Inventer Turns Workplace to Workout Place

Dr. James Levine was never big on going to the gym, but he knows the importance of exercise. So Levine,  a leading researcher of NEAT — ”non-exercise activity thermogenesis" put together an alternative to the traditional cubicle — workstations that combine a computer, desk, and treadmill into one unit. The Boston Globe reports that his team of obesity researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota also put a carpeted track around the perimeter of their 5,000-square-foot space, and made walls out of magnetic marker boards so they can stand while developing project ideas.  Levine says workers in his office burn an extra 100 calories an hour, which for his own ten hour days means a 1,000 calories a day, enough to take off 50 pounds of fat a year.