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In a recent e-mail exchange with Lauren, I mentioned that I believe part of my physical woes this summer were a result of my deskbound existence. Except for when I’m exercising (or eating), I’m usually sitting here, in my chair, in front of my computer.
“I’ve thought many times that I ought to erect a stand-up workstation for my computer,” I told Lauren via e-mail. “I’m not sure of the long-term implications, but it seems to me that standing would be better for me physically than sitting.”
Lauren, who for some reason has better insight into The Way J.D. Works than anyone I know besides Kris, wrote back:
I have thought about the same thing. I have heard that standing burned a large percentage more calories than sitting, and activates the muscles while sitting makes them ‘go all marshmallow’.
I think this stand-up workstation is a great idea. However, take a reminder from old pubs - make a place underneath (pubs use a foot-rail) to rest one foot about 4 inches higher, to take some strain off your back. (They gave us little boxes in art school to do this while standing at our easels). If you go back and forth between standing and sitting (as I may do) this may help you in many ways. You can always just flex your glutes frequently while standing
While killing time this afternoon, I came across Jason Kottke’s aside about walking desks, standing-height desks built over treadmills. Apparently there was a recent New York Times article about these workstations.
Now all of a sudden I’m wondering if it might not be possible to blog from a treadmill. Insane? Perhaps not. Check out this video.
The only drawback? Cost. I don’t own a treadmill, so there’s no chance that I’m going to whip up one of these from scratch. (Though I will begin watching garage sales.) Buying a pre-fab “walkstation” is out of the question. They run $6,500. That’s enough to pay for my gym membership for the next 54 years.
For more on treadmill desks, check out the following:
- Book of Joe: Treadmill workspace
- The Treadmill Desk blog
- Treadmill Workstation
- Office walkers
At a mile an hour (which is a typical pace for people who do this), the average person would burn about an extra 100 calories. If I’d spend just eight hours blogging from the treadmill every week, I’d lose an extra pound a month! Hm. I wonder if Kris would let me put a treadmill in the den…
Mac
32 responses so far ↓
1 Ryan Collins // Sep 18, 2008 at 7:17 pm
I did this with my treadmill, and I can do coding, other creative stuff at around 2 mph. If I’m only reading my rss feeds, I can go up to 3.
If you’re not going to do any jogging on it you can probably get a cheaper treadmill.
My only other problem is I placed my monitor on a shelf in front of the treadmill, which makes it a little hard to see. Luckily it’s an older 20″ CRT monitor that I can run at 1024×768.
2 J.D. // Sep 18, 2008 at 7:27 pm
3 Charles // Sep 18, 2008 at 8:05 pm
You could burn more calories by blogging while sitting in a swimming pool. It takes a LOT of calories to maintain your body temperature in an unheated pool. The obvious problem: ZZZZT!
Personally I think the walkstation idea is ridiculous. You could easily burn a hundred calories doing a little bit more of some exercise you like. If you focus on your work, you can finish it sooner and go have fun exercising sooner. Or you could use the treadmill for “nonproductive” time like watching TV etc.
4 Charles // Sep 18, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Oh.. P.S.
I used to sell ergonomic workstations, and I sold a lot of stand-up workstation equipment to places like hospitals and libraries. One of the primary sales points of stand-up workstations is that it discourages people from using them for long periods. People find it unpleasant to stand there for long periods of time, so turnover is quicker, so they are ideal for shared public workstations where lots of people have to compete for use of the computer.
So if you want to torture yourself unnecessarily, get a standup workstation.
5 luneray // Sep 18, 2008 at 8:28 pm
I have two workstations at my job. One is a typical desk with my computer and the other is an old drafting board. I really prefer to work at the drafting board because I find it more comfortable to stand than to sit. I’m not motionless when I stand (I realized I’m always tweaking my position) and my back is almost never stiff when I’ve spent a long time working at the drafting table than at the computer.
Or you could get one of those ball chairs.
