The woman who walks 13km a day — while she works
PUTTING the finishing touches to a presentation for a new client, business psychologist Wendy Kendall stopped to wipe the sweat from her brow. For while her mind had been whirring, so had her legs – she’d walked eight kilometres, all without leaving her office.
The latest fitness trend is to walk while you work, courtesy of ‘treadmill desks’. Devotees like Wendy, 43, claim that the desks — which cost between €1,200 and €3,400 — are the perfect way to keep fit, while some doctors believe they could help prevent a host of health problems caused by sedentary modern lifestyles.
‘It’s been a revelation,’ says Wendy, who lives with her husband Herve, an aeronautical engineer, and two children Eva, 20, and Hugo, 16. ‘I paid €1,400 last year, but see it as an investment in my health.’
Like many who are desk-bound for long office hours, Wendy suffered aches and pains caused by sitting. ‘I’d be writing reports for up to 16 hours at a time and by bedtime I’d be in agony with shoulder and neck pain,’ she says.
For safety reasons, desk treadmills have a top speed of four miles (6.4km) per hour, which is slightly faster than the average walking pace. In most models the desk and treadmill don’t actually touch — the desk frame slots around the treadmill base — stopping vibration from the machine transferring to the desk.
They’re also designed to be virtually silent, which means that users can make phone calls without the tell-tale ‘whooshing’ noise of the treadmill.
‘Now, I dictate reports while I’m walking, usually in three-hour stints interspersed with sitting. I average around 13km a day although my record so far is 20,’ says Wendy.
‘For the first time in years I feel as though my brain and body are doing the same amount of work each day, which means that I’m pleasantly sleepy at bedtime.’
SALES of the gadgets have been boosted by glamorous pictures on social media of celebrities such as Victoria Beckham and US actress Hilary Duff hard at work on their treadmill desks. They are increasing popular in the US and appeal to the healthconscious trying to achieve the 10,000 steps a day target set by wrist fitness trackers such as Fitbits.
‘Being sedentary is now a major health problem,’ says Dr Mike Loosemore, a leading consultant in sport and exercise medicine who provides expert advice to elite athletes.
‘In the past 60 years the use of cars has risen hugely, and in the last 20 years we’ve been sitting for longer periods rather than standing, working on computers, laptops, tablets and mobile phones. We don’t even have to walk round the supermarket now we have doorstep deliveries.’
The average working adult now spends nine and a half hours a day sitting down – which equates to five years over a lifetime.
Studies have shown that those who spend the most time sitting down have twice the risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and a 17 per cent higher risk of dying from cancer. Sitting for long periods is also associated with poor mental health and back pain.
‘Reducing sitting time balances glucose and insulin levels, improves mental health, and reduces lower back pain,’ says Dr Loosemore, who is so convinced of the dangers of sitting that he has a stationary standing desk in his own office.
Those spending thousands on treadmill desks are hoping that walking while they work may help them to lose a few pounds and sculpt their legs and bottoms while they’re at it.
‘You can burn up to 100 calories an hour. If you walk on and off for three hours a day while you work, after a year you’ll have burnt the same number of calories as if you’d run ten marathons — the equivalent of 8lb of fat,’ says Dr Loosemore.
For Wendy, who is a size 12, it was reaching her 40th birthday which spurred her on to become more active. ‘I joined the gym and started yoga but the moment work got busy, I’d be back at my desk for up to 16 hours again.’
So Wendy splashed out on a treadmill desk but she was nervous about working and walking at the same time — might it be a recipe for spelling mistakes, mistyped emails or even injury?
‘I’ve got a habit of closing my eyes when I think during phone calls and I realised that you can’t do that on a treadmill. I lost my balance while on the phone to a client one day and narrowly missed falling,’ says Wendy.
‘I’ve learned I walk at around 3.7kph and dictate reports, but can manage 5.1kph for phone calls. I’ve cranked it up to 6.4kph but run the risk of heavy breathing on the phone to clients. If I’m writing presentations, I stand at the desk or sit down.’
Wendy’s treadmill desk is positioned in front of a large window with views over the countryside and elicits a wry smile from her postman each morning.
‘I’m still the same dress size, but I feel so much healthier. I’m also less bored so I don’t snack as much,’ she adds.
In Ireland, it’s estimated that as many as 75 per cent of office workers spend all of their working hours sitting. But now there’s an increased use of sit-stand desks, especially in new or newly renovated office buildings.
‘We communicate electronically, which means people don’t wander around in the office,’ says John Thurgood, founder of The Treadmill Desk Store.
‘Treadmill desks are becoming popular in large offices for communal use where employees book a half-hour slot. But 60 per cent of our sales are now to individuals.’
The surge in sales of treadmill desks has been partly fuelled by the fact that work practices have changed and many people have flexi-time or can work from home — and thus can wear exercise clothes without fear of embarrassment.
NOVELIST and motherof-two Amanda Brooke, 51, does just that, lacing up her trainers every morning before starting work. ‘When I gave up my 30-year career in local government to write last year I was conscious that I had always gone out for an hour at lunchtimes for exercise,’ says Amanda, who is single.
‘I’ve always struggled with my weight — I’m a size 18 — so I knew I had to do something.’
Eight months ago Amanda’s sister bought her a treadmill desk, and the writer now uses it every morning, clocking up around 3km, or 7,000 steps.
‘Initially I thought I’d get motion sickness while I got used to reading, writing and walking. But to my amazement I didn’t suffer any ill effects. I forget I’m walking until my hips start aching.
‘Each novel requires 100,000 words and I write for at least five hours a day but it’s just for that first hour that I walk as well.
‘Walking while I write helps to ease health worries as well as keeping my weight in check and boosts my creativity.’
While many may think treadmill desks are little more than an expensive gimmick, those of us who could do with losing a few pounds might be happy to join Amanda in putting the ‘work’ in working out.