Get a move on: Radiologist offers tips to work out at work

Finding ways to work out at work, especially in a profession like radiology that tends to be sedentary, may be essential in order to stay healthy.

Writing in the September issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology, Michael L. Richardson, MD, of the University of Washington’s School of Medicine in Seattle, offers these tips to help radiologists exercise at work:

• Get a wearable digital pedometer or a phone app to measure how many steps you take each day. 10,000 steps a day is considered a good number.
• Try fidgeting (tapping your foot, etc.) to increase physical activity.
• Walk while you work using a “treadesk,” which includes a desk of adjustable height with a treadmill to fit underneath it.
• Cycle with an elliptical trainer that fits under the desk.

Sitting for long periods of time increases the risk of coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and shortens life expectancy, Richardson noted.

Many people may not have time to exercise after work, and even if they do, it may not offset the dangers of sedentary work.

“