Pedal your way to better health

A mini exercise bike that can be used while working at a desk could help improve the health of office workers and others with sedentary jobs. The device includes a set of pedals that can be set up in front of most office chairs and used while a person is seated.

Sedentary time is independently associated with an increased risk of metabolic disease. Worksite interventions designed to decrease sedentary time may serve to improve employee health.

The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility and use of a pedal exercise machine for reducing workplace sedentary time. Researchers recruited 18 eighteen full-time American employees, mostly female, overweight and 40 years old, on average. The participants spent at least 75 percent of their workday sitting at a desk or work station.

The mini exercise bike comprised a set of pedals that could be set up in front of most standard office chairs for use while seated, and which made very little noise. The volunteers were wired up to an exercise tracking device via their computers, which monitored their activity and provided real time feedback on pedal speed, distance covered, and how many calories they burned. The participants generally used the portable pedal machines on 12 of 20 workdays and for an average of 23 minutes each of those days.

The "distance" pedaled each day by the participants ranged from a third of a mile to nearly 13.5 miles, and they burned from nine to more than 500 calories a day. The participants said they found the portable pedal machine easy to use and would use such a device regularly at work if they were offered one by their employer. They also said their productivity and quality of work was not affected when they used the machine.

The findings suggest that doing just 23 minutes of pedaling a day on a regular basis could improve a person's health.