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7/2/13 The New Yorker:May 20,2013
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<br /> the afore auouricl-thr-block exercise waalks called a Kangaroo,which is a platform ends—IKEA components,or milk crates
<br /> I had begun to take,it measured all my that sits on my existing desk and can be and doors., or filing cabinet,; and old
<br /> walking;,including the incidental steps I lowered if]decide to sit and work for a°t lumber.
<br /> tookwhile,say,grocryshoppirngorgct- change:.(I have yet to lower it,because I F"itbit has a community forum of
<br /> ting the maul Furthermore,at the end of haven't had the arrge to sit and work,)I people who work at treadmill desks,and
<br /> the year F'itbit sent out c-snails giving was warned that I should ease into the the Internet group Office Walkers
<br /> users the geographical equivalent of their walkingwcork life,to get used to being on (which has the slogan"Working(a)100
<br /> stela,count.(I had travelled the length of my feet f6r so long;and to adjust to the calories per hou?)noun has more than a
<br /> the"Tigris River.)There was also the slightly odcl sensation of°typing while thousand inembers.The group irrostly
<br /> hnlla£nit aLlClitional alttr.ictioti of c(ompe- walking,although the first day I wvalkcd discusses issues like.the challenges of
<br /> titian. My husband and several of our two miles without really even noticing, using a mouse whale walking,but there
<br /> friends had I"itbits,and$we could see one My computer monitor jiggled a bit when are occasionarl surpri;cs,like the confes-
<br /> anc°other's step count online.The.rccom- ]started,but,nonce I shored that asp with sion s(onae time agobyLuke DeskWalker
<br /> nnended daily goal was ten thousand an adjustable:leg that came with my (not his real murre,Tm guessing)about
<br /> steps,but people on the leaderboarcl were treadmill desktop,it was a normal work- how working on a treadmill has helped
<br /> racking;up as many as fifteen thousand day,just in motion.finlike after a session ruin Glance."The thing is I can't daarnce.
<br /> or snore.'4a11e became ruthless.. Soule- at tlne gy7m orgoi g out flor a nm,1 wasn't Normally,"Ind skWdker posted,saying
<br /> times nnyhalsbaaYdwcaaald palASe l-c fore he hot and sweaty.I totally killed on the that he thought being in motion on his
<br /> got undressed for bed,discreetly check step count that night,and there was no treadmill all clay had given him a ncw-
<br /> his step count against mine,and then amount of clog walking, my husband hound talent fior shimnnyi ng,"Of course
<br /> mention,as if it had just occurred to him, could do to catch kip. I have to be listening to music,"he
<br /> that he thought the dog Gould use a little added, "Anyone else experience this
<br /> more fresh air before going to sleep. I orking while walking on a tread- same effect?"
<br /> knew exactlywhat he was tip to,so while Wmill may seem kooky,but Levine There are a few things about work-
<br /> lie walked the clog I paced around the is determined to make it mainstream. ing on a treadmill that are problematic.
<br /> bedroom. Ile tested the desks with a group of Drinking,coffee is a known haazirrl.If
<br /> The thing with walking,though,is more than three hundred volunteers at you go too fast,phone calls will be punc-
<br /> that it really sloes take a lot of time. the Maye, Clinic, all of whom liked tuated by gasps for air,which can lend.
<br /> When l ran,I could whip through five them,Lcvinc says,except for one per- the conversation a desperate duality.
<br /> miles in fiorty-five minutes,but walking son,but he didn"t like working oan a eom- Anyonc who visits your office will forget
<br /> the same dktance would take fiorever. pater anyway. Levine then partnered what he or she came to talk to you about
<br /> When I lived in New York City, I with Steelcase, the office-furniture and will spend at lest ten minutes ask-
<br /> w,alked all the time,just to get errands company,and in 2007 they introduced ing you all about your treadmill desk.
<br /> done,but 1 had moved to the l Judson the first official treadmill desk—a sleek, And then there's that annoying habit of
<br /> Valley,and then to Los Angeles,which adjustable setup that costs rnore than telling everyone that you're walking;
<br /> mcant—well,,you know."Making pco- four thousand dollar,,,. Levine hopes while you're working,although there's as
<br /> ple less sedentary raises a practical ques- that treadmill workstations will eventu- good chance that,with time.,the urge to
<br /> tion " Levine said."E:vcrybody is busy. ally become cheap enough fior everyone make that announcement will subside.
<br /> I low arc lv oplc going to get those extra to use^,but he says he wanted the`heel- Levine thinks that walking could
<br /> houn aofrnow:mcnt?You have toconvert case imprimatur right away,in order to make ukmythingbetter—not onlylncaldn
<br /> chair time to walking time." "professionalize"the desks and make: but socicty,and culture,and Life."Chair-
<br /> Voihr,the treadmill desk.I'm not sure them seem more than"kitsch,"Corpo- dorn is hugely affecting humans," he
<br /> where:or hose I first heard about the con-- rations,including Aetna and Coogle, said."No one has really imderstexod what
<br /> traption,but I found out that several and institutions, like Arizona State we have lost by sitting all the time."I°Ie
<br /> people I knew had one,In fact,.I learned [University, have begun offering ent reminisced a bit about his childhood,
<br /> that two of my l+itbit friends whose;step ployees treadmill desks,and last month when lie would walk to town with his
<br /> counts were astronomical were working the Oregon Ilcouse 'Committee on grandcnnothertodo the shopping,seeing
<br /> at treadmill desks, so suddenly those I leslth Care approved a pilot program neighbors along the way. I could hear
<br /> numbers made sense,Multitasking!Still, to test the use of treadmill desks by state that he had turned off his treadmill,and
<br /> cd thered;1,had seen so many treadmills employees. he told me that he was about to head.
<br /> at garage sales,barely broken in,Would A store of treadmill-desk comparnics home. As we were saying goodbye,
<br /> I be adding; another? This seernned have sprung up in thepastfewyears,in- he mentioned that some people end up
<br /> different,though.A treadmill at my desk cludiing TreadDesk,Trek-Desk,Exer- walking a half marathon (luring the
<br /> wouldn't require time set aside to use it, peutic, the human Solution, Ergo workday.
<br /> because it would be part of nay every- Desktop,and Lrgotron,and a number "Wow,"1 said..
<br /> day life. of Web sites have instructions on how "Worn is the point!"Levine saki.
<br /> I ended tap buying a.LifeSpan tread- to make your own by retrofittirng an or- I died some quick math:if kept work-
<br /> naill designed specifically to use under a Binary treadmill and building;an ele- ing a few more hours,matybc I could do
<br /> desk,and a computer stand/desk gismo vated work surface using; odds and a:100,
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