Sitting all day long at work can be really harmful to us. According to researchers, excessive inactive time can be a risk factor for several physical and mental health issues, including stress, anxiety, depression, obesity, mortality, and poor cognitive functions.
A bike desk might be just what you need to fight the negative effects of a traditional workstation. A bike desk can be extremely helpful for:
- Improving Physical Health
- Improving Cognitive Abilities
- Improving Mental Health
The above-mentioned destructive effects of a desk-bound job cannot be cured by regular exercise. Even the office gyms cannot resolve the harms caused by the stationary nature of work. Before going into the details, let’s first discuss:
What Is A Bike Desk?
To reduce the detriments caused by sitting inactively with the lack of movement, bike desks have been introduced. A bike desk is an exercise bike with a detachable tabletop and a chair.
It is a stationary bike with a work surface and a screen instead of handles. Bike desks allow you to stay active while working at computers and desks. It just alters your motionless sitting with light activity.
Some bike trainer desks can also be used for cardio workouts. But to get the true benefits of bike desks, you need slow pedaling for a longer time throughout the day. You can certainly pedal fast to speed up your heart rate, but that can greatly affect your productivity. So, do it slowly and steadily to win this race.
There are various types of bikes to use with a desk:
- A bike desk
- An under-desk bike
- A bike and char combination
But today, I will only be discussing the benefits and additional information on bike desks.
How Does Biking Desk Operate?
Here are a few steps that will help you understand how a bike desk operates.
- Adjust the Table’s Height
Get on the bike desk for a test cycle. Then, adjust the table’s height in a way that your knees do not hit the surface. The ample space should be 10.16 to 15.24 cm or 4 to 6 inches. If you use a laptop, make sure that the table’s height allows you to type with your arms in an “L” shape.
- Pedal Downward
Start by pushing down the pedal until it reaches a 1-o’clock position. Do not apply force to the pedal when it reaches the lowest position. Your toes need to point forward to avoid your heels from hitting the floor.
- Keep Your Body Still
Keep your upper body still while pedaling; only your legs should be moving. It is easier to concentrate on work when your head is in a still position.
- Sit Up Straight
You should be sitting straight rather than slouching. This is good for your spine, and it also strengthens the core.
- Begin With the Lowest Tension Level
Whether you are an experienced cyclist or a new one, keep in mind that biking while working is a completely different game. You are not supposed to pedal as hard as you would with a traditional or stationary bike during a workout.
Rather, set your bike desk at the lowest tension level in which you can comfortably pedal for an extended period. With time, you can raise the difficulty level.
- Pedal When You Perform Easy Tasks
Biking while working or typing isn’t a difficult task; neither is it too easy. It would be an ideal situation to pedal the entire time while sitting at your desk, but sometimes pedaling can cause a distraction for specific tasks. Even if it doesn’t distract you, it surely can hinder your productivity.
To balance your work and exercise, you need to do it while performing simple and easy tasks such as data entry. You can bike during conference calls while having lunch or reading emails. Keep in mind that you aren’t supposed to break a sweat during your work, as it may split your attention between physical and mental tasks.
- Pedal Harder When You Are Not Doing Anything or During Breaks
When you have free time, you can increase the tension level and pedal as hard as you can. It would be a beneficial alternative for you to have a smoke or snack break. If you are having a hard day or a day full of thinking tasks, you can either skip it or pedal only during breaks.
What Health Benefit Can I Get From A Biking Desk?
According to Newton’s Law, an object in uniform will stay in motion, and that’s perfect for describing the benefits of a biking desk. A biking desk improves your mood, task management, and motivation without hindering your productivity. It also neutralizes the afternoon slump that we have all become so accustomed to.
Biking desks have several benefits, from burning calories to diabetic pain reduction and increased flexibility. Biking is a low-impact exercise that makes it gentle on the knee, hip, and ankle joints but still provides most health benefits.
Unlike other ergonomic furniture, a bike desk mainly focuses on physical activity. Let’s discuss in detail the major health benefits you can get from a biking desk.
- Improves Physical Health
A major issue with desk jobs is the stillness and idle time that may result in numerous health problems. Biking corrects most of them since the constant motion promotes blood flow, avoiding fluid retention.
You burn many more calories on a biking desk than sitting on a traditional workstation, eventually reducing body fat. Don’t feel guilty about not hitting the gym before or after work. You are already burning calories during your shift.
The biking desk improves your flexibility, heart health, and reduces diabetic pain. It is an amazing, low-impact activity for people with joint problems or chronic pain.
- Improves Cognitive Ability
A biking desk is a low-impact exercise that gives you more energy and improves your concentration, focus, and motivation for tasks throughout the day. This energy also improves your temperament and other cognitive abilities, such as decision-making, creativity, and problem-solving. An increase in your cognitive abilities results in higher productivity.
