Don’t Tread on Me

You would not believe the silliness that pours into my email inbox.  As an Active.com member each Wednesday I receive a collection of articles under the Active Runner banner.  One of this week’s articles was titled “Treadmill Workouts Made Easy” written by Marcus Eichhorn.  As a member of the Society for Human Resource Management I receive a weekly collection of articles and this week there were three treadmill-at-work related articles written from the Human Resources perspective.  I took this as a sign that I should write about treadmills. 

 

Eichhorn’s article asked five questions. 

• When do you start your watch at the beginning of an interval?

• Do you start your watch as you increase speed, or do you start your watch when the desired speed is reached?

• When do you start your watch for the recovery period?

• Do you start your watch when you are decreasing speed or when you reach your cool down speed?

• What percentage of your heart rate or 5K time should you try to obtain while performing the workout?

The only one of those questions I've ever contemplated is the last one.  I must not take my running seriously.  I do consider the effect of air resistance on my pace when I’m running.  When I’m on the treadmill I increase the incline to one percent to compensate for the lack of a headwind.

Two of the human resource related articles were “How Treadmill Desks Can Improve Your Health and Productivity” and “Your Treadmill Desk Is Hurting Your Productivity”.  In the same bundle of articles!  So, which is it; better or worse for your productivity?  Undaunted, I waded into the confusion.

“How Treadmill Desks Can Improve Your Health and Productivity” by Lisa Evans.

The treadmill desk is based on the concept of incorporating movement into your daily work routine.  It is the brain-child of an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic.  That doctor says “People feel more energized, productivity improves, people with back and joint problems get better, and people feel brighter,” when they exercise.  I completely agree with that statement, but is a treadmill desk the best solution? 

The article mentions a desk that costs approximately $4,000 and has a two mile per hour maximum belt speed.  The LifeFitness Club Series treadmill costs about the same, but has a maximum speed of 12 mph.  So, on a dollar per mph basis, the LifeFitness machine is six times better. 

“Your Treadmill Desk Is Hurting Your Productivity” by Vivian Giang.

This article begins by conceding treadmill desks have health advantages that will help reduce the risk of obesity and heart disease, but goes on to say they may have an adverse impact on how efficient you are with your work.  It quotes a study (by the very same Mayo Clinic) that typing speed and accuracy decrease by 16 percent when compared to a standard desk.  In another study conducted by the University of Tennessee, researchers found that “treadmill walking resulted in up to an 11 percent deterioration in fine motor skills like mouse clicking, and dragging and dropping, as well in as cognitive functions like math-problem solving.”

In my opinion, workouts and work should be separate; just like church and state. 

My treadmill interval workout this Tuesday was 4 X 1 mile repeats at a 6:10 / mile pace with a ¼ mile recovery plus 4 X ¼ at 11 mph with a ¼ mile recovery.  I’ve been doing intervals workouts on the treadmill to get ready for the Phidippides Track workouts which start in less than a month.  Also, on Monday I registered for the Georgetown – Idaho Springs Half Marathon.

In other news, the February edition of the RMRR Trophy Series was held this morning.  It was a seven mile race along the Platte River.  I covered the course in 44:12 – eight seconds faster than last year.