Treadmill Workstation Brings Exercise To The Office

The maker of a new product that combines a treadmill and computer workstation is banking on the notion that companies will invest in products like the "Walkstation" as a way of keeping health care costs down and improving overall fitness levels.

The device allows people to work on their computers while walking on a treadmill at a slow speed of up to three kilometers (two miles) per hour, enabling small amounts of movement that supporters say have the potential to reap big health benefits.

The product made by Details, a unit of Michigan-based office furniture maker Steelcase, is selling 30 to 40 units per week, according to company president Bud Klipa.

"The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, we have numerous repeat customers," Klipa told AFP.

Products and services such as these are part of the future workplace in America and elsewhere as companies try to battle obesity and cap medical costs, according to John Challenger, chief executive of the consultancy Challenger Gray & Christmas.

Keep reading...

Comments

[Lupin77]

I think this is a bad idea.When i'm on my threadmill I watch cable TV and that makes the time go by faster. It would be difficult to work while on the mill and trying to concentrate on anything else than the job of exercising. I predict people who try to do both will have accidents and broken limbs.

[Aramingo]

Woody Allen predicted this in his movie "Bananas".

[HatingTheGame]

Yeah, but I'm waiting for the orgasmatron. Now that would be a killer app if there ever was one

LOL

[rini]

I don't know how people can work and work out at the same time. First of all, if you push your workout, there is no way you can concentrate on anything else. Interval training and emails do not mix. Secondly, you have to either work at home or have a shower at work..

It would be nice, though.

[swift goat pet for truth]

The corporations can go greener by having the treadmill power the computer.
OR requiring the treadmill to power the computer.

[ReelBusy]

And the you will be working in a Habitrail.

[HatingTheGame]

And living in a cubicle. The ultimate 1984 nightmare.

[jayrayspicer]

Er, you'd have to work pretty damn hard to power a computer with a treadmill. A computer needs a few hundred watts, and a treadmill, even at 20MPH, would probably only produce a few dozen.

[swift goat pet for truth]

Then the company will humiliate you for not reaching your goals.
Then lay you off for not being productive.
In front of everyone else in the office, as a lesson.

You don't work in corporate America, do you?

[kellygrrrl]

I've been doing this for years
I have a computer stand next to my recumbent bike and I can crank out 20 miles in 1 hour 15
while taking care of all emails and reading all the sites I check in the morning

it makes the time fly

Love It!

[rbryanh]

Just in case you'd forgotten that you're a corporate asset, just like the desk and the computer, here's a gerbil wheel for your veal fattening pen.

Hang a coffee bottle from the upper wires of the cage and spread some cedar chips on the floor and they'll be no need to ever get off the treadmill.

[hollyo]

Very funny.
It would help those of us with back pain from prolonged sitting.
But you're right it would keep you a prisoner...who needs to go out for a break?

[HatingTheGame]

Didn't Rumsfeld say that its ok for prisoners to stand for 8 hours or more, since he stands at his desk all day. What torture? Its a new productivity tool.

[anfractuous]

Oh damn, you've expressed my own sentiments perfectly. On the other hand, once someone's experienced the benefits of corporacise, they may be tempted to go off and try real walking: where the world actually moves in a direction opposite to your legs. Such an unaccustomed thrill might present too much of a temptation to these foolish sausages. Better to not add any adornments to the fattening pen.