Just what we need.
Posted on 05/15/2007 3:28:23 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Think work feels like a treadmill now? Try a new desk designed at the Mayo Clinic.
They built what they called a "vertical workstation" -- a desk fitted over a standard treadmill. They persuaded 15 obese people to work at this treadmill-desk and measured how many calories they burned.
If an overweight office worker used this vertical workstation all day, every day for a year, he or she could lose up to 66 pounds (30 kg), the researchers report in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
James Levine and Jennifer Miller measured how many calories their 15 volunteers burned using exhaled breath but did not determine if the volunteers lost weight.
On average, their overweight volunteers burned 100 calories more every hour while walking slowly -- at 1 mile per hour (1,6 km per hour) -- than while sitting in a chair.
"If obese individuals were to replace time spent sitting at the computer with walking computer time by 2 to 3 hours a day, and if other components of energy balance were constant, a weight loss of 20 to 30 kg a year could occur," the researchers wrote.
The researchers said their desk costs approximately $1,600.
"With population body weight, workplace sedentariness and healthcare costs projected to increase, interventions that allow people to work and yet be active could help reverse obesity," they concluded.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
I’m already working as hard as I can just to stay up with my workload. Now they literally want to put a treadmill in my workplace? Multi-tasking is just a way to do several things half-assed all at once. This just adds to the burden.
What if you had to generate your own electricity? You could eat like a sumo wrestler and lose weight.
Mrs VS
Just what we need.
I think these “Mayo researchers” need to report to the Mayo Clinic Surgery Department and consult with a surgeon to have their cranial-rectal inversions repaired.
I’m all for weight reduction and exercise. But you go to work to WORK. It is impossible to work efficiently while walking on a treadmill!
Working, using a computer, writing, etc. while standing up ? People having to be on their feet all day ?
Why didn’t they create desks around incumbent bikes so people could pedal all day long ?
Seems like it would be more comfortable to me.
Rat race!
Just what we need at work...smelly, sweaty colleagues. Good thinking Hold the Mayo Clinic.
And when management finds out you can generate your own electricity, you’ve had it.
I remember reading that Donald Rumsfeld used a desk where he could stand. I don’t think it had a treadmill though.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.