Sep 9, 2008 10:53 pm US/Central
Workout At Work: The Office Treadmill
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
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On average, the volunteers lost about nine pounds over six months. Those trying to lose weigh dropped over 15 pounds; fatty triglycerides in the bloodstream fell 37 percent.
CBS
What will the office of the future look like? Considering two-thirds of Americans are overweight, a Mayo Clinic study suggests it should look like its part fitness center.
It's not just the game tables in the Minneapolis headquarters of SALO Executive Temp Placement services that make you think things are a little different in this office. Or the ongoing Wii doubles tennis tournament.
Sure, there are plenty of computer stations but they're hooked up to desks that are very un-desk-like.
The set-up is the brainchild of Mayo Clinic Endocrinologist James Levine. Concerned with America's Obesity Epidemic, Levine has also experimented with chair-free classrooms in schools.
It worked great for children, but would grownups have similar success?
"To me the big hole in knowledge was, can you really take all these ideas that we have from the laboratory and bring them into the real world where normal people are working 24 hours a day," said Levine.
A six-month Mayo Clinic study said yes. Levine followed 18 of SALO's office staff who incorporated treadmill desks and other activity into their daily routines.
"I saw my cholesterol take a big dip. Down to about 200 or just below 200 from 260," said Larry Revier, who also said he has a whole new feel and some baggy suits he can't even wear anymore.
"The first month or so I lost 10 or 11 pounds," he said.
On average, the volunteers lost about nine pounds over six months. Those trying to lose weigh dropped over 15 pounds; fatty triglycerides in the bloodstream fell 37 percent.
"Really the feeling in the office there has been a cultural shift in our office and a lot of our employees about how to incorporate movement in their life," said SALO co-owner Amy Langer.
If you've been a serious desk jockey your entire career, you might wonder how you can leave your workspace and get anything done on a treadmill. The secret is in the phone. You just take your phone with you. Once you plug this in the treadmill, your workplace is there too.
SALO co-owner John Folkestad admits after 20 years in corporate America, his image of the office had to shift.
"A huge shift. My entire life I have been bound to the desk you might say," said Folkestad. "I find that I think better. I feel better and it's just an infectious kind of thing."
That's why Lesli Hines' desk is vacant at least two to three hours a day. After the study was over, she adopted daily trips to the treadmill; a real blessing she says for a busy mother of three.
"And trying to balance everything this is a great way for me to kind of get those extra miles of activity in without having to have that come from somewhere else in my home life," Hines said.
"Not only do people get healthier and lose weight, but they actually get more productive," Levine said.
Levine said he duct taped and bolted his first walking desk together. Now you can find such office furniture in stores like Target Interiors.
Levine isn't just studying an active workplace; he's trying to help children stay in shape too with an active classroom. For more on the active classroom
click here.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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