Introducing the At-Work Workout

James Levine doesn’t approve of what you’re doing right now. You know – the whole sitting thing. How long has it been since you’ve left that chair? Three hours? Four? “But I’m at work,” you protest. “What else am I supposed to do?”

For Levine, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, that’s no excuse.  If he had his way, we’d all be working in “non-exercise activity thermogenesis” (NEAT) offices. In essence, that means exercising very mildly all the while from nine to five. No sitting allowed.

The NEAT office concept is the result of a decade of Levine’s research into obesity. In early 2005 he published a report in Science showing that our weight depends strongly on innate differences in how much we tend to move around. Naturally fatter people tend to spend more time sitting per day compared to naturally thin people. So your friend who can wolf down an extra-large pepperoni pizza and never gain a pound may not be bulimic after all. She might just have a greater need to fidget.

But sedentary types should not lose hope. Levine found that we can significantly increase our caloric “burn rates” by keeping in very gentle motion throughout the day. Case in point: Levine’s own NEAT office. His employees don’t sit at their desks; they walk on treadmills. When he and his colleagues hold a meeting, they pace in unison around a two-lane walking track that covers the 5,000-square-foot floor. Plastic skates are also available, for those times when walking just won’t cut it. And when Levine’s assistants want to speak with him, they’d better know how to multitask; during the conversation, they’re required to hit balls at a wall target with a hockey stick.

It may sound like the Willy Wonka Fitness Factory, but all this madness serves a purpose. By walking steadily on a treadmill set to a mere one mile per hour, employees can burn up to 800 calories in a typical nine-to-five workday, for a total weight loss of 50 pounds in a year. 

Sounds great, right? But who has a boss who’ll spring for personal treadmills for each and every lowly minion? Sure, you can park the car farther from the door, walk to work, take the stairs, but how can we turn our offices into NEAT offices, where work and exercise are effortlessly united?

1. Put a Stairmaster in the toilet. No, really. Like Harrison Barnes, CEO of Juriscape, a Los Angeles-based attorney recruiting firm. The idea came to him, he says, because “I work a lot and don’t always find the time to get to the gym. With only 30–45 minutes free during the day, I can exercise, shower and be done with everything.” It probably goes without saying that Barnes has a private bathroom at work. If you don’t, it’s probably not the best idea to cram a Stairmaster into one of those tiny toilet stalls. But then again, four minutes on the treadmill every time you run (and I do mean run) to the toilet – that would burn a few calories, surely.

2. On a budget?  For less than $15, you could follow the example of Beverly Brown of SAS Communications in Cary, North Carolina. Park your butt, in an active way, on an exercise ball. When a physical therapist mentioned to Brown that an exercise ball would help tone her muscles, she took his advice to the next level, trading in her chair for an exercise ball at work. Since she’s been using the ball, Brown says, “My posture has improved dramatically! I even get compliments on it now.” Because the ball doesn’t allow slouching, your muscles will be working away to keep you sitting all day long.

3. Lift soup cans while you’re on the phone. That is what speakerphone was invented for. Yes, it will look kind of mad. But gentle weight-training can burn up to 200 calories per hour for a 150-pound person.

4. Try lunging instead of walking. Just a few gentle ones between, say, the vending machine and your desk will really work those quadriceps – one of the largest muscle groups in your body. You may look ridiculous, briefly, but that’s a small price to pay for fitness.

5. Don’t call or e-mail when you can actually walk over and speak to someone. Much more social, too. Also a grand opportunity for lunging.

6. Do a wall-sit while eating lunch. Stand with your back flat against the wall and then squat down until your legs are at a 90-degree angle. Hold. Eat.

7. Or you can always do what worker bees have been doing for generations – wandering aimlessly around the office, avoiding the stack of work at your desk. According to Tom Weede’s The Entrepreneur’s Diet, a 130-pound wanderer can burn 195 calories an hour this way. If you ever needed proof that procrastination was good for you, here it is.

So, will Levine’s NEAT office, equipped with treadmills, sliding shoes and a walking track, ever become a reality for the rest of us? Time will tell. As the obesity and overweight prevalence in the U.S. sails past 64%, drastic action might be required. In the meantime, though, why not build your own office of the future? If anything, Levine’s research shows it only takes a little effort to make a really NEAT difference. 

Now, go get out of that chair.