One Year Treadmill Desk Study

Updated 7.14.2013; reformatted 9.7.2015
I'm going to note my biases before beginning this post. I have a homemade treadmill desk about which I have written previously. I love my treadmill desk and use it daily while working. I typically walk at about 2 mph, though sometimes I decrease the speed. On long days I hae walked over 12 miles, though the total distance depends on my schedule for the day. I talk usually walk while on the phone or if I'm using a pen of pencil. I credit my treadmill desk for my 15 pound weight loss in 2012.

I and others rave about treadmill desks, but would the benefits be measurable in a scientific study? Would the benefits be large enough for corporate America to justify the costs of replacing standard desks? In a study published in the journal Obesity, 36 office workers in Minnesota use a treadmill desk for a year and a wide range of data are collected. Yoni Freedhoff noted the study on his blog.

The results were underwhelmingly positive. Participants lost a small amount of weight. The average waist circumference shrank slightly. Fatter users lost more weight than did thinner users. There was no difference in work performance, which is an important factor for companies.

But what struck me is how little the participants actually walked. The desks they used could be lowered with the push of a button and then used while sitting. The average amount of time that users walked while working was just over 100 minutes. That's not even 2 hours.

Participation in the study was voluntary, and the users were not assigned any particular length of time to walk-- or at least no such instruction was noted in the text. My guess would be that the researchers wanted to have the study be as "free living" as possible. A bit like diet researchers who tell people how to eat, but then send off to follow the guidelines as best they can.

Baseline data was collected, and additional data were collected after six and twelve months. Average time walking declined in the second six months. I cannot sit at my treadmill desk, if I'm not walking I am standing. As I've noted previously, I didn't start off walking all day, I had to build up my stamina to do that. Now I get twitchy if I sit for too long.

The data suggests to me that participants were trying to maximize their walking time or standing time. Still the results WERE positive, but the numbers are unlikely to convince companies to spend the money on high end treadmill desks. The desks used in the study cost $3500.

Still, the study might make it easier for people who want a treadmill desk to get one.

Treadmill desks DO work, but it's not a quick fix, and for it to work you must USE the desk.

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