Treadmill desks might be the next office health trend

Workers at the financial consulting firm Salo use their treadmill desks. (Agencies)

Will health-conscious office workers soon be skipping trips to the gym for an extended shift at the desk? It could be a healthy alternative, as some companies have begun experimenting with treadmill desks.

NPR's Patti Neighmond made a transition to the treadmill by first converting her sitting desk into a standing desk. After getting acclimated to standing, she installed a "discreet" treadmill, minus handrails, below the standing desk.

"I'm into my second week now and walking at a pretty slow, casual pace, about 1.4 miles an hour," Neighmond writes. "When I first started, I thought I'd simply hop on the treadmill and be off walking all day while working. But it turns out it's really hard to walk, talk, think and concentrate."

Last year, The New York Times reported on Salo, a Minnesota-based financial consulting company that tried a similar experiment with some of its employees. And so far, the results have been positive both for employee health and for the company's financial bottom line: During the six months that Salo took part in a Mayo Clinic treadmill desk study, the firm experienced record earnings.

"Remarkable," Salo director of operations Craig Dexheimer told NPR. "We didn't even go to a gym. We just went to work!" Dexheimer says he has lost 25 pounds since switching to the treadmill desk.

You can buy a treadmill desk, which typically costs several hundred dollars. Or, if you're in do-it-yourself mode, this website shows how to build your own treadmill desk for just $39, not including the cost of the treadmill.

Still, the doctor who headed up the Mayo Clinic study says you shouldn't jump right into running a minimarathon each day at work.

"There's a tendency to want to jump on the treadmill and walk for hours and hours a day," Dr. James Levine told NPR. "Don't do that. Certainly, at the absolute maximum, do half-hour on, half an hour off, for two to three hours a day."

註重健康的員工也許不久就可以把去健身館改成在辦公桌前鍛煉瞭呢！這可能是另一個健康的鍛煉方式，因為一些公司已經開始體驗跑步機辦公桌瞭。

美國國傢公共電臺的帕提•內蒙德在過渡到跑步機辦公桌之前，先把她適合坐下辦公的桌子換成適合站立辦公的桌子。在習慣站立辦公之後，她在站立式桌子下面安裝瞭一個簡易的跑步機，不含扶手。

內蒙德寫道：“我現在已經進入使用跑步機辦公桌的第二周，我的步子閑適而緩慢，每小時約1.4英裡的速度。剛開始用時，我以為我跳上跑步機後一整天都能這樣一邊走一邊工作。但是結果發現，走路、說話、思考和集中註意力同時進行確實很難。”

去年，《紐約時報》報道瞭明尼蘇達州的金融咨詢公司Salo，該公司試圖在部分員工當中推行相似的實驗。到目前為止，結果顯示對員工的健康和公司的財務收益都是有利的：在Salo公司參與梅奧診所跑步機辦公桌研究的六個月期間，該公司的收入增長有瞭歷史性突破。

Salo公司的運營總監克雷格•德克斯海默告訴美國國傢公共電臺說：“效果顯著。我們甚至都不用去健身館瞭。我們隻要去上班就可以鍛煉瞭！” 德克斯海默說，他自從換瞭這種跑步機辦公桌後，已經減瞭25磅體重。

你可以買一個跑步機辦公桌，價格通常為幾百美元。或者，如果你喜歡自己動手，這一網站還展示瞭如何隻花39美元就能自己制造跑步機辦公桌（39美元不包含跑步機的花費）。

不過，梅奧診所這一研究的領頭人醫生說，你不應該每天一上班就跑小型馬拉松。

詹姆斯•雷文醫生告訴美國國傢公共電臺說：“人們會有沖動，想跳上跑步機，然後一天持續走好幾個小時。別這麼做。當然，最大極限是，走半小時，休息半小時，一天一共走兩到三個小時。

Vocabulary:

treadmill: 跑步機

discreet: 樸素的，不顯眼的