Nonstop Office: Maybe It's Good for You

By Sally Squires
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 23, 2007

James Levine believes that desks should be NEAT.

No, not just orderly, but compatible with Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. That's the tongue-twisting term for a design concept: that desks, cubicles and computer stations should allow people to move while they work, burning calories and potentially alleviating the buildup of stress.

"We lead an unbelievably sedentary existence," says Levine, a physician and professor of nutrition at the Mayo Clinic. "We are screen-tied."

There's little likelihood that we will give up our computers, televisions or video games any time soon. Rather than curse the technology that exercises only the muscles from our elbows to our fingertips -- and often makes these muscles sore from their unnatural workout-- Levine advocates finding active new ways to embrace digital tools.

"There's nothing wrong with the technology," he said. "It's how we use it."

So instead of letting the technology drive us into our chairs and early graves, Levine has built NEAT offices and a research lab to test his theories at Mayo's headquarters in Rochester, Minn. His computer sits atop a treadmill that he bought for $350. Levine walks on it while answering e-mail, writing grant proposals, analyzing data and talking on the phone to a reporter.

There's no danger that Levine or his staff will break a sweat. How could they, walking at a pace that never exceeds 1 mph? That's about as fast as you can go without making it difficult to read. But even that rate burns about an extra 100 calories per hour, according to research that Levine has presented at several scientific meetings.

Just boosting daily activity that much has left Levine 15 pounds lighter this past year. "And I wasn't overweight to start with," he notes.

The weight-loss potential for the two-thirds of adults who are overweight or obese is even greater. Studies show that obese people typically spend 2.5 more hours sitting per day than do lean people.

In a recent report, Levine found that obese office workersburned on average 120 more calories per hour while using NEAT desks and treadmills than they did while sitting. Over a full workday, that could add up to more than 800 additional calories burned. Someone who works NEAT all the time could, at least in theory, lose slightly more than a pound per week, although everyone may not want to spend their entire workday walking on a treadmill.

There are likely other benefits, too. Research suggests that employees who are more active are often more engaged, healthier -- and happier. Activity helps increase energy and can improve concentration and focus -- important attributes for the office.

In theory, NEAT could also help reduce office stress, since numerous studies show the stress-reduction benefits of walking.

The cost of a NEAT desk is about $1,600 -- about the same as a standard cubicle's furniture. But they can be assembled for a lot less: Levine crafted a desk for his home office for about $55 using materials from Home Depot.

And if NEAT desks can result in employees who need fewer trips to the doctor, they could potentially pay for themselves.

The NEAT concept is not limited to desks: The whole office can be remade into a more active place: There's an indoor track on the perimeter of Levine's lab where a couple of staff members at a time can conduct meetings while walking.

For larger groups, he advises setting up a conference room where employees can walk while they talk. Instead of a table and chairs, Levine suggests putting in treadmills, such as the PaceMaster Bronze, that are quiet enough to allow "eight people to walk . . . and talk at the same time," he says.

"All these things can be converted to NEAT living," he says. "There's no need to hold a meeting in a chair."

Levine also has installed stationary bikes that are "whisper quiet" in his lab. But he draws the line at incorporating stair climbers and elliptical trainers into the NEAT design. "Conceptually," he says, " it doesn't make sense to me, because of the head-bobbing. It is that head-bobbing that makes looking at a computer screen quite difficult."

The idea of moving while doing mental work is not new. It's a skill that early humans had to master to survive. "We are meant to move," Levine says. "That is how we sorted out our nutrition and our shelter. It was how we hunted and got wood, how we explored and avoided predators."

Levine says he has had interest in NEAT from a number of well-known companies, which he declined to name, as well as from the offices of former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

But is this approachpractical outside the research lab? Lean Plate Club member Lois Yurow of Westfield, N.J., thinks so.

Inspired by a news report of Levine's work, she commissioned a carpenter to build a desk for a treadmill in her home office. Yurow bought a 19-inch flat-screen monitor for her treadmill, got a wireless keyboard and mouse and hired a computer consultant to install them on her treadmill. (See a video of Lois in action at http://www.leanplateclub.com.) She spent a total of about $2,000.

Yurow loves her office, although she notes that both the carpenter and the computer guy she hired "thought this idea was crazy."

The treadmill is too loud to allow Yurow, a freelance editor, to use while talking to clients. But it's fine while she's editing or chatting with friends. Yurow is continuing with her regular workouts, but she finds that she's more alert and feels more productive as a result of using the NEAT device. "It certainly makes me feel more comfortable and keeps me awake on days that I am groggy," she says.

Yurow started using the treadmill at 0.5 mph, but "it is easier to stand still than to walk at that pace," she says. She gradually increased the speed so that now she walks at 2.1 mph on a 3 percent incline for about 45 minutes to an hour a couple of times a day.

That's more of a workout than Levine usually recommends. "The fit and the healthy can do that," Levine says. "But that's about as fast as you can go" and still do office work.

Levine's dream? To have 2008 presidential candidates deliver their major speeches while walking on a NEAT treadmill. As he says, "it would send to the people of America the ultimate message about their modernism, their commitment to health and their willingness to try something different." ·

Comments:leanplateclub@washpost.com.