In the present world stress is a consistent companion. Nature designed stress as a battle or flight response to deal with much more life threatening issues when compared to a traffic snarl or an irate boss. When this survival mechanism triggers our anatomies still expect us to lash out or run for cover but our Treadmill desk society roles no more allow this kind of release. Too a number of these stress alarms within our life ultimately puts us in a state of distress and vulnerable to back pain, stomach upset, sleep disorders, high blood pressure, disease, depression and heart ailments. Not good.
A survey conducted by Yale University indicated that 26% of workers report that their job is incredibly stressful. Concerned employers are keenly aware of the expense of stress on American business that has been estimated by OSHA to be $300 billion annually, 3 x the expense of obesity.
Exercise is one of the greatest relievers of stress but when workers happen to be pushed for time planning for exercise actually enhances the stress by becoming an additional task in the que. Solution? Exercise should be consistent, automatic and easy to add into the job day.
Treadmill desks offer a consistent means of daily moderate exercise without requiring additional time during the day to head for the gym or plan a workout. The physiological effects of walking also reduce stress as shown in a study in Annals of Behavioral Medicine (11.09.99) indicating regular moderate exercise reduced stress levels as compared against study participants who did not engage in a workout program or surprisingly participated in strenuous exercise regimens.
Bottom line? We can’t control external stress factors but we could mitigate the effects that stress places on our health by walking our blues away on a treadmill desk.