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Brandon Laws and Suzi Alligood discuss an article from Fast Company titled, “Treadmill Desks Aren’t Just Healthier, They’ll Also Boost Your Work Performance.” Suzi and Brandon debate whether or not treadmill desks are practical in the workplace and what other steps employers could take to get employees moving throughout the day.

Resource:

“Treadmill Desks Aren’t Just Healthier, They’ll Also Boost Your Work Performance” by Jessica Leber


Brandon: Welcome everybody! I am Brandon Laws and with me is Suzi Alligood. We’re missing Molly Kelley unfortunately, but she’ll be back for our next episode.
This is the “It’s About People” podcast and today we’re going to talk about an article I found on Fast Company. The title is “Treadmill Desks Aren’t Just Healthier, They’ll Also Boost Your Work Performance.” In the article there’s a funny little picture of a treadmill desk. I’d never even heard of these until I read the article. I’ve heard of standing desks, and actually, at Xenium we have several of them. But treadmill desks…I’m just shocked!
Standing all day at a standing desk seems like it would be a bit healthier instead of just sitting all day, of course. I’ve read several articles on how sitting all day will slowly kill you. Standing all day? I don’t know if that’s much better. But with treadmill desks, they’re saying it could boost work performance because you’re boosting your energy and you’re using your body a little bit more. I would find it to be distracting. Suzi, I’m interested to hear your thoughts.
Suzi: I get the image in my mind, like those videos on YouTube, of people distracted on treadmills who end up falling off the back of them and smacking their face! [Laughing] So that’s immediately what I think of.
Brandon: That’s what I thought of, too!
Suzi: And then I think of work comp! So I think that’s definitely something to consider, the safety around that. I guess if someone was coming to me and asking my recommendation on that, I would advocate for allowing someone the control and flexibility to vary their position by being able to stand up or sit down when they want to, be able to take as many breaks as they need to, to be able to go walk around the block, or maybe to take a break and go to a room that has a treadmill in it that’s more of a workout room and so they can focus on the workout. There’s something that’s important about being mindful about what you’re doing. So if I’m trying to do my work and exercise, how Wellnesscan I be totally present and mindful for either one?
Brandon: I don’t think you can. There’s a lot of books out there that say that multitasking doesn’t exist, because you can’t do each thing to 100% of your capabilities since you’re using energy for both things. I don’t think you could work and exercise at the same time, but that’s just me. Could you sit at a desk and walk and work to 100% of your capabilities?
Suzi: I don’t think so, because I think it takes a little concentration to make sure I don’t trip and fall off the treadmill! I think it’s kind of a funny novel idea, and it goes back to how we’re trying to do so much in short amounts of time, trying to pack it all in or find the quick fix. You can’t really experience any real benefit unless you do it the focused, hard way.
Brandon: But what I love about this, though, is that it’s trying to create habits where you’re moving all day versus sitting. In an office environment, we are just sitting for the most part. You try to get up every so often, but for most people that’s not even possible. At least with a treadmill desk, it’s building the habits of constantly moving and keeping your body moving. It’s not the power workout you’re talking about necessarily, but it’s keeping you moving throughout the day. I think it could probably help.
Suzi: Yes, that’s true. I think of how some people don’t have the flexibility to get up because of the nature of their job—like a dispatch operator or call center employee. I guess I would still encourage that if you really value wellness and balance for your employees, to try and work in periodic breaks even for those people who need to sit at their desk. Our book club read Search Inside Yourself by Chade-Meng Tan, and he talked about how he gets up from his desk every hour, which is culturally promoted at Google. But when he gets up he actually does walking meditation, his breathing and mindfulness exercises, when he’s walking from one building to the next. I’m more of a fan of that approach and teaching people that, because I think there’s some other added benefits as opposed to the risks associated with it.
Brandon: Let’s take it back to even the standing desks, because they’re popping up all over the place—we have several here. Would you think the benefits of doing the mindful walk, let’s say every hour down to the lunchroom, versus standing all day at your desk would be a better approach? I’m skeptical of the benefits of standing all day at your desk. In college I had a job where I stood on my feet all day on concrete and my body fell apart. My back would hurt, and I just don’t know if standing at a computer all day would make it any better than sitting all day.
Suzi: I agree! I don’t think our bodies are designed to be stationary for long periods of time. I think you need a variation. At the end of the day, you need a mix of sitting, standing, and moving around, ideally.
Brandon: I agree. We’ll put up a link to the article so the listeners can weigh in. Thanks for joining us for the “It’s About People” podcast!
Treadmill Desk Image Credit: Juhan Sonin