Treadmill desk

Persons using a treadmill desk seek to change the sedentary lifestyle associated with being an office worker and to integrate gentle exercise into their working day.

[1] On the premise of increasing productivity and health, treadmill desks were designed to help users incorporate standing and walking into their work routine.

(see photos of prototypes) Dr. Seth Roberts, a professor of psychology from UC Berkeley designed a treadmill desk in 1996, was an early user.

[3][8][9] The New York Times credits Dr. James Levine, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic, as the popular inspiration for the treadmill desk.

[3][10] After testing a treadmill desk in 2006 for several months under the supervision of Dr James Levine,[11] Roger Highfield helped popularize the idea in the UK.

[1] Additionally, reading email and surfing the Internet were found to be easier to manage than learning to type or write while standing and walking.

[3] According to a 2007 Mayo Clinic study of office workers with obesity, "If sitting computer-time were replaced by walking-and-working, energy expenditure could increase by 100 cal/h.

[18] Prolonged sitting is linked to an “increased risk of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer, and even early death.”[19] A study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE found that usage of a treadmill desk had a modest negative effect on the ability to recall sequences of numbers, indicating a possible effect on memory.

[20] However, another study conducted by James Levine found that computer task performance was lower while walking on a treadmill desk in comparison to standard chair sitting.