Burn while you earn: Desk treadmill keeps you walking at work

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Too busy working to work out?

Now you can burn calories while earning a paycheck with Steelcase's new Walkstation, which merges a workstation with a treadmill.

The concept is based on the research of Dr. James Levine of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., who has spent the past 15 years studying energy expended during daily activity.

"What we have done is taken science from the lab to a product that could potentially help millions and millions of people," said Levine.

"I think it's the next iPod. Everybody is going to want one."

But the price tag will be a little higher, at about $4,000.

The Walkstation, the first product of the new FitWork line, was unveiled in the Steelcase showroom in New York as well as featured on "Good Morning America."

Steelcase won't begin taking orders until Monday, but there already is a long list of companies eager to buy. Each Walkstation takes about six weeks to build. There also is a version that gives the user the option of sitting or walking while working.

"Our initial target for this is the bread-and-butter of Steelcase: Fortune 1000 customers who are looking to improve their employees' health and well-being and perhaps attack rising health-care-benefits cost," said Bud Klipa, president of Details.

The response to the Walkstation is different from any product Klipa has launched in his three decades in the office-furniture industry.

"I think we are hitting a chord with the mainstream who say we need a concrete way to deal with rising health-care costs, and this might be a solution," said Klipa, president of the Steelcase subsidiary that sells ergonomic worktool solutions and developed the workstation.

The collaboration between Levine and the world's largest office-furniture-maker began when the doctor approached staff with the Grand Rapids company doing research at the renowned medical facility.

Within a month, a prototype was built. That version combined Details' height-adjustable workstation with a treadmill from the company's fitness area.

The final product incorporates a specially designed treadmill by St. Louis, Mo.-based True Fitness Technology Inc.

Designed to run at a maximum of 3.5 mph, the commercial-grade treadmill has a quiet motor and belt, Klipa said.

But don't expect this workplace treadmill to make you break a sweat or provide a gym-style workout.

Yet even a slow stroll can improve a person's health, said Steve Glass, professor of movement science and director of Grand Valley State University's Human Performance Lab.

"How hard you work to burn calories isn't as important as burning those calories, from the standpoint of long-term health," said Glass, who is familiar with Levine's work.

"It will be interesting to see if people will stick with it."

Levine's research on Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (N.E.A.T.) concludes that a sedentary lifestyle is not natural. The key to fighting obesity and many other health problems is to keep people from spending their days deskbound.

"Over the last 150 years, we've become chair-imprisoned. We are behind a screen all day at work. We are in a car or bus getting to and from work. And in the evening, we are in a chair watching television or surfing the Internet," Levine said. "We've gone from being on our legs all day to being on our bottoms all day."

Levine does most of his research on his Walkstation. Sometimes, that can be as much as 90 hours a week. The 43-year-old's longest stretch without stopping is 20 hours.

The habit of walking a mile an hour while he works has made him sharper and reduced his need for sleep.

"I've become incredibly focused on completing things," said Levine, who has banned chairs from his office.

There are more benefits to the Workstation than losing weight.

"People want to escape from work because it is stressful," Levine said. "One of the key benefits to this approach to working is that it is de-stressing and depression prevention."

For more information, go to details-worktools.com or steelcase.com.