Fitting fitness inside the cubicle
Experts, entrepreneurs are thinking to transform cubicle from sedentary prison to multitasking work and workout space.
NEW YORK:
Whether your office is in the business district or on the dining room table, sitting immobile for hours in front of a computer screen is at odds with the fit body. So fitness experts and entrepreneurs are thinking outside the box to transform the cubicle from sedentary prison to multitasking work and workout space.
“We’ve made Americans fat by putting them in cubicles,” said Steve Bordley, CEO of TrekDesk. His solution is a workstation designed to fit over a treadmill. Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, Bordley said he developed TrekDesk after a leg injury in 2008 crimped his active lifestyle. “I couldn’t run anymore so I started experimenting with a treadmill,” said Bordley. “An epiphany occurred: Walking is a pretty powerful exercise. My back problems went away, I lost 26 pounds and I slept great.”
“We’ve evolved over millions of years to be moving through the wilderness while hunting game. Our body was designed around that movement,” he said. “It’s the people who sit all day who have to fight lethargy.”
When it comes to doing her paperwork, Minneapolis-based personal trainer and group fitness instructor Chris Freytag prefers to stand. “I’m totally in love with my standing workstation,” she said. “The treadmill desk is a great concept, but it’s large. I would probably put mine in my basement and I’m not going to work in the basement.”
As chair of the Board of Directors for the American Council on Exercise (Ace), Freytag is acutely aware of the need to move, even while forced to spend a lot of time at her desk. For her, the beauty of the standing workstation lies in its mobility. “You can pull it into the family room or wheel it around the house,” she said.
For those on a tight budget, Dr Cedric Bryant, Ace’s chief science officer, has another solution. “Invest on a headset,” he said. “I handle all phone calls while standing or pacing.” He said getting outside the building is a growing corporate trend, and he holds as many standing, walking, or off-site meetings as he can.
“Another strategy would be to set your scheduling device to remind you to get out and move for five minutes on the hour,” Bryant said.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 1st, 2012.
Whether your office is in the business district or on the dining room table, sitting immobile for hours in front of a computer screen is at odds with the fit body. So fitness experts and entrepreneurs are thinking outside the box to transform the cubicle from sedentary prison to multitasking work and workout space.
“We’ve made Americans fat by putting them in cubicles,” said Steve Bordley, CEO of TrekDesk. His solution is a workstation designed to fit over a treadmill. Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, Bordley said he developed TrekDesk after a leg injury in 2008 crimped his active lifestyle. “I couldn’t run anymore so I started experimenting with a treadmill,” said Bordley. “An epiphany occurred: Walking is a pretty powerful exercise. My back problems went away, I lost 26 pounds and I slept great.”
“We’ve evolved over millions of years to be moving through the wilderness while hunting game. Our body was designed around that movement,” he said. “It’s the people who sit all day who have to fight lethargy.”
When it comes to doing her paperwork, Minneapolis-based personal trainer and group fitness instructor Chris Freytag prefers to stand. “I’m totally in love with my standing workstation,” she said. “The treadmill desk is a great concept, but it’s large. I would probably put mine in my basement and I’m not going to work in the basement.”
As chair of the Board of Directors for the American Council on Exercise (Ace), Freytag is acutely aware of the need to move, even while forced to spend a lot of time at her desk. For her, the beauty of the standing workstation lies in its mobility. “You can pull it into the family room or wheel it around the house,” she said.
For those on a tight budget, Dr Cedric Bryant, Ace’s chief science officer, has another solution. “Invest on a headset,” he said. “I handle all phone calls while standing or pacing.” He said getting outside the building is a growing corporate trend, and he holds as many standing, walking, or off-site meetings as he can.
“Another strategy would be to set your scheduling device to remind you to get out and move for five minutes on the hour,” Bryant said.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 1st, 2012.