The overwhelming evidence suggests sitting for too long is damaging to our health. Research has linked sitting for long periods of time with a number of health conditions including weight gain, increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat and abnormally high cholesterol levels.
This article examines the health benefits of including a standing desk treadmill in your office so you can remain healthy and stay productive throughout your work day. Continue reading to learn more about the benefits of standing desk treadmills.
How Much Does a Standing Treadmill Desk Cost?
While standing desk treadmills are beneficial for your health and cause many key positive effects, they aren’t the cheapest health solutions. The cost of your treadmill will vary widely depending on your type, brand and model but they run anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. There are also desk attachments that you can purchase as add-ons that increase your total costs.
If you want to save money, you can go the DIY route and make your own standing desk treadmill. Simply purchase a piece of plywood and drill holes in it. Then attach it to a steel-frame shelving unit and you’re ready to start living healthily.
What Are the Benefits of a Standing Treadmill Desk?
Besides being the office star who brings a health-consciousness to the office, there are many physiological and psychological benefits to standing desk treadmills.
Improves Mood and Reduces Stress
Studies definitively show that standing desk treadmills improve your overall mood and reduce stress. Regular exercise boosts your mood and decreases anxiety from your brain releasing endorphins in your body.
These endorphins reduce your perception of pain and trigger positive feelings throughout your body. The release can have a similar effect on your body as opiates and psychologically speaking, exercise can cultivate a healthier self-image.
Increases Creativity
Exercise is directly related to creativity and research conducted at Stanford University showed that when volunteers complete a test involving tasks such as rapid recall for alternative uses for common objects, those in the study who regularly adhered to an exercise regimen were better equipped in their answers. Those on the treadmill moving at a slow pace were able to come up with 60 % more uses than those sitting.
Increases Productivity
Research conducted at the University of Minnesota and published in the journal Obesity analyzed the effects of walking on a treadmill throughout the workday and concluded the work performance of people who used a treadmill desk improved after a very brief initial adjustment period. The study found that both the employees’ productivity and health improved. On days with exercise, work quality, mental performance, and time management all improved
Promotes a Healthy Body Weight
Just as other forms of exercise burn calories, walking is no different. It may not burn as many calories as running or biking, but it has a lower impact and adjusting the incline can make it just as effective.
Reduces the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Individuals who have type-two diabetes have too much glucose in their blood either because their body doesn’t produce enough insulin to process it or because their body can’t utilize insulin properly. Either way, exercise helps reduce blood glucose levels and help people with type-2 diabetes avoid long-term complications.
Lowers Blood Pressure
Like other forms of exercise, walking increases blood flow, in turn, decreasing blood pressure. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, people with higher blood pressure have lower blood pressure readings for up to 22 hours following a single walking session. They can see decreases as high as 5 to 10 mmHg in systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings.
Maintains Strong Bones
Weight bearing exercises where you have to resist gravity are one of the best ways to maintain bone density. These can be either high-impact or low-impact exercises and examples of such exercises include dancing, running, jumping rope, etc. Examples of low impact weight bearing exercises include: walking, hiking, using ellipticals or stair steppers, or low-impact aerobics.
How Do You Use a Treadmill Desk?
Before diving into your new life as a standing treadmill desk user, you want to take a few things into consideration.
- Make sure the desk is stable and secure so your work materials don’t fall off.
- Walk at a safe speed.
- Make sure you have enough space on the treadmill so you don’t fall off the back of it.
What Are Other Ways of Staying Active At Work?
If research shows us anything, it’s that it’s beneficial to move throughout the day. Any method you can use to move is beneficial. Standing desks, exercise-ball chairs, and desk stationary bikes are all excellent examples of how you can stay active at work without a standing desk treadmill.
Key Takeaways
Standing desk treadmills are innovative effective ways for companies to instill a healthy mindset at their company. These fitness machines ensure you stay active while working and can even boost your overall productivity. The research is clear: the pros of standing desk treadmills drastically outweigh the cons.
However, you shouldn’t feel like you need a standing desk treadmill to stay active at work. You can also use a stability ball while sitting to improve your fitness. When it comes to fitness, the small changes are what lead to significant improvements. Whatever you can do to stay active at work is a lot better than nothing.
