Brad Rhoads, a computer programmer and missionary in Princeton, Ill., faces a computer monitor on a file cabinet and gets in about five miles a day on a treadmill while working in his home office.
“After a while, your legs do get kind of tired,” said Mr. Rhoads, 40, who started exercising in March, when doctors advised him to lose weight after open-heart surgery.
Ms. Krivosha and Mr. Rhoads are part of a small but growing group of desk jockeys who were inspired by Dr. James Levine, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic. In 2005, Dr. Levine led a study showing that lean people burn about 350 more calories a day than those who are overweight, by doing ordinary things like fidgeting, pacing or walking to the copier.
To incorporate extra movement into the routines of sedentary workers (himself included), Dr. Levine constructed the first known treadmill desk by sliding a bedside hospital tray over a $400 treadmill. With a laptop and a phone headset, he said he can go all day at a leisurely 1.4 miles an hour.
Without breaking a sweat, the so-called work-walker can burn an estimated 100 to 130 calories an hour at speeds slower than two miles an hour, Mayo research shows.
Enthusiasts began following Dr. Levine’s example, constructing treadmill desks that range from sleekly robotic set-ups to rickety mash-ups that could be Wall-E’s long-lost kin. But the recent introduction of an all-in-one treadmill desk from Details may inch work-walking into the mainstream, as dozens of businesses invest in the hardware to let their employees walk (and, ideally, lose a little weight) at work.
Since last November, about 335 Walkstations, have been sold nationwide to companies including Humana, Mutual of Omaha, GlaxoSmithKline and Best Buy.
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.
STILL, to most, work-walking is “a freaky thing to do,” said Joe Stirt, 60, an anesthesiologist in Charlottesville, Va., who works and blogs in his off hours while walking up to six hours a day in his home office.
Mr. Stirt’s site, www.bookofjoe.com/2007/10/treadmill-works.html, is one of some dozen work-walking blogs, including www.treadmill-desk.com and treadmill-workstation.com.
“I know lots of people who are using them,” Dr. Stirt said of the treadmill desks. “But there are probably a hundred times more who we don’t read about on the Internet.”
There is even a burgeoning social network (officewalkers.ning.com), with around 30 members, that Mr. Rhoads started in March.
To the uninitiated, work-walking sounds like a recipe for distraction. But devotees say the treadmill desks increase not only their activity but also their concentration.
“I thought it was ridiculous until I tried it,” said Ms. Krivosha, 49, a partner in the law firm of Maslon Edelman Borman & Brand.
Ms. Krivosha said it is tempting to become distracted during conference calls, but when she is exercising, she listens more intently.
“Walking just takes care of the A.D.D. part,” she said.
Still, work-walking can require crafty maneuvering. When colleagues drop in on Bruce Langer, another work-walker, he pivots, then keeps striding backward while facing them.
“It’s more polite and, from a workout standpoint, it works different muscles,” said Mr. Langer, a vice president of Tealwood Asset Management in Minneapolis.
In 2005, Salo, a professional placement firm in Minneapolis, contacted Dr. Levine after fashioning its first treadmill unit. (Employees called the cobbled-together unit “the Frankendesk.”) By 2007, Salo had become a test site for early Walkstation models and now has 16.
At Mutual of Omaha’s 150-person call center in Omaha, four Walkstations have been in use since July as part of a small company study to figure out whether work-walking could maintain productivity while reducing employees’ cholesterol, weight and blood-sugar levels. Sixteen subjects of different ages, weights and fitness levels work-walk two hours a day, said Peggy Rivedal, the manager of employee health services. A similarly diverse control group works the old-fashioned way.
After leaving the military two years ago, Kirk Hurley, 40, a customer service representative at Mutual of Omaha, gained 75 pounds. In two months of work-walking two hours a day, he has lost 16 pounds.
“You don’t really feel the physical strain on your body because your mind’s occupied with your work,” he said.
Treadmill desks will not likely replace the sit-down kind any time soon. In corporate settings, they are usually in open areas where employees can just jump on. At a few firms, including Salo, they have replaced conference tables.
SOME business colleagues arrive at meetings with walking shoes in hand, said Amy Langer, a Salo founder (and Mr. Langer’s wife).
But not every employee has the enthusiasm to keep work-walking day after day. Take the trial Walkstation at Humana, a health insurer in Louisville, Ky.
