By Alanna Rosette Brown, a writer/filmmaker, LuxEcoLiving Advocate, and author of Moonpennies. Follow her blog at alannarosette.com
Make a New Years Resolution: Stand-Up and Walk to Increase Your Lifespan
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As a copywriter by day and a screenwriter by night, I spend the majority of my days sitting in front of a computer. The back pain and discomfort I end up with is a distraction inherent to my job. To avoid it, I’m constantly shifting in my chair or finding excuses to stand up as often as possible. After a few hours, it becomes difficult to focus. Those increasing trips to check the mail, grab more coffee, and open or close the windows is time being chipped away from my work.
And by evening, I’m biting at the bit to get out for a walk or a hike. That walk stretches my stagnant muscles, soothes my back, and gets my blood pumping again. Aside from the many health benefits of walking, I couldn’t do without my evening exercise because of the mental freedom it gives me.
But what if there was a way to have both at once? What if you could check your email and do all your work while getting that much needed exercise? A friend recently informed me that there is. It’s called the LifeSpan Treadmill Desk.
What is a LifeSpan Treadmill Desk and What Are the Benefits?
A LifeSpan Treadmill Desk is a workstation that you use while walking at a safe pace on a treadmill below—exactly like it sounds. Although I haven’t gotten a chance to try it myself yet, this treadmill has great reviews. I can imagine some of the huge benefits that would come with using one of these.
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Off the top of my head, these four immediately come to mind:
1. The New Year’s Resolution Benefit
A cool and unique benefit of this desk is rolling two common New Year’s resolutions into one. I often hear people say they want to lose weight this year. Or this is the year they’re going to write the next great American novel.
Being able to achieve both of these goals at the same time is a pretty awesome two-fer. To top that off, you don’t have to feel guilty eating cookies and pie during the month of December, because you know you’ll be working it off with every plot twist you type.
2. The Get Creative Juices Flowing While at Work Benefit
If you’re stumped on a work project, walking may be the cure. Research shows that taking a walk leads to more creativity than sitting. In a word experiment with students, the walking subjects “…doubled their number of novel responses compared with when they were sitting.”
Now, just imagine walking and brainstorming at the same time…
3. The Disease Prevention Benefit
Studies also show that a sedentary lifestyle can lead to disease and other health problems, like obesity, diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers, muscle degeneration, poor circulation, and more.
More walking can literally extend your life span. Nowadays, doctors are actually prescribing exercise to their patients, which originates from the program Exercise is Medicine. A recent article in The Wall Street Journal says:
A conference last week at Harvard Medical School in Boston…used strategies from Exercise is Medicine to help practitioners counsel and motivate patients to be more active and prescribe customized exercise programs.
4. The Feel Better About Yourself Benefit
According to WebMD, regular exercise can lift your mood and improve self-esteem. This includes walking, which boosts endorphins and reduces stress hormones. A 2008 study also teaches us that exercise programs centered around walking give you more energy and help fight fatigue.
So not only will you be on top of your email correspondence, drafting your new novel, getting in shape, taking the lead on creative ideas at work, and extending your quality of life, you’ll also be feeling fabulous.
If you’ve used the LifeSpan Treadmill Desk, leave a comment below on how it worked for you!