6 Alexia // Sep 18, 2008 at 8:40 pm
I love my standup workstation — at home and at the official office office. I have a Salli saddle chair with one of their desks. I also have attended conference calls on my exercise bike, while walking around outside, etc. I tried on my nordictrack, but it was too loud. I feel a lot better when I work and move!
7 Brad Rhoads // Sep 18, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Besides garage sales, check http://www.craigslist.com and http://www.freecycle.com. I got my treadmill free from a guy at church. If you look, you can find a good deal. Look for a treadmill with a deck at least 50″ long.
8 monica // Sep 18, 2008 at 11:33 pm
I’ve had similar thoughts as I work at home in front of a computer all day. I walk for an hour every day to make up for this inactivity, this in addition to my usual workout. So two hours of exercise every day to make up for this modern-day sedentary lifestyle. But those treadmill disks are just over the top - a sad sign of what we have become! But they’re also kind of neat techno-gadgets. I will never own one.
I often work standing up at the kitchen counter - but I do it because it’s comfortable rather than to burn calories.
9 Sheamus // Sep 19, 2008 at 1:05 am
Just totally ridiculous. These things scream ‘lazy people’. It’s such a modern, quick-fix attitude to exercise - making it so easy you can still sit on your ass all day long. One mile an hour!? What next - adult diapers so you never have to leave the computer?
Just buy a regular treadmill and take 30-45 minutes a day to run on that. You can burn 100 calories in one mile of power-walking, or about six minutes of running.
10 amb // Sep 19, 2008 at 4:11 am
i stand at my computer about 2 hours a day and it is great. here is how i do it…
1. monitor arm: i got the following monitor arm. this lets me easily raise/lower/tilt my monitor to a comfortable position standing or sitting:
http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=755953
2. wireless keyboard
3. long VGA cable (so moving the LCD around doesn’t wiggle it loose)
4. storage bin with lid…i set my wireless keyboard and mouse on top for easy standing typing
this setup works great for me!
11 brad // Sep 19, 2008 at 6:07 am
There’s a big difference between a stationary standing workstation and a treadmill station. Yes, it’s uncomfortable to work at a stand-up workstation for long periods of time, because you’re standing still. Walking, on the other hand, is totally different.
I agree that experimenting with a laptop first on a treadmill is the best way to see if this might work for you. You should try it a few times, because you’ll find it hard to concentrate at first because it’s such an unfamiliar experience.
For us desk jockeys who spend 8-16 hours a day tied to our computers, a treadmill workstation could be very useful not just in terms of calorie-burning but general ergnomics and musculoskeletal health.
I don’t think anyone sees these as a replacement for regular exercise, but rather an addition to it. In other words, you still do you 30 to 60 minutes of intense exercise every day, and then in addition to that you use a treadmill workstation at work instead of sitting on your bum the whole time.
12 Brigid // Sep 19, 2008 at 6:33 am
I’m going to have to lean towards the ridiculous as well. Don’t get me wrong - I think any form of exercise is better than none. The problem with walking all the time is that it doesn’t do much to strengthen your cardio-vascular system or build muscles.
If you want to try it then you should. I wouldn’t give up the strength training or more intense aerobic sessions. I just don’t think it would be a suitable replacement.
Cheers!
13 Brad Rhoads // Sep 19, 2008 at 6:58 am
@Sheamus It’s not that we’re lazy, it’s that we’re busy. Granted there may be a lack of self discipline involved too. But I’m convinced this is going to save a lot of lives, including my own.
Like I said in the NYT article, the one thing I always do is work. So if I always work on the treadmill desk, then I’ll always get some exercise. And this is working for me and a lot of others for weight loss.
14 Brad Rhoads // Sep 19, 2008 at 6:59 am
@Brigid It’s not supposed to be a replacement for cardio. It’s a replacement for sitting all day in front of a computer.
