Building a Treadmill Desk

Wrote about treadmill desks back in September 2008. Here is a handy tutorial at Instructables on how to build one or around $150. I sold my treadmill last year to gain a little elbow room in my house so I can't try this one out. Still think it's a good idea though.

Here's a link to one study done with school age children and treadmills:  Physical Activity May Strengthen Children's Ability To Pay Attention. (This was not the one I was looking for originally, I think there is one other study out there somewhere that looked at eighth graders, but can't find it.  Anyone?)

The authors three recomendations:

• scheduling outdoor recess as a part of each school day;
• offering formal physical education 150 minutes per week at the elementary level, 225 minutes at the secondary level;
• encouraging classroom teachers to integrate physical activity into learning.

Wonder what a study looking at teachers and the amount of exercise they get during a day might reveal about their health?  Their stress levels?  Their ability to think and plan?

[Image captured from Instructables: http://www.instructables.com/id/Treadmill-Desk/]

TED: Modeling the Brain

Fascinating talk on how we are mapping the brain and the plans to eventually model how it works by Harry Markram. Also below are a couple of links I found at the TED bio on Markram and his Blue Brain project.

Seed Article: Can a Thinking, Remembering, Decision-Making, Biological Accurate Brain Be Built From a SuperComputer?

Blue Brain Project Website

Office Walkers

I recently did a post on an article about treadmills at work and how they can help improve productivity while helping you to better fit into those weekend designer jeans. One of the guys quoted in the article, Brad, saw my blog and sent me a comment along with the url for their online discussion/support group of office walkers. I browsed through their site this past weekend and found a some pictures of home-made office walking machines. The slideshow below is Brad's setup.

Thanks for the link Brad. If I create my own Office Walker, I'll sign up for your group.


Find more photos like this on Office Walkers


[Image: Captured from Office Walkers Forum: Photo added by member Kelly on September 19, 2008 at 8:32am:http://officewalkers.ning.com/photo/photo/show?id=2015808%3APhoto%3A1699]

Walking at my desk

I'm currently reading Brain Rules by Jon Medina every night before I go to bed and enjoying every minute of it. One of the things he discusses in his book is that our brains not only work better if we exercise more often but that they work better while we exercise. This point was supported in this article by Mandy Katz for the New York Times, "I Put In 5 Miles at the Office". She talks about a new desk called the Walkstation that has been built around a treadmill. It lets you walk slowly while you work at your desk on your computer or making deals on the phone.

"The Walkstation, which Dr. Levine helped develop, costs about $4,000 and comes in 36 laminate finishes with an ergonomically curved desktop. Its quiet motor is designed for slow speeds, said David Kagan, director of marketing communications at Details, a division of Steelcase."

I sent the link to my principal begging to be the first guinea pig and the first out of my little cubby hole of a desk. In this year of budget cuts, I don't hold much hope for a Walkstation.

Plan B is to get out the tools and modify my wife's treadmill. I shall call it Al's Work Mill and it will make me famous amongst my cubical cell mates. I think our motto will be, "Walk your way to a better mind and a smaller behind". My classroom model will be called the "Student Step to Success Desk Mill". If the kids start getting out of hand, push up the speed! Listen to that chatter disappear as they start walking faster and try to type in html code at the same time. Classroom management and better learning. I may get rich out of this?

[Image: Captured from article "I Put In 5 Miles at the Office"; http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/18/health/nutrition/18fitness.html?_r=2&no_interstitial&oref=slogin&oref=slogin]