WASHINGTON (AFP) – The maker of a new product that combines a treadmill and computer workstation is banking on the notion that companies will invest in products like the “Walkstation” as a way of keeping health care costs down and improving overall fitness levels. The device allows people to work on their computers while walking on a treadmill at a slow speed of up to three kilometers (two miles) per hour, enabling small amounts of movement that supporters say have the potential to reap big health benefits.

The product made by Details, a unit of Michigan-based office furniture maker Steelcase, is selling 30 to 40 units per week, according to company president Bud Klipa. “The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, we have numerous repeat customers,” Klipa told AFP. Products and services such as these are part of the future workplace in America and elsewhere as companies try to battle obesity and cap medical costs, according to John Challenger, chief executive of the consultancy Challenger Gray & Christmas. “Companies are recognizing they have to find a way to get control of their health care costs,” Challenger said. The Walkstation was unveiled last year based on research from James Levine, a researcher at the Mayo Clinic, who contends that fitness can be improved through small, modest movements for people who are otherwise sedentary.

Levine argues that the Walkstation provides benefits through a process he calls “non-exercise activity thermogenesis” or NEAT, or incremental movements without strenuous exercise.

I rigged a similar setup like this at home years ago, in fact I’ve done many postings while on a treadmill. Its a great way to kill time during an otherwise boring activity.