15 Greenman2001 // Sep 19, 2008 at 7:17 am
JD,
We discussed the Walkstation here in the blog back in April, in response to Mac’s 4/25/08 post, “What Gets You Off the Couch?”
http://www.getfitslowly.com/2008/04/25/ask-the-readers-what-gets-you-off-the-couch/
I’m a little confused about how you’re thinking about this. You say that when you’re not exercising, you’re sitting. So instead of sitting, you want to … exercise? I suppose if you exercise more or less all the time you’d be able to eat as much as you’d like.
I’m under the impression that your physical woes this summer were due to injury, severe ITB pain, and your mother going into the hospital. In an earlier blog post you said that, in addition to not exercising, you avoided work too during this period. It doesn’t sound to me like sitting behind a desk was a major distraction from exercise. When I suggested in a comment that your mother’s medical problems made it hard for you to find the time to exercise, you told me that time wasn’t the problem, “fortitude” was. And prior to your ITB flare-up, you were happily finding the time for enormous amounts of exercise every week, despite your deskbound existence. Has something changed?
16 brad // Sep 19, 2008 at 7:20 am
I would also add, as someone who used to write a newsletter on office ergonomics, that sitting in one place in front of a computer all day is a recipe for repetitive strain injuries and a host of musculoskeletal problems down the road. A lot of studies have shown ergonomic benefits of sit/stand workstations, and a treadmill workstation would provide even more benefits because you’re actually moving while working instead of keeping your body still.
17 Greenman2001 // Sep 19, 2008 at 8:04 am
By the way, JD. A big problem with sitting behind a desk all day is that it causes your hamstring muscles to shorten and tighten. It’s another reason to place stretching at the center of your exercise program, particularly as you try to prepare yourself for your next shot at marathon training . How’s the stretching going, anyway? Have you found a way of motivating yourself to do more of it?
18 Alexia // Sep 19, 2008 at 8:49 am
Popular topic! Here’s some more interesting info with benefits such as improved concentration:
http://elasticwaist.com/2008/09/so-you-wanna-be-a-desk-jockey.php
19 J.D. // Sep 19, 2008 at 9:43 am
I don’t necessarily want to be exercising when I’m not sitting. I just want to be sitting less. Sitting at the desk is not a distraction from exercise, and I didn’t mean to imply that it was. I make exercise a priority. A walkstation is a way to Not Sit. It’s not a replacement for existing exercise or a means to get additional exercise (though that’s an added bonus).
Also, you keep referring to enormous amounts of exercise. I keep trying to tell you that I wasn’t doing enormous amounts of exercise. That was part of the problem. I was doing a 2, 3, or 4 hour run on Saturday, but during the week, I wasn’t doing that much — maybe another two hours total. Maybe. There was an imbalance, and that was part of the problem.
The desk thing has been an issue ever since I began blogging full time. I bought a new desk. It didn’t help. I bought a new chair. It didn’t help. I added a make-shift footrest. It didn’t help. Basically, I sit hunched over and with my legs uncomfortable all day. I would love to find a way to deal with this.
Obviously, taking hourly breaks would help. I can do that, if I remember to. (I have a timer I can set for fifty minutes, and then take a ten minute breaks.) I think mid-day walks are good, too.
RE: stretching. I still don’t like it, but I’ve found a way to incorporate it into my workouts. I do it on each aerobic day (three times a week), and then on each leg lifting day (one or two times a week). I don’t do it on my off day or on upper body lifting days. This seems to work for me. I’ve been doing that for two weeks now with good success.
@everyone
Please note that one of the categories for this post is “silliness”. I recognize that this idea, while it appeals to me, isn’t 100% practical. I’ll keep it in mind, but it’s not like I’m going to rush out to buy a treadmill.
Also note the earlier part of my comment. I’m not interested in this as a replacement for exercise. I’m interested in it as a method of Not Sitting while I work.
20 J.D. // Sep 19, 2008 at 10:36 am
After weeks of lame procrastination and rationalization, I finally carried the fitness ball from downstairs up to my office. I’m sitting on it right now. It’s the perfect height. Those who recommended this are right: I’m making tons of little micro-adjustments as I sit here.
