Walk while you work: are the extra steps on an under desk treadmill worth the cost?

Recent surveys estimate more than 6.7 million Australians – almost half of all workers, and the majority in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra – work from home at least some of the time in paid or unpaid roles.

With that increase in working from home, it’s easy to spend too long sitting – which is now recognised as bad for our health. Many of us now know what it feels like to sit at a computer all day, then once finished with work, simply transfer across to the living room couch.

When we have to physically go into our workplace, it’s easier to get incidental activity: from leaving the house, to walking and standing in an active commute, walking to talk to a colleague, go out to get lunch and more.

With many Australians not reaching physical activity guidelines, could we be strategically using an under desk treadmill or walking pad to walk while we work?

How much – and how often – do you really need to walk?

The benefits of walking are now widely substantiated. For instance, studies that have got people to increase their weekly walking have made profound and consistent benefit to health outcomes, such as improving blood pressure and glucose tolerance.

Recent evidence has converged in on 7,000 steps being a target for daily steps when considering prevention of many diseases.

The World Health Organization has also reverted its recommendations from previously saying physical activity must be done in at least 10-minute bouts to “every move counts”, regardless of duration.

Recent experiments back this up too, finding that short, frequent walking or squatting breaks to avoid prolonged sitting can actually have better health outcomes than one bout of walking.

So walking for our health does not need to be performed in a structured and routine way. It can simply be accrued through the day with incidental activity and regular walking breaks.

Together, this evidence suggests that a treadmill at your desk – encouraging regular walking breaks interspersed throughout the day, when you would otherwise be just sitting – would likely be beneficial.

What studies have been done on treadmill desks?

Though there are only a handful of specific studies on the health impacts of office workers using a treadmill desk, they have mostly shown they’re beneficial.

Those studies have found a treadmill desk or walking pad results in changes in fat loss, improving cholesterol, blood pressure and metabolism, with some benefits longer term. But different investigations into their use revealed different results:

• one study found sedentary office workers increased their steps between 1,600 and 4,500 steps per day (with the greatest weight loss among people with obesity), compared to people who weren’t provided a treadmill

• a small study of overweight and obese physicians found they did manage to make using a treadmill work, ending up with 1.9% lower body fat while using the treadmill desk

• another found it led to an increase of 43 minutes of light walking – though workers still reported finding it hard to meet a demanding work schedule to fit that in.

In other words, your mileage may vary! But while these changes may sound small, they are still likely to improve your health, especially when adopted long-term.

Is it too tricky to type?

But how feasible is adding treadmill desks into our workplaces, either at home or in an office?

People may be concerned about the ability to direct attention to walking simultaneously with performing computer-based work.

Interestingly, one study found there weren’t any significant impact to cognitive abilities between those sitting vs walking at their own pace on a treadmill.

However, walking and cycling desks can impair typing and particularly moving a mouse precisely. That makes a treadmill desk less suitable for mouse-intensive work.

For those who find it hard to type accurately while walking, voice-to-text typing options maybe be worth a try. Some are built into computer operating systems, such as in Apple or Chromebook computers.

Try this before you buy

All things considered, treadmill desks are likely to provide a significant contribution to health through changes to physical activity and sedentary behaviours, without much downside.

For some, adding a treadmill desk to your work environment may be the motivator and visual reminder you need to take regular walking breaks – especially if you’re really short on time or do work that makes it hard to leave your desk.

But even the most basic walking pad costs money. You’re looking at around A$180-200 for entry level walking pads, through to $1,000 or more if you want a better treadmill you can also run on. You may also need to invest in a standing desk to be able to work properly.

So before you invest in a whole new desk set up, it’s worth asking: would it be easier and cheaper to simply try regularly walking away from your desk?

Even small changes in physical activity can make a real difference – especially for those who are very sedentary in their work and home life.