Trends: Walking While You Work with Treadmill Desks

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- As the president of a busy company, Don Wiggins, has a hard time fitting everything in each day. Often times exercise gets put off until the next day, and then put off again.

But now he has found a way to workout while he's working.

He bought a Walkstation from Perdue Officer Interiors in Jacksonville. It is a desk that has a treadmill platform under one side of the desk. The work space goes from a sitting height to a standing height with the push of a button.

In the standing position Wiggins can walk on the treadmill at the desk while making conference calls, working on the computer, reading documents and writing.

"It's a slow speed so you don't walk fast," says Wiggins. "So it doesn't limit what you do."

Unlike other treadmills, the Walkstation goes a maximum of 2 mph. Even after walking for 30 minutes, Wiggins is not breathing heavy enough for anyone to notice he is really working out.

Despite the fact that you aren't exhausted after walking, the creator of the Walkstation says it's still very effective.

Dr. James Levine of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. developed the Walkstation. He tells ABC news, a 60-minute stroll at an easy 1 mile per hour burns anywhere from 100 to 130 calories.

One attorney who tried a Tread desk, a similar piece of equiptment say he lost 25 pounds in 2 months.

"I'd say about 6 out of 8 hours of my day I am on the treadmill," says Ross Robinson, an attorney in Dallas, Texas.

Vince McCormack sells the Walkstation through Perdue Office Interiors in Jacksonville. He says the display model in their showroom has alot of people curious about the product.

"Everyone is talking about exercise," says McCormack. "We've seen the Walkstation put in private offices like Mr. Wiggins' but we've also seen it in training centers, conference centers, even break areas."

Salo, a financial staffing company found great success when it's employees tried out the Walkstation for 6 months. In a study released by the Salo company they say employees lost weight, increased creativity, lost the "after-lunch food coma", and had more energy.

Now Salo has 16 Walkstations and even conducts company meetings while everyone is walking on the Walkstation.

The Walkstation, created by Details, is sold at Perdue Office Interiors for around $4500.

Wiggins says it was money well spent for him.

"I can already tell my weight has come down," says Wiggins. "The other thing is on the weekends I have more stamina then I used to because I get more exercise during the week."