The Column

All Work & No Play Makes Jack A Fat Boy

A Vertical Workstation in use

Tsar Paul I, son of Catherine the Great of Russia, was an eccentric and somewhat petulant bugger. On the occasions that he wasn’t convincing himself that his mother was trying to kill him, he liked to play with toy soldiers. One particular afternoon he was merrily fondling his troops when they were knocked over by a scurrying rat, and so Paul promptly ordered the rat captured, court-martialed and then executed. It is clear from this debacle that he was not exactly the most level-headed chap, however the very fact that he was playing with toy soldiers suggests a man with too much time on his hands. To draw a crude parallel, I recently discovered that scientists in America have invented an office treadmill, one which will allow staff to exercise while working at their desks. The question is: is this just the work of people with too much time on their hands, or does it have any real-world value?

The office treadmill, or vertical workstation (VW) as it is officially known, has been developed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota by Professors James Levine and Jennifer Miller. It is part of a project called NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis), which is concerned with helping people burn more calories during the day by boosting activity levels. The idea behind the device is that workers will stroll at a slow pace while carrying out their office duties, instead of slouching on a hydraulic chair on which they glide to and from the coffee machine with unhealthy irregularity. Testing has so far proved positive – 15 volunteers lost an average of 191 calories per hour when using it, compared to 72 when sitting at their desks (report).

The Flintstones

The VW is expected to cost approximately £1,000 per unit, and is basically a solid H-shape frame with two adjustable arms; one for the screen, and the other for the keyboard and mouse. It also features lockable wheels for ease of movement (even though lifting it would burn off plenty more unwanted calories) and various storage bins for pens, paper, coffee cups and space for a vase of flowers to complete the illusion of walking outdoors. The design is fully adjustable, allowing the user to stand and work, walk and work, or if a high chair is strategically placed, sit and work. The idea of a grown man sitting in a high chair while strumming his feet across a treadmill is ridiculous to say the least; my immediate thought is of Fred Flintstone’s feet frantically scrabbling beneath his car as it races through Bedrock in the opening sequence to the original Flintstones cartoon.

The VW is not just aimed at the obese; research has shown that anybody who spends all day sitting at a desk is in danger of being unfit. There is a common misconception that the only true benefit to exercising is weight loss, hence many people who don’t consider themselves to be overweight are not exercising enough. A recent study at Brunel University showed the levels of heart clogging cholesterol in both lean and obese non-exercisers to be remarkably similar, whilst lean exercisers could expect to live around five years longer (press release).

It is safe to assume that walking while working is good from a health point of view, but there is the question of worker productivity. After all, even the greatest advocate of multitasking would struggle to write a complex report while strolling down the street, so is it any different when using the VW? A BBC journalist took it upon herself to investigate this issue by attempting to write up a report whilst cycling on an exercise bike at her local gym. In a 45 minute session she managed just four measly paragraphs, and struggled to maintain concentration on her work. This is hardly ideal from an employer perspective.

Woman exercising

It is not just office staff who are being targeted by the NEAT project either, Professor Levine has also been involved in the creation of an experimental classroom in Minnesota where there are no desks. It is set in a hockey rink in Rochester, and the children stand up while working on whiteboards. My personal memories of school are that we were all so exhausted after spending playtime running round and kicking a ball (or sometimes each other) that we needed to sit down; things have obviously moved on. Elsewhere, an unrelated project at the University of Bristol has resulted in the creation of a treadmill to help obese dogs lose weight. Presumably these dogs prefer lazing on the lounge floor watching reality television to running round fields chasing sticks, or maybe their owners are just too lazy to walk them.

The concept of combining work and exercise is fanciful at best, and although it does have obvious benefits, I can’t see offices in the UK buying up fleets of these VW units. Staff productivity would drop to the point where the working day would need to be extended by at least two hours, and the health and safety aspect is a potential minefield of injury lawsuits. The NEAT project is basically guilty of trying to re-invent the wheel, or rather the pavement. If companies want to help their staff get fit, then why not encourage them to take a brisk constitutional at least twice a week? It sure beats asking them to stand on a conveyor belt and impersonate Robocop.