it all! The newest solution to helping supposedly sedentary workers become more active: cubical treadmills. It’s exactly what is sounds like, a treadmill in your cubicle at work to replace a chair.
” In 2005, Dr. Levine led a study showing that lean people burn about 350 more calories a day than those who are overweight, by doing ordinary things like fidgeting, pacing or walking to the copier.”
And thus, the treadmill desk became popular (although Dr. Levine did not invent the treadmill desk, it was invented by Seth Roberts, a professor at Berkeley). But it’s now seen as a way to help you burn those extra calories which will of course lead to weight loss, right?
I can’t really pinpoint why this rubs me the wrong way. I guess it’s because I see this as taking our society’s obsession with fitness and weight loss to the newest extreme. Not to mention if I worked in a cubical-type work environment and someone was next to my cubical in one of these things it might just drive me crazy.
For those of you who read this blog regularly, you know I don’t have anything against exercise (I myself workout), but I see the treadmill desk as something that is more likely to contribute to the Gotta loose ten pounds syndrome than anything else.
Your thoughts cheeseburger lovers?
…these must be the desks they have in HELL. Yes, I saw it on TV..20/20 or something…all the people in this one office have switched to the ‘treadmill desks’.
Needless to say: I hate this idea.
Like trying to walk and do anything else at the same time, you’re bound to get distracted at some point. Then addin mental chatter…how many miles have I gone? wow, 3.2 mph isn’t too tough to maintain…where did I put the figures for this quarter…?
And it reminds me a little too much of those hamster wheels.
I would LOSE MY MIND if I had to walk while trying to freaking type. How about a recumbent bike for my desk that would power my computer with self-propelled energy? That sounds much more fun and productive than mindlessly walking a work-treadmill. Talk about bringing two awful things together in one (working in a cubicle and walking on a treadmill). Blech.
I DO like how the table seems to adjust in height to match your needs; I wish my current desk would do that!
Why not just be honest about it and make it in the shape of a large hamster wheel? The “rat race” jokes would tell themselves.
If i wanted a job that involved physical activity, or was capable of having a job that involved physical activity, then (here’s a shocker): i would have a job that involved physical activity. As it stands (ha! i slay me), my fibro prevents that being feasible. But hey: workman’s comp. π
When I used to work help desk, a coworker loaned me her mini-cycling machine. It was very small and lightweight and you cycled while you sat. I also brought light weights to work and lifted them during down times and bounced on a giant exercise ball instead of sitting in an office chair. Not only did it help keep me awake (I worked third-shift), it also helped kill the boredom and allowed me to get some of my workouts done while getting paid, opposed to doing them on my own time.
Still, the treadmill idea seems A) really, really expensive and B) pretty extreme. An exercise ball, light weights and a mini-cycling machine are all pretty small and easily hidden below a desk. That machine is pretty ginormous. I have trouble reading while on a treadmill; I don’t know how I’d be able to type and multitask while on one.
I don’t know, I’m kindof torn. I’d like the opportunity to move more during the day. Unfortuantely my job pretty much dictates that I spend all day sitting on my ass. I’m also not really good at anything that involves not sitting on my ass. So I like the idea of being able to work while working out.
I like the idea of powering my own PC witha bike WAY more than a treadmill though. Also, uhm… what if you like, needed to sit down or something? Or have a conversation?
Also, what if you perspire a lot and got smelly? Would you then have to have convos about “personal hygene” because wtf.
I honestly would like it, but I have killer sciatica, and it’s the sitting at work all day that gets me. The walking would probably be a very good thing in my case.
It’s also likely to annoy the crap out of your coworkers and is probably not something you could do all day.
And it reminds me a little too much of those hamster wheels.
Ding ding! Gods that’s a bad idea.
Employers are going to have to decide if they want production or exercising workers, because they aren’t going to be able to have both. There is no way I could do accurate data entry at the rate my old employer wanted it done while walking on a treadmill. It’s just like employers that emphasize quantity of work over quality of work – I can give you quality work, but if you want an enormous amount of work done, the quality of it is going to suffer. So, if you want me to exercise while I’m working, don’t count on getting a lot of good quality work out of me.
Also, what if you perspire a lot and got smelly?
We have an on-site company gym. They just sent out an email recently about a new half-hour aerobics class you can take there. Problem is, it’s at noon. Who wants to get all sweaty on their lunch break and then have to shower and then re-fix their hair and makeup?
Well, that would be perfect for me as I have thyroid issues and NO time…
*looks on longingly and drools*
Despite being a woman and all, I am not very good at multitasking, so if I had to walk all day I wouldn’t get that much work done.
Also, although moving around a bit now and then is good for mind and body, I don’t think my body would enjoy constantly moving throughout the working day.
I agree that the cubicle treadmill is a ridiculous idea. It just adds another avenue for office workers to develop repetitive strain injuries. I mean – a lot of office jobs are enough like being a hamster on a wheel already.
