That's Fit

Obesity is becoming, or already is, a major problem in this country and around the world. Yes, we know. One of the contributing factors to this ballooning situation is that our advances in technology over the years have slowly moved the majority of working adults out of the old-fashioned more physical "hard labor" type jobs and into sedentary "sit at a desk all day" positions. Pile on the guilt and stress of not having time to exercise before or after work, and not having time to cook decently for ourselves either, and we've really got a nasty little recipe for fatness on our hands.

So researchers have of course been slaving away searching for an answer to this dilemma since we first recognized it, but what have they been discovering? Usually nothing much other than the usual studies and general tips, although slowly but surely the data they are collecting is influencing employers to do more in the way of wellness benefits and employee health programs. That's a good thing. And another thing they've come up with is, I think, absolutely hilarious: it's the "walk and work" desk. Will employers be investing in these anytime soon?
No, it's (as far as I know right now) not an actual fitness desk that's for sale down at your local furniture mart. It is, however, exactly what it sounds like: a treadmill modified with an attached desk so over-weight but busy career types can exercise while they're also working on the computer. No more complaints that you just don't have time. Heck, you can now squeeze in 8 hours of exercise every darn day if you want to!

The "walk and work" desk is not the complete first of its kind (there are some workstation adaptations available for treadmills already) but it was designed specifically for the purposes of a study -- which concluded that obese people who walked for a couple hours each day while working lost weight (about 66 pounds a year), while those who didn't walk-and-work didn't. How shocking!

I'm still laughing at the picture I have in my head of this contraption. It's described as an 'H' shaped steel frame with 4 locking rubber wheels, and then adjustable arms for holding the computer, keyboard, and mouse on top. The whole thing gets positioned over a treadmill and you're ready to go. Of course it's a great idea, in theory, but it will never catch on. Business deals and conference calls just aren't the same with someone huffing and panting on the other end, and typing accurately on a keyboard has to be really frustrating while trying to walk at the same time.

And this whole thing, entertaining as it is for me, seems more like a way of enabling a problem than it does a way of solving one anyway.