The Active Desk

Two and half years ago I took the plunge and went out an bought a treadmill. Not for exercise, not to run indoors. No, I bought a treadmill to work. Yes, that’s right. I bought a treadmill for work. I have done a lot of research and long ago decided that this was not just a good idea, it was a must-do idea. So after trading one crisp clean Benjamin for a older model treadmill, convincing my parents that I needed their extra desk, and whipping out the few tools I have I was able to build my treadmill desk. What is a treadmill desk? Well…

Active Desk

To sum it up in one word: awesome. Better that I had even imagined. Trust me, I was a bit skeptical at first. But after walking almost 600 miles and burning approximately 61,000 calories in the process I am sold. I straight up honest-to-God convert to the cult of NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis, more on that a later time). I know what you’re thinking. “You’re interested in health so you probably exercise all the time, surely you don’t need this.” Well, yes and no. Yes, I exercise all the time, five to six days a week on average, but I also spend a lot of time in front of a computer or at a desk writing, reading, and doing all the fun things graduate studies dictates. Well so do a lot of other people you might say. I would agree, but I would also agree that stationary work environments (as the majority are) are not conducive for increasing or maintaining the health of the modern workforce. History, evolutionary biology, and human physiology has provided us with an abundance of information which clearly illustrates one simple and true fact:

Humans are meant to move and moving perpetuates health

Notice that I wrote movement and not exercise. This is where most people get stuck with the whole walking while you work idea. It is not exercise. It is movement. Plain. Simple. Non-sweat inducing movement. I usually walk at a slow and steady clip of 1.2 to 1.5 mile per hour. On average, humans walk approximately 3 miles per hour. Stop reading right now and try it. Go walk about 20 feet at your normal pace then turn around and walk back half as slow………………………………………………….

Pretty slow huh? That’s how slow I’m walking when I’m at work. Its easy, and most times I forget all about the walking because of how focused I get on my work. Which leads me to another point: Productivity. I honestly feel more productive. In fact I would venture to say that I have gotten more work done when I’m working at the Active Desk than when I’m working at home.

If you’re interested in how I built the Active Desk just post a comment or contact me via email or Twitter.

You can also check out poster I presented about all my data at the 2011 Quantified Self Conference (pdf).