After a year on site, the treadmill is in use about 60 percent of the workday, mostly for conference calls, said Grant Harrison, the vice president of consumer innovation. Many workers, he said, may “try it out, but they don’t make it a part of their daily life.”
Nor does everyone have the coordination to walk and work, said Andrew Wood, the director of ergonomics and corporate services for Muve, a weight-management consultancy affiliated with the Mayo Clinic.
“If you can’t walk and chew gum at the same time, this may not be the workstation for you,” Mr. Wood said. But it should be a piece of cake for most people, he added.
James O. Hill, an obesity researcher and the director of the University of Colorado’s Center for Human Nutrition in Denver, shares this opinion: “There are not very many people who can’t walk,” he said. “You should have a doctor’s note to not walk.”
Will work-walking free you from the gym forever? Not if you’re seeking serious weight loss or peak cardio-respiratory fitness. “Walking on the treadmill could be enough to prevent weight gain, but it’s not going to melt the pounds off,” Dr. Hill said.
Still, something is better than nothing, say workwalkers like Mr. Rhoads.
“At least a little bit of exercise will just be part of my day and part of my working,” he said. “The one thing I always do is work.” * New York Times-nytimes.com
"ER" is celebrating its final season by bringing back some familiar faces. Anthony Edwards whose character Dr. Mark Greene died of a brain tumor in 2002 has signed on to reprise his role in flashback scenes on "ER's" November 13th episode, and Noah Wyle will return to his role as Dr. John Carter for the final four episodes of the series. So far, Edwards and Wyle are the only original "ER" cast members who have signed on to appear in the final season of the medical drama. But many, including Edwards, are holding out hope for a certain Hollywood A-lister to suit up in his old TV scrubs for old times' sake. Edwards recently told "Access Hollywood" that his former "ER" co-star George Clooney "would be a fool" not to come back to the show that launched his career. He says the show's producers are also trying to coax Clooney to come back, but it's still anyone's guess as to what might happen. The 15th and final season of "ER" premieres next Thursday, September 25th on ABC.
A young girl will have to write an apology letter to a deputy that she punched. The eleven-year-old got physically violent with an Orange County deputy and was sentenced to writing a letter to say she's sorry. Her family is also being ordered to reimburse the state for a psychiatric evaluation. The situation unfolded at Moss Park Elementary School in Orlando and led to the girl being Tasered by the deputy. She pled no contest earlier this week to the charges. She has since switched to another school.
Gum DNA
Authorities in Minnesota have cracked a cold case – thanks to DNA on chewed gum. According to court documents, Dairo Giraldo-Soto is charged in a Lakeville jewel robbery committed three years ago. The gum was found covering the ignition of a jewelry salesman’s rental car. Investigators say while the salesman was trying to start his car, someone grabbed $300,000 worth of jewels. Police sent the gum to a crime lab for analysis and Giraldo-Soto’s name came up. He’s serving a five-year prison sentence in Missouri on another case. The missing jewels have never been found.
A 20-year-old man in Indiana told police he was stabbed by his younger brother Sunday night after a fight broke out over a Hot Pocket. Police were called to an apartment just after 7 p-m Sunday, where they found a man bleeding from a cut on his side. Although the man was initially uncooperative with police, he admitted that he got into a fight with his 18-year-old brother over the microwave sandwich. The victim told police the two began fighting over who got to eat the Hot Pocket, pushing and grappling with each other into a hallway. He said his younger brother then grabbed a steak knife off the kitchen counter and stabbed at his brother, cutting him on his left side. Police said the victim was able wrestle the knife away from his brother, who then left on foot. The man was transported to the hospital with minor injuries, where he was treated and released. Police said the final fate of the disputed Hot Pocket is not known.
Naked Lunch
Three Maine friends are a jam over a free sandwich. Crystal Stillwell, Bernard Beckwith and Christian Simpson are pleading innocent to charges of indecent conduct. The Black Frog Restaurant on Moosehead Lake has a standing offer of a free prime rib sandwich to skinny-dipping customers. Authorities say no one in the restaurant objected to the naked trio. But the three were charged after a family on a nearby boardwalk complained. Their trials are set for November 3rd.
