Researchers from the University of Montreal analysed 12 separate studies and published their results in the Occupational and Environmental Medicine journal. All the active workstations proved to be beneficial compared to simply sitting. The treadmill desk reduces job stress, but coordination decreases with increasing walking speed, resulting in lower productivity. The standing workstation reduced lower back pain and had no downsides but no other upsides either.
The cycling desk, with 20 to 30 watts of resistance, increased heart rate. It also helped to reduce blood pressure compared to the other active workstations and even slightly improved the processing speed of the individual using it. Also, if your office is not big enough to accommodate a treadmill or standing desk, hiding away a cycling station under your current workspace shouldn’t be too much of a hassle. All in all, cycling seems to have the most to offer.
In case you don’t have access to any of the above though, just go and visit your colleagues more often, or make more frequent trips for water. Everything counts. In the end it’s all about movement.
