
Working Out Inside the Office - fogus
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/jobs/working-out-inside-the-office.html?_r=1&src=recg
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root
Thank god I'm self employed and decide myself when and what to exercise. I
can't imagine having to dance to the pipes of these corporate clowns. 18
people being scrutinized by their bosses collectively lose 150 lbs (25 of
which are accounted for by 1 person)? I can't say I'm impressed.

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tzs
They were 18 people participating in a scientific study. There's nothing in
the article that suggests that they were forced to participate. They were
almost certainly volunteers.

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root
If they were volunteers the study would have a very strong self selection bias
and therefore not be scientific.

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tzs
That might be true for some studies, but the generalization is not correct. It
depends on what is being studied.

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root
Care to give an example where a study with strong self selection bias is still
scientific?

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tzs
Nearly every drug test. E.g., the researchers ask for volunteers suffering
from condition X. Those volunteers are then tested with a new drug.

Why would you think the fact that the subjects are volunteers would affect
this?

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digitalsushi
I hope that's stock photography. Working out in a business suit is offensive.
I can't even wear my hoodie at the gym without overheating. And I look like
that dude on the left.

Just sayin'.

(explicitly I am just sayin' that we need to revisit the expectations of
attire if we're going to conflate the notions of work and exercise).

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kscaldef
I'm pretty sure they're moving at a slow-ish walk, not running. The point is
regular low levels of physical activity, not hard core cardio during your
meeting.

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yummyfajitas
I interviewed once at a hedge fund that had a power rack in the corner. All
four people I spoke with were ripped. So yeah, exercise at the office can work
pretty well.

I have no idea what the water bottle curls described in the article are going
accomplish, however.

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sn0wright
My entire dev team (all 4 of us) have started doing burpees at 11:00am and
3:00pm everyday. Great all-around excercise that gets your heart racing and
even works out the whole body. Japan has a milder version, called Rajio Taiso.

Not sure if I'd be able to walk while in a meeting, even if its at a slow
pace. When I'm working out, I usually try to get into "the zone" and I'd
probably have difficulties staying focused.

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binarysoul
I don't get it. My wife is on her feet 12 hours a day, so her feet just hurt.

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blankenship
Proof that moderation is still key. Sitting all day is horrible for your
health. Standing all day is horrible for your health. Laying down all day is
horrible for your health.

The human body was made to move.

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nosequel
Why is standing all day horrible for your health? I'm assuming your are
talking about the post above yours referring to a work day. I stand 10+ hours
a day, with no foot pain, and don't stand on a pad or in shoes. Just because
of this, I won't lay down a blanket statement that it IS good for you (based
on one person's opinion), so why go as far as saying it is "horrible for your
health" with no backing facts?

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freehunter
Being overly active without taking proper precautions (good diet for joint
lubrication, proper posture, etc) can lead to joint damage, back problems,
foot problems, recurring pain, etc. Specifically, standing still all day
causes problems. Moving tends not to.

In general, humans were not designed to do one motion/one task repeatedly all
day every day.

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ja27
We used to have a ping pong table in an abandoned part of our office space. It
was great for a quick break to get the heart-rate up and burn a few calories.

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omouse
Heh, I've been looking for more tips to add to my blog about this:
[http://neverfriday.com/?q=exercising-software-developer-
it-w...](http://neverfriday.com/?q=exercising-software-developer-it-worker-
programmer)

It's amazing how awful your back feels after a day in a crappy chair :-/ I'm
not sure treadmills are the answer, but at least they're something. Now to get
those offices to add some dumbbells! :P

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peterwwillis
Why not just go outside for a run around the block? You'd get an actual health
benefit from your heart rate being elevated for at least 20 minutes.

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bryanlarsen
From the article: "But regular exercise doesn’t entirely make up for the
shutdown of chemical processes that occurs during long periods of sitting,
research has shown."

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peterwwillis
....yeah, that's why you stop sitting, get up, go for a run at lunch time.
it's also recommended you get up every so often and walk around a bit (coffee
breaks are good for this)

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capkutay
I couldn't imagine taking a meeting seriously when everyone's walking on a
treadmill...But I guess it's better than scarfing down deli sandwiches.

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daltonlp
We built one of these at our company:

[http://www.clockwork.net/blog/2011/04/27/478/we_made_a_sweet...](http://www.clockwork.net/blog/2011/04/27/478/we_made_a_sweet_walkstation_for_10_and_some_wood_scraps)

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/clockworkactivemedia/sets/72157...](http://www.flickr.com/photos/clockworkactivemedia/sets/72157626468276603/)

We've been using it every day for months.

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ecaroth
A product I created recently launched to help people do exactly this...
fitbolt.com

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paperwork
<http://fitbolt.com/> is down.

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wazoox
walking around helps you thinking too. Remember Aristotle and the
peripateticians ("those who wander around").

