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Treadmill Workstations: The Effects of Walking while Working on Physical Activity and Work Performance

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  • Avner Ben-Ner
  • Darla J Hamann
  • Gabriel Koepp
  • Chimnay U Manohar
  • James Levine

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Avner Ben-Ner & Darla J Hamann & Gabriel Koepp & Chimnay U Manohar & James Levine, 2014. "Treadmill Workstations: The Effects of Walking while Working on Physical Activity and Work Performance," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(2), pages 1-11, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0088620
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0088620
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Lanae Joubert & Matthew Kilgas & Alexandrea Riley & Yuba Gautam & Lars Donath & Scott Drum, 2017. "In-Class Cycling to Augment College Student Academic Performance and Reduce Physical Inactivity: Results from an RCT," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-9, November.
    2. Bradley MacDonald & Xanne Janssen & Alison Kirk & Mhairi Patience & Ann-Marie Gibson, 2018. "An Integrative, Systematic Review Exploring the Research, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance of Interventions to Reduce Sedentary Behaviour in Office Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-29, December.
    3. Anıl Onur Mercanoğlu & Kerem Yıldırım Şimşek, 2023. "The Impact of Employee Recreation on Their Respective Productivity," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(3), pages 21582440231, September.
    4. Zhe Wang & Chunhong Liu & Shuai Yang & Lei Li, 2018. "Employee Fitness Programs: Exploring Relationships between Perceived Organizational Support toward Employee Fitness and Organizational Sustainability Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-17, June.
    5. Kelly Mackenzie & Elizabeth Such & Paul Norman & Elizabeth Goyder, 2021. "Using Co-Production to Develop “Sit Less at Work” Interventions in a Range of Organisations," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-12, July.
    6. Samson O. Ojo & Daniel P. Bailey & Angel M. Chater & David J. Hewson, 2018. "The Impact of Active Workstations on Workplace Productivity and Performance: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-14, February.

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