The owner of the Storchen restaurant in Switzerland's exclusive Winterthur resort will improve his menu with local specialities such as meat stew and various soups and sauces containing at least 75-percent of mother's milk. Hans Locher, who has become Switzerland most controversial restaurant owner, says, "We have all been raised on it. Why should we not include it into our diet?" Locher has posted ads looking for women donors, who will receive just over six dollars for 14 ounces of their milk. Locher says, "I first experimented with breast milk when my daughter was born. One can cook really delicious things with it. However, it always needs to be mixed with a bit of whipped cream, in order to keep the consistency." The food control authority in Switzerland was initially confused by the apparent loophole in local legislation regulating the use of human milk. Rolf Etter of the Zurich food control laboratory said, "They are not on the list of approved species such as cows and sheep, but they are also not on the list of the banned species such as apes and primates."
The State Of Matrimony
According to the findings of a new survey by Parade, nearly half of Americans have a “loving and joyful” marriage, while 30% enjoy a “peaceful coexistence.” Only 7% describe their marriage as “unhappy” or “hostile.” When asked how they felt about their marriage, 57% said, “I’m happy,” and 30% said, “I think it’s fine.” Fifty-six percent would “definitely” marry the same person again, and 26% “probably” would. More results:
· Respondents gave positive explanations for why they’ve stayed married, with 71% choosing “deep love” as a reason; 73% cited “companionship.” Close to 30% admitted they remain married either because of financial reasons or because “it’s too much trouble to get out.”
· 63% said they’d try to save their marriage if a spouse was unfaithful; 26% would consider divorce; 9% would leave immediately.
· 38% have occasionally thought of leaving their spouses.
More Details On Palin Hacker
More details emerged yesterday behind the break-in of Sarah Palin’s e-mail account, including a firsthand account suggesting it was vulnerable because a hacker was able to impersonate her online and obtain her password. The hacker guessed that Palin had met her husband in high school, and knew her birthday and home Zip code. Using those details, the hacker tricked Yahoo into assigning a new password, “popcorn,” for Palin’s e-mail account. The FBI and Secret Service launched an investigation on Wednesday. Yahoo isn’t talking.
Mock Escape
Authorities in West Virginia are asking concerned citizens not to help if they see a couple of escaped inmates next Wednesday. The “fugitives” won’t be fugitives at all, but sheriff’s deputies. It’s all part of a drill planned for the Mount Olive Correctional Complex. Officials say the exercise will involve road blocks, K-9 units and possible car inspections – and they don’t want civilians trying to catch their fake escapees.
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts has announced a new promotion to admit visitors free on their birthdays. “Every guest gets in free to one of our parks on their birthday in 2009,” Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, said at a news conference yesterday. Visitors will have to show valid identification and proof of birth date to qualify. Details are available at www.disneyparks.com , where birthday visits can be registered in advance.
Couple To Mark 75th Anniversary
Colorado resident Dr. J. Gordon Spendlove is as surprised as anyone to be able to celebrate his 75th wedding anniversary with his wife. Spendlove, 99, said that when he and Elizabeth celebrate their anniversary and their 100th birthdays together this weekend, it truly will be something special. “No, no, I never thought we’d live to be 100,” Spendlove said. “It’s not all that bad.” Sunday’s anniversary celebration in Lakewood, Colorado, will include the couple’s individual birthdays despite the fact Spendlove was actually born on October 10, 1908. His wife was born September 22, 1908.
Yahoo Transformation
Yahoo is moving ahead with a radical redesign of its home page – the most heavily trafficked Web site on the Internet – making changes that give users a personalized view. The new Yahoo home page features a tab on the left hand column of the page with sophisticated links to the user’s 10 or 20 favorite sites. It functions as an alternative to navigation like bookmarks, link bars or browser tabs. Yahoo has more than 500 monthly users of its Web sites.
Google Has 63% Of Search Market
Google has extended its lead in the U.S. Web search to 63%, its biggest monthly gain in five months. Yahoo, the No. 2 player, saw its share drop to 19.6% last month. Microsoft is third, with 8.3%, according to comScore Inc. The number of searches performed by Internet users on the five top search engines was around 11.75 billion in August.
