TY - JOUR
T1 - Treadmill workstations
T2 - The effects of walking while working on physical activity and work performance
AU - Ben-Ner, Avner
AU - Hamann, Darla J.
AU - Koepp, Gabriel
AU - Manohar, Chimnay U.
AU - Levine, James
PY - 2014/2/20
Y1 - 2014/2/20
N2 - We conducted a 12-month-long experiment in a financial services company to study how the availability of treadmill workstations affects employees′ physical activity and work performance. We enlisted sedentary volunteers, half of whom received treadmill workstations during the first two months of the study and the rest in the seventh month of the study. Participants could operate the treadmills at speeds of 0-2 mph and could use a standard chair-desk arrangement at will. (a) Weekly online performance surveys were administered to participants and their supervisors, as well as to all other sedentary employees and their supervisors. Using within-person statistical analyses, we find that overall work performance, quality and quantity of performance, and interactions with coworkers improved as a result of adoption of treadmill workstations. (b) Participants were outfitted with accelerometers at the start of the study. We find that daily total physical activity increased as a result of the adoption of treadmill workstations.
AB - We conducted a 12-month-long experiment in a financial services company to study how the availability of treadmill workstations affects employees′ physical activity and work performance. We enlisted sedentary volunteers, half of whom received treadmill workstations during the first two months of the study and the rest in the seventh month of the study. Participants could operate the treadmills at speeds of 0-2 mph and could use a standard chair-desk arrangement at will. (a) Weekly online performance surveys were administered to participants and their supervisors, as well as to all other sedentary employees and their supervisors. Using within-person statistical analyses, we find that overall work performance, quality and quantity of performance, and interactions with coworkers improved as a result of adoption of treadmill workstations. (b) Participants were outfitted with accelerometers at the start of the study. We find that daily total physical activity increased as a result of the adoption of treadmill workstations.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0088620
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0088620
M3 - Article
C2 - 24586359
AN - SCOPUS:84896772917
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 9
JO - PloS one
JF - PloS one
IS - 2
M1 - e88620
ER -