Downtown Journal : stories
Work out at workBy Michelle BruchStaffing firm Salo keeps employees movingIf your working life is spent in front of a computer screen, you can hardly be blamed for gaining a few extra pounds over the course of your career.Dr. James Levine, an endocrinologist based at the Mayo Clinic, points to sitting as an important culprit of weight gain. His research has found that obese individuals tend to sit two-and-a-half more hours per day than lean people.So what’s a Downtown office worker to do?Salo LLC, a professional staffing firm based at 13th Street & Harmon Avenue, has taken Levine’s research to heart and installed over a dozen treadmill desks in its office. The $6,000 setup looks like a standard treadmill that is outfitted with an adjustable countertop. There’s a phone jack for a headset and a computer attached to the table. Employees can pull up their home computer’s desktop right at the walking workstation.
I’ve voiced my contention before that a lot of the perceived “obesity crisis” is directly attributable to conditions in the very workplaces that are trying to reign in their healthcare costs. This solution by a Minneapolis firm is brilliant – since corporate work frequently takes up the bulk of time in the day, they’ve found a way to include exercise in the workplace – and it’s increased productivity.
Brilliant.