Toby Keith Honored By Congress
The U.S. House of Representatives has honored Toby Keith with a House Resolution for his support of the Armed Forces. Congressman Tom Cole introduced the resolution in June. It praises Keith for performing in several USO tours overseas. The House passed the measure Wednesday. Toby has participated in USO tours in Belgium, Kosovo, Italy, Germany and Afghanistan.
Montgomery Gentry made a dream come true for a critically ill boy from Arizona. Through the Make-a-Wish Foundation, ten-year-old Chantz got to meet his musical heroes at a recent Atlanta concert stop. After meeting Eddie and Troy backstage, the guys brought Chantz out to the stage at the end of their set, where he joined them on "My Town." Young Chantz was quite the celeb that night, signing autographs and high-fiving fans as he went back to his seat.
Big Kenny Performs For National Geographic Live!
Big Kenny of Big & Rich will play music and show clips from a film documenting his humanitarian mission to Sudan tomorrow night in Washington, D.C. “National Geographic Live!” is a series of events including live concerts, films and presentations by today’s leading explorers, scientists, filmmakers and photographers.
Word from the Brooks and Dunn camp is that Ronnie is recovering from the respiratory illness that forced them to cancel some dates recently. Their website is reporting that two dates have been rescheduled. The Pittsburgh show will now take place on October 15th and their Chicago show is on for October 16th. Tickets for both cancelled shows will be honored on their new dates
Faith Hill doesn't mind turning 41 on Sunday, in fact she'd rather look forward than return to her past. She tells us, "I would not go back to my 20s for absolutely nothing in the world." Faith is looking so far forward that she's celebrating Christmas on September 30th with the release of her holiday project Joy to the World.
Craig Morgan got a surprise invitation when he returned from performing for soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division, at the Army post where he was once stationed. No, he wasn't asked to reenlist in the military. He was asked to become a member of the prestigious Grand Ole Opry during a performance at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Fellow member John Conlee extended the official invite on stage during Morgan's performance of Conlee's 1978 hit "Rose Colored Glasses." That made the moment extra special for Morgan, as Conlee has been a major influence on his music. Morgan's induction will take place on October 25th.
Trisha Yearwood could bake her own cake for her 44th birthday today. After writing the best-selling cookbook, Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen, it's evident who the chef in the house is. She tells us, "My favorite cake, which is also in the cookbook, is a chocolate cake with caramel icing. That is my favorite cake of all time. And it's a really, kind of an almost like devil's food chocolate, a really rich chocolate with a really, really good caramel icing." Trisha also bakes hubby Garth Brooks' favorite cake for his birthday -- German chocolate -- which is in the cookbook too
Brad Paisley is joining the minority of celebrities who are keeping their political opinions, views and endorsements to themselves. He tells A-B-C News, "I'm one of the celebrities that believe that people can make up their own mind." He also thinks that being a country artist can confuse people -- "We have all this perception that country music is completely, heavily right-leaning, when I think there's a lot more of moderation in our town, especially in Nashville. What they confuse for Republicanism was mostly support for a war. It's almost like once you get past any reasons for conflict, we're always going to be there for these troops."
Carrie Underwood continues to pound through the dates on her first headlining tour, although she was resistant to the concept at first. She tells the Cleveland Plain Dealer, "When you're singing before someone else, you know that there are people out there to see you, but all the pressure is not on you to sell tickets, to bring in people and put them in seats. So when we started talking about a headlining tour, I was the last person to sign off." The American Idol winner says that she learned a lot from observing former tour partners Kenny Chesney and Keith Urban and her confidence is growing. She says, "A few years ago, everything was so new and it made me nervous. Now I feel more comfortable doing what I do."
Bill Anderson, Dick Clark, Brenda Lee, and The Oak Ridge Boys are among those receiving honors from the Academy of Country Music. The three were recognized, along with the late Fred Rose, Conway Twitty, and Porter Wagoner, during a special awards ceremony this week. Amy Grant, LeAnn Rimes, Joe Nichols, and Josh Turner were among the artists who performed tributes for the honorees. Grant and Rimes each turned in a Brenda Lee number, while Nichols paid homage to Anderson and Turner did a smoldering version of Twitty's "Slow Hand." Along with saluting the industry pioneers, the event also made note of the winners in the musician, bandleader and instrumentalist categories during the annual ACM Awards, which took place back in May. Martina McBride served as the host of the ACM Honors, which took place at the Musician's Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville on Wednesday.
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