Treadmill Workstations Improve Employee Well-Being

HAMDEN, CT – Using a treadmill workstation improves employee well-being and physical activity, but does not detract from job performance, according to a study by researchers at Quinnipiac University.

“Evidence suggests that many employees spend most of their day sitting at their desk while using a computer workstation,” said Gary Giumetti, associate professor of psychology. “Such sedentary behavior is linked to obesity, heart disease and reduced arousal and mood. Our study aimed to expand existing research on the benefits of an active workstation for reducing sedentary time at work and improving employee occupational health outcomes.”

For the study, 25 university employees used a treadmill workstation for an hour on three workdays and worked at their desk as usual for three workdays. They also wore pedometers to record their daily step counts. At the end of each workday, participants completed measures to determine their vigor, inattention, mood, job satisfaction, self-perceived performance, and physical health symptoms.

“We found that participants reported significantly higher levels of physical, cognitive, and emotional vigor and positive affect, and lower levels of negative affect and inattention on days when they used the treadmill workstation,” Giumetti said. “However, we found no significant differences in job satisfaction, physical symptoms or self-perceived performance.”

In addition, the employees walked an average of 4,500 more steps, which is about two miles, when they used a treadmill workstation.

Their study, “Walk your Way to Well-Being at Work: Impact of a Treadmill Workstation on Employee Occupational Health Outcomes,” was recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Occupational Health Science. In addition to Giumetti, Carrie Bulger, PhD, professor of psychology, Richard Fein, PhD, associate professor of medical sciences, and psychology students Nate Keegan, Samantha O’Connor and Berlynn Weissner, co-authored the article.