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laptop-related stories

Walk While You Work - Are You Coordinated Enough?

Fitness

treadmillTook my kids to see a movie called Nim's Island a while back. Not entirely memorable, but there is one scene that sometimes crosses my mind. It's the one with Jodie Foster working away on her laptop while walking on a treadmill. Now that takes coordination, I remember thinking while sitting all cozy in my theater chair. There is just no way I could ever do that.

Walking while working may not be that far off, and it seems the practice could really pay off. Researchers in one study developed a workstation with a treadmill so employees could exercise while working. Obese volunteers took this scenario for a ride and walked for one hour at one mile per hour while typing a document. They burned 191 calories. Those who did the same work seated at a desk burned 72.

Not a bad idea, this treadmill office set-up -- if you can manage it. I just don't think I can. How about you?

Can you walk and work -- at the same time?

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Giveaway - Win Some Cool Shoes From KEEN Footwear

Giveaways, Reviews & Products

keen shoeKEEN Footwear offers some of the coolest most comfortable fashions for everything from long hikes to date nights. KEEN shoes are fun, sporty, and versatile and you may just be able to score yourself a free pair! In fact, if you win the giveaway, you could win anything on the KEEN website. Socks, shoes, purses, laptop bags and backpacks are up for grabs.

Oh ... and entering is ridiculously easy. All you have to do is visit KEENFootwear.com and decide which pair of shoes you like best and then write in this comment section which style you love and what you would want to go do in them.

And just so nobody walks away feeling like a loser, KEEN has offered That's Fit readers a special promo code to get free shipping on anything you purchase. That code is FITFREE and you deserve every penny that you save!

KEEN Footwear Giveaway(click thumbnails to view gallery)

Genoa Peak for WomenWinterport for MenMenlo Park BagTarghee for WomenWear KEEN Shoes Everywhere!

Keep reading for official Giveaway Guidelines ...

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5 Ways to Loosen Up After a Long Day at a Desk

Work/Home Balance, Fitness, Motivation

Tomorrow is the deadline for my book, The Everything Flat Belly Cookbook. I'm thrilled with Adams Media for hiring me to write it but on occasion, my body has been very angry at them for giving me such a tight deadline. This uber short deadline has caused little Miss Fitzness Trainer to sit for 12 hours at a time with my head buried in my laptop quite often. My brain is thrilled, but my back has been bummed.

The only reason I've survived is because I'm already really good at taking care of my body. I've never had to sit down for such long periods of time as a requirement of my job, but when the side effects of doing so set in ... I knew how to respond.

Twisty Activities to Banish Stiffness and Soreness(click thumbnails to view gallery)

SoccerDance!Kickboxing, Boxing or Martial ArtsCable MachinesBar Training

I imagine a lot of you are stuck at a desk for hours on a daily basis. I feel for you. I also have some ideas to help you survive it without all of the stiff, achy and strained body parts.

Fitku: A working workout

Fitness, Motivation

dog sleeping on treadmillMy husband seems to have solved all of the world's workout problems with one quick fix: to save time, he uses the treadmill while he works on his laptop, thanks to a handy laptop shelf he built for the treadmill in his company's gym.

Pretty savvy, eh? His coworkers know where to find them if an IT emergency arises, and he becomes fit during work hours, at a normally sedentary job. Merits a Fitku, don't you think?

Tread and type workout
Kills two birds with one laptop
Fit and efficient

What are your tricks for staying active at work?

Try disconnecting

Stress Reduction, Womens Health, Diet & Weight Loss, Motivation, Nutrition & Supplements, Men's Health

I'm too connected. I'll admit it. I'm texting, emailing, calling, and IMing waaaaaay too much these days. Entire hours often go by in which I don't have a face-to-face conversation with anyone. I would say I have a problem, but if a quote-unquote problem is designated by comparing an aberrant behavior against what has been deemed normative behavior, I can safely say that I don't have a problem at all. Everyone's plugged in these days. Even yesterday, as I collapsed into a chair at the airport -- after lugging my laptop, iPod, and camera through security, I struggled to find a plug socket to plug in my laptop. The difficulty did not come from finding the plug; rather, it came from finding a plug that wasn't already being used by other people with THEIR laptops. So, at least it would seem, we are all too connected these days.

This connectivity issue was studied by researchers at King's College in London, who found that almost two out of three people check email and/or text messages during their off-hours; meaning, either after they've left the office or even when on vacation. And, they also discovered that 20 percent of people answer a text message during a business or social engagement.

All this email checking, text message writing (BTW, calling text messages "writing" is a bit of a stretch), IMing, and every mode of electronic communication in between is making our workday 24 hours long and demanding a relentless commitment to every whim, desire, YouTube clip, and stupid question our friends and relatives can possibly dream up. In short, it's stressing us out. Finding quiet is near impossible when you're constantly interrupted by your annoying cell phone ring or the "Ba-Doop" sound it makes whenever you get a new IM. Do yourself a favor, turn everything off -- for at least a half an hour a day. Even longer if you can pull it off. Regroup and decompress a little. Enjoy a little Me Time. Disconnect. No message or phone call -- no matter how important it may seem -- compares to the importance of your health and wellness.

Backpack full of power

Fitness, Reviews & Products

I think I've already found my Christmas gift wish for this year. True, it's a bit early to be thinking about snowy December, but it's actually the seasonal sunshine that gave me the idea.

Voltaic is a company that designs backpacks and bags that capture the sun's energy and use it as a power source for electrical items such as iPods, cell phones, and GPSs. With small solar panels on the bag itself, as little as an hour of sunlight can keep your iPod pumping for three hours. This is the perfect item for the hikers out there who like to have a little creature comfort available during workouts.

The bag itself appears to be quite durable and big enough to store your water bottles, extra clothing, and even your laptop (you can write an email to your boss once you reach the summit of the mountain, telling him or her that you will be working from home for the rest of the day). And, with the new Generator computer bag, you'll have all the power you need to keep your laptop running.

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Affix a laptop to that treadmill

Fitness

If you're going to be on a treadmill for hours per week, wouldn't it be nice to get some reading or work done at the same time? Personally, I live to use treadmill time to jam to some tunes and take my eyes off anything for a few minutes.

But for those who live on a laptop and need to have that piece of technology nearby, you can have it with the Netrunner.

Though computer junkies may love the idea of having their laptop affixed to the treadmill while walking on that incline, watching DVDs is about the only activity I can see being useful here. Maybe there is more...

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