Outfitting offices with ‘active workstations’ improves employee health

Outfitting offices with ‘active workstations’ improves employee health

A seated desk job working at a computer many hours each day takes a toll on your body and health.  In a country afflicted by obesity and with an abundance of sedentary occupations, many employers are turning more and more to outfitting their offices with “active workstations.”  Taking a walk while working is no longer considered taboo.   Today, offices are outfitting themselves with treadmills, under desk ellipticals and desk cycles allowing employees to move more while on the job.

All of this is good news for any worker suffering from back and neck pain resulting from hunching over their desk for hours.  Sitting for long periods of time is also considered a major risk factor for weight gain, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure. 

But just how effective are these in-office exercise equipment?  Is there sufficient evidence showing these active workstations to be of benefit for improving health and wellness among workers?

The answer appears to be “yes.”  Any movement that can be incorporated while at work is a far better solution to improving the health of our workforce than what we’ve been doing for decades.  Here’s what research is showing:

·      Alternative to a sedentary lifestyle

Here’s a scenario played out over and over every day for many of us – we drive or commute to work seated, we are seated at our desk for the entire day with little movement, we drive or commute back home seated, and then spend the evening seated in front of the TV or computer before going to bed. 

The active workstations are not meant to be in lieu of aerobic exercise but they are a far better alternative to a sedentary lifestyle.  Sedentary living or “sitting disease” has put America’s health in jeopardy.  A 2014 study published in Circulation: Heart Failure, followed 82,000 men for more than 10 years and found those who reported high levels of sedentary time and low levels of physical activity had 2.2 times the risk of developing heart failure than men reporting high physical activity and low sedentary time. 

·      Weight loss benefits

It makes sense that any movement will burn more calories than non-movement.  Maybe a 1.0 mph walk on a treadmill at work may not seem to be of much benefit but it’s more than most people realize.  A study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found office workers who walked at a pace of 1 to 2 mph burned roughly 100 calories an hour more than those who remained seated all day.  It may not sound significant, but the cumulative effect can be powerful. After about a month of office treadmill workouts, employees could possibly lose 2 pounds without making any changes to their diet or going to the gym.  That averages out to 24 pounds a year making vast improvements in a person’s health. 

·      Improves resting metabolism

Seated at a desk for hours will do very little to anything for boosting metabolism.  But, get a person up and moving and suddenly their metabolism will be humming along at a higher rate of speed.  Do this the majority of their work day and suddenly they go from a sedentary activity level to a more active lifestyle.  When using an active workstation, people can double their resting metabolism by putting out 1.7 to 2.5 METs (measurements of energy output).  This can result in getting an individual’s maximum heart rate working at 60% allowing them to avoid the health risks of being inactive. 

·      Reduces boredom and improves job satisfaction

Sitting on your bottom all day can lead to feelings of boredom and less satisfaction with your job.  A 2014 study published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology found that working while walking requires focus and concentration, reducing the dullness of tedious jobs while providing more fulfillment and gratification toward their work.    

While there is no guarantee a person’s productivity will increase, at the same time, it is unlikely to decline.  A Mayo Clinic study found workers who used a treadmill desk for one year had their daily activity increase along with a reduction in weight loss.  It showed there was no negative impact on performance and the participants became healthier as a result. 

·      Boost in job performance

All bosses are looking for employees who show improvements in performing their job.  Keep them active while working may be the answer.  With the ability to be actively exercising on the job, there is more incentive to continue working as opposed to taking breaks to get up and stretch your legs.  Not that an employee still wouldn’t want to do that, but knowing they are moving while working means less time spent in being away from the work at hand. 

In conclusion

Even though active workstations should not replace or be a substitute for actual exercise, they are a far better alternative to keeping employees seated for hours a day.  There are already too many seated activities many people do in addition to a sedentary job – online shopping, social media, playing video games, etc.  Active workstations are at least a move in the right direction for many workers who have been harming their health for years while seated on the job.