title: Treadmill workstations: the effects of walking while working on physical activity and work performance.
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.
authors.affiliation: Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America.
authors.forename: Avner
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ben-Ner
authors.affiliation: School of Urban and Public Affairs, University of Texas-Arlington, Arlington, Texas, United States of America.
authors.forename: Darla J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hamann
authors.affiliation: Obesity Solutions, Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University, Scottsdale, Arizona, United States of America.
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Koepp
authors.affiliation: Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America.
authors.forename: Chimnay U
authors.initials: CU
authors.lastname: Manohar
authors.affiliation: Obesity Solutions, Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University, Scottsdale, Arizona, United States of America.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Levine
mesh_terms: D061725:Accelerometry; D000328:Adult; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*; D017132:Workplace