We’ll have to see if this is something sustainable…
21 brad // Sep 19, 2008 at 11:31 am
The one thing to watch out for with those fitness balls is that it’s awfully easy to lean back a little too far and lose your balance. The is the Voice of Experience talking. I took a couple of really bad falls during the two years I sat on a fitness ball at my desk, and the last fall convinced me to go back to a chair. I still have a scar on my skull from when I hit my head against the filing cabinet on the way down. So be careful!
22 Lauren Muney - fitness and wellness coach // Sep 19, 2008 at 11:55 am
Oh, God, JD, walking at .00002mph is not really much better than standing, and doesn’t split focus between brain and body.
It’s simply extra cheap to seek ways to make a stand-up desk and TAKE BREAKS to get exercise in. (I just walked for 40 minutes and then stooped by the grocery store to get groceries in my backpack, which then made me walk home with an extra 20 lbs). I’ll work out with weights in the evening, too.
JD, really: you work at home, control almost every factor of your time, don’t have kids, don’t have regulated meetings. It’s important that you TRULY look at your schedule and your efforts and decide 3 things: “wants”, “needs”, and “requirements”. Yes you WANT cookies and other fun stuff, but you also NEED to attend your fitness schedule, and you are NOT REQUIRED to schedule under anything but your own way.
Think of it this way: as a blogger, you DO NOT HAVE TO answer email immediately upon waking… or do you? What will happen if you have breakfast and exercise (or exercise and have breakfast)? You also do not have any deadline WHEN your posts get out. I read your 2 main blogs yet I couldn’t tell you when you post in each day, nor if you post every day; it just doesn’t matter to me. Am I the same or different than other people? Here is what point I am reaching: stop using the blogging (”working”) as an excuse not to take care of yourself. You are extremely fortunate that you have fallen into a niche for yourself while still allowing you to make whatever schedule you want. With this custom schedule, you can do WHATEVER you want to carve a schedule which allows exercise and even working at a stand-up desk.
Remember what I said before… being a blogger can also be an opportunity to create drama without a solution; it’s ’sexier’ to complain about something rather than do it. Hand-in-hand, having a blog which said “Get Fit Slowly” also allows a person to lose 1 pound per month if one so chooses… that’s ’slow’, isn’t it? If that’s true, then you are succeeding. But someone needs to get on you to kick your butt (I thought “Kris Gates is always right”?) and challenge your talkative nature. As you said, “lame procrastination and rationalization”. Get out of idle, remember your good fortune, and SCHEDULE the regular exercise that you have the perfect time to do.
Ah, hell, JD, I am self-employed also and I exercise 2x/day because I have scheduled it, and it’s IMPORTANT to me. And the way I get out there is I envision my naturally-genetically-fat thighs and butt, and THAT thought is so hateful to me that I exercise. Every weekend I do hiking or biking or other active stuff because I think of the selfsame thighs and butt.
Just keep seeking the activities you will upkeep even if you have to switch off. Just SCHEDULE them, and tell someone so that you have accountability…
Toughlove,
Lauren
23 J.D. // Sep 19, 2008 at 12:11 pm
I do schedule exercise. It’s the first thing I do every single day. Exercise is not the problem.
And, again, the walkstation is a way to Not Sit, it’s not a substitute for exercise. I don’t feel like I’m “in idle”. I just feel like I’m not good at using the proper fuel yet.
24 Alexia // Sep 19, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Well said, JD. It’s a way to Not Sit, not a sub for exercise. I’m exhausted after sitting all day. Energized when I stand and move more of the day. Concentrate better.
25 Greg // Sep 20, 2008 at 3:59 am
Personally, I find sitting all day long to be exhausting. I try to alleviate that at work by getting up and walking around the facility every little bit. It helps keep the blood moving and relieves eye strain.