You can get a mini-bike thing for $20 on Amazon. Much cheaper than a treadmill. I use mine while watching TV.
[i]βIn 2005, Dr. Levine led a study showing that lean people burn about 350 more calories a day than those who are overweight, by doing ordinary things like fidgeting, pacing or walking to the copier.β[/i]
This is the part that gets me. What, fat people don’t fidget or pace or walk to the copier? They sit in their little cubicles and beg thin people to do their copying for them so they don’t have to get off their fat asses? Seriously, WTF?
I am fat, and I have a sendentary desk job. But I walk to work, home for lunch, back to work, and home after work, which is more exercise than most of my co-workers get all day. I walk to and from the copier just as many times as my two stick-thin co-workers who do the same kind of work I do. Are they burning more calories than I am? They must be, because they also seem to eat a lot more than I do.
Would having a treadmill at my work station make me as thin as they are? Not a chance. Would it make me thinner than I am now? Probably not, or if so, only temporarily. Would it seriously hamper my lightning-paced work production and stress me out about my productivity as well as my calorie-burning? Definitely.
1. cubical is an adjective. CUBICLE is a noun.
2. wouldn’t a truly mobile workstation move? these are stationary. someone in their ad copy department doesn’t quite understand english.
3. i would personally love to have one of these in class. i zone out all the damn time from poor air circulation and sitting still. i love to walk.
Dr. Levine: “Once again, you’re put your keen and penetrating mind to the task and as usual come to the wrong conclusion.”
All this BS about “350 calories a day” burned by fidgeting etc. just annoys the crap out of me. I’m a fidgety person; I’m always wiggling or tapping or scribbling or getting up to walk across the room for no reason but because I’ve been sitting still too long (the rare exception is when I’m reading a book). Guess what? I’m still fat! Guess what else? I’m not a freaking bunsen burner!
Ahem. Faulty science aside, WTF are these people thinking? How are people supposed to type, talk, or focus? This is as dumb as the hospital bed treadmill.
I’m torn too. While I doubt I’d be as productive or be able to focus as well, based on past attempts to read while on a treadmill, I do get restless at my desk a lot. It would be nice to have an alternative to just sitting there.
I agree with everyone who mentioned hamster wheels.
What bothers me about this isn’t so much the weight part of it, but rather the multitasking part; why do we have to make sure we’re being productive with our bodies as well as our minds while we’re at work? Why not let everything be in its proper place – exercising while exercising, working while working?
Wow. Talk about exercise obsession. I have to wonder, if you are exercising on a treadmill, and even WORSE, lifting weights as well, how the HELL are you concentrating on work? My job involves -GASP!- thinking, sometimes more in depth than others but it’s not something I can do on autopilot. I’m sure most jobs are like that, unless they are physical rather than mental and then, well, you are already doing something physical.
I think the country (maybe the world) has gone a little crazy with this stuff.
Okay, honestly I think this is genius…but I work at home. I have this rigged up on my home treadmill, and I work on my laptop while I walk on the treadmill. It’s great. However, it could quite possibly drive everyone in an office completely mad with the noise issue, even though treadmills are relatively quiet. Treadmills in cubes? Offices, maybe…but cubes? Madness.
I could see this if it were a job that mostly involved talking on the phone. I actually think better when I am literally “on the move,” so for something like that… When I worked in telemarketing, I was the one in the pod (with 15 other telemarketers) that paced constantly while talking to people. When I sprained my ankle and couldn’t pace while on the phone, my sales definitely suffered. Go figure. LOL
The pace that most of the people in the video were walking looked pretty easy to maintain without getting winded or sweating (of course, I hardly ever sweat except when I’m having a hot flash and I don’t have to be exercising for THAT LOL). It would also definitely help me get through the after-lunch “warm puppy” (what happens when a puppy has a full tummy and gets warm? *grin*) that always slowed my production down for an hour or two every day when I worked outside the home.
BUT, typing, data entry, etc. would definitely suffer. I can’t even text while walking, I don’t even want to think about trying to put together presentations, type correspondence, etc. while walking on a treadmill, even at a snails pace!
I wouldn’t mind having the OPTION to, say, set up some of the scientific journals I need to read on a properly-designed stand and then walk while I read (I would probably stay more alert). However, like a lot of things designed to bring “Health” to the workplace (or so they call it), it smacks of coercion.
My workplace recently started talking about a “Wellness Initiative.” While so far the only things have been opt-in brown-bag talks about flu season and diabetes, I’m still a little scared that the tape measures may come out and those of us who are a bit larger be bullied to reduce.
It would save time ! Instead of having to go
to the gym after the office, the gym is IN the
office. I’m all for it !!!
If I had to walk/run while I worked, I can tell you I’d be eating all damn day. Not to mention, my stamina for actual work would, at least at first, dwindle to just an hour or two per day.
I mean, who thinks up this stuff? And would they be willing to use them themselves? (Signs point to NO)