- Improves Mental Health
Bike desk users are less likely to experience anxiety, stress, and depression. It means biking desks give you not only physical health benefits but also mental health benefits.
- Reduces The Risk Of Diabetes
Biking desks reduce blood glucose levels and benefit those with type 2 diabetes in avoiding enduring complications.
How Long Should You Use A Biking Desk Each Day?
How long you should use a biking desk each day partially depends on your goals. If your goal is weight loss, then you should be spending more time on the bike desk. This will increase your calorie burn, reduce your body fat, and eventually help you lose more weight. To reduce waist size, remember that speed is of the essence.
For a healthy heart, keep in mind that the number of minutes and number of sessions are extremely important. And if you want to get the overall benefits of fat loss, weight loss, improved mental and physical health, and performance at work, then do it regularly.
Using biking desks for 23 minutes daily for 12 days out of 20 days is more than enough to cover almost 13.5 miles and burn 500 calories. Just 23 minutes of biking desks each day can improve your health in your desk-bound jobs; for overweight office employees, pedaling 50 minutes each day will help in burning 107 calories without causing discomfort, bone pain, or muscle soreness.
I would aim for about 30 minutes a day to get your blood circulating on a regular basis and increase your health benefits. If you go for longer periods, make sure to increase slowly at a rate your body can handle.
How Much Biking Desks Cost?
There are many combinations of treadmills and desks to select from when deciding to purchase a bike desk; however, the cost depends on the model you choose.
#1 Wirk Ride Exercise Bike
- Wirk Ride Exercise Workstation has a laptop strap and a protected band fastened with D rings, which prevents the device from falling off the tabletop if the day’s exercise portion becomes intense.
#2 FitDesk Bike Desk 3.0
- An integrated tablet holder will help the FitDesk 3.0 accommodate different devices you may use while working. Its armrests provide padded massage rollers.
#3 FitDesk Bike Desk 3.0
- The Exerpeutic 2500 has a robust desktop; you can raise, tilt, slide, and lower it until it is placed as comfortably as you desire. It has a wrist pad to fight repetitive stress injuries.
#4 LifeSpan Unity Bike Desk
- The LifeSpan Unity provides lots of space for large laptops, a mouse pad, and even a distinct monitor. The seat could be readjusted by moving up and down. The pedals are bidirectional, enabling you to work on several muscle groups.
What Alternatives to A Biking Desk Are There?
You may want to stand or try something different than biking while you work. Standing desks are a good alternative. You can move around, stretch, and avoid blood pooling in your legs from sitting too long. Here are a couple of options you might want to think about.
Treadmill Desk
If you are a computer, a treadmill desk will provide you the opportunity to work out on a treadmill during office work. Although it is impossible to get a complete cardio exercise while getting tasks done in the office, it is still a good way to burn off calories steadily.
As a strong defense against sitting disease, treadmill desks help your calf muscles work, pump more oxygen to the brain, and improve the basal metabolic rate. Furthermore, they increase your cognitive ability and focus, decrease the susceptibility to distraction, and enhance your mental outlook.
Physically, your body is getting the required break from crunching the lower spine at a 90-degree angle. They decrease blood circulation to the lower extremities and drop the “computer hunch” posture.
They also reduce the possibility of developing varicose veins, foot soreness, and back pain from standing for a long time. Metabolically, the advantages of working while walking on a treadmill desk include enhancement in cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar.
Under Desk Elliptical
The under-desk elliptical is a compact version of a full-sized elliptical trainer made for home and office use. It can easily be placed underneath the table. It permits you to have a fair amount of training while you are at the office. So, instead of stressing about planning workouts and going to the gym, all you need to do is sit down, put your feet on the pedals, and start using the elliptical.
One concern is the gyrations of the body. Still, the primary concern is the capability to split the focus between physical and mental activities. You will not only begin sweating, but your cognitive abilities will also start degrading once the heart rate reaches the level of cardio exercise.
Optimal cognitive use is at an optimum point between total exercise and complete rest, where you get the movement but do not raise the heart rate into the workout zone.
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References
- https://www.lifespanfitness.com/workplace/resources/articles/bike-desk-buying-guide
- https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/08/workplace-sitting-pedaling-bicycle-desk/401729/
- https://www.painfreeworking.com/a-complete-guide-to-desk-bikes/ (Link no longer working)
- https://www.lifespanfitness.com/workplace/bike-desks
- https://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/news/20110213/sedentary-job-try-pedaling-at-your-desk
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- https://www.workwhilewalking.com/treadmill-desks-versus-desk-cycles-how-they-compare
- https://deskcycle.com/pages/tipsforusingthedeskcycleatyourdesk