Treadmill desks are enabling some central Ohio employees to improve their health at the office by staying on the move while they work at their desks. New research suggests that office employees spend more than 77 percent of each work day sitting in front of computers.
Doctors say that sedentary lifestyle can lead to major health problems, even for those who hit the gym after leaving work. Rod Bouc, the Director of Operations at the Columbus Museum of Art, is one of a growing number of workers who have turned to treadmill desks to combat the health issues associated with conventional office work. “In the afternoon, sometimes you feel a lull around 2:00, you get sleepy,” Bouc said.
“With the treadmill desk, you don’t have that.” Bouc’s desk allows him to sit, stand, or walk on a treadmill while he works. He said he walks two to four miles during each work day, and now has the energy to visit his studio after he leaves the office. “Right away, I started feeling better. I think other people might, too,” he said. Michael Reese designs workplace settings at Loth in Columbus, and said the treadmill desks are growing in popularity. “Our bodies are meant to be in motion,” Reese said. “If you think of your grandparents always moving, today we are mostly on the computer or on the phone.
Even after work.” The moving desks come at a cost, but many can be purchased for prices similar to those of high quality stationary desks. Reese’s coworker, Connie Miller, said the treadmill desks are worth the price — and the small effort it takes to make the transition to walking while working. “It takes a little adjustment to get the feet and hands to go at the same time, but it wasn’t bad at all,” she said. Another adjustment users of treadmill desks often make involves bringing extra shoes to work, but Bouc said he found a way around that problem by adding inserts to his loafers and wingtips.
The artist, originally from Nebraska, said the initial goal he set after purchasing the desk was to walk the same number of miles he used to cover on his farm. After reaching that goal, the 63-year-old said his next planned milestone is to walk an amount equivalent to a trip to the West Coast. SEE VIDEO HERE
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