26 Ryan Collins // Sep 22, 2008 at 5:00 am
Here’s a backside picture of my treadmill setup:
http://img.skitch.com/20080922-rmxj9a26jrxiqkistp5qndg5b9.jpg
The Xbox 360 box and laptop have been replaced with an old 20″ CRT monitor. The shelf was $20 at Walmart.
The desk surface is from a breakfast hutch we bought several years ago. The table top was damaged, and they sent us a replacement top, which left this damaged top that I use for the keyboard and mouse. The arms slope down a little bit, so I have a 1″X2″ board going across to prop it up.
This setup works well, and since I already had the treadmill it cost me the $20 for a shelf.
The monitor is a little too far back (here’s an upclose picture when I was just going to use my MacBook http://img.skitch.com/20080922-nj7q51xh3pgt8kq8w76w2d76i1.jpg). But if I run the 20″ monitor at 1024×768 it’s usable.
One final tip. I bought a 20′ headphone extension cable and ran it from my entertainment center over to the treadmill. That way I can listen to the TV without have to crank it up too loud.
27 Beth // Sep 22, 2008 at 12:11 pm
I just watched the GMA video and I think this is a great idea. Like J.D., I wouldn’t use this to replace regular exercise or anything but would just like to avoid sitting while working all day. At my job I can get up whenever I want and walk around the place, but then the endless mounds of paperwork wouldn’t get done. My boss would probably never buy a modified desk and/or treadmill, are there any already commercially available or is it strictly a build it yourself type deal? I would do it - anything to supplement the limited amount of gym time I usually have.
28 Sean // Sep 22, 2008 at 3:35 pm
I use a treadmill desk set up now, though I wish I had a better one. It works and it actually restores energy during the day in addition to burning calories. I also find that it improves my memory. I was reading on the TrekDesk website at http://www.trekdesk.com that studies have been conducted on increased cognitive function for people that walk and complete difficult tasks. Seems to me if you walk and do tasks at the same time you are getting a physical and a mental workout. Now, if I could just stop drinking!
29 deepali // Sep 23, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Based on your responses to some of these comments, I don’t think lack of fortitude is a problem for you…
As for this walkstation - not everything in life (or health) is about losing weight. Walking confers a number of benefits - you always hear about those 110-yr-old women who have been walking all their lives…
Sitting puts a great deal of stress on my lower back and I find myself fidgeting all day… which breaks my concentration. A gentle walk would be much more energizing… it would have to be slow though so I don’t have to focus too much on it…
30 Brigid // Sep 24, 2008 at 6:31 am
My grampa started walking 5 miles a day when he was 70. He’s 90 now - no one knows where the hell he is:-)
31 brad // Sep 24, 2008 at 3:23 pm
I had another thought about this the other day and keep forgetting to post it:
This may not be a solution for JD since he uses a Mac, and voice recognition programs for the Mac aren’t as good as the ones for Windows, but back when I used voice recognition software I had a long cord for my microphone and I loved to work standing up, pacing around the room and dictating into my computer. I magnified the text size on the screen so I could easily see it from a distance. I could work for hours like that…it’s certainly cheaper than a treadmill and you have the flexibility of sitting or standing, walking a bit, etc. Of course you’re tethered to the computer by the microphone cord (there are wireless mics out there but I’m leery of wearing something like that so close to my brain for 8 or more hours every day).
Anyway, this is another potential solution to consider. I used voice recognition software for a couple of years when I was recovering from a computer-related repetitive stress injury, and it’s a lot easier to dictate than you might think.
32 V. Canfield // Sep 25, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Blah to all the nay-sayers. If it works for the person that is all that matters. I am typing this as I walk on my homemade treadmill desk and I have walked for over an hour without bashing my head against the wall screaming, “How much longer can I stand doing this? I’m soooo bored.” My desk is just a piece of plastic from a bin wired onto the bars of my treadmill and my laptop sitting on top. I can go another hour or two AND get some great surfing in. I like it, I get exercise and it is not boring. The purist can have their “real exercise”, I’ll take what I know I’ll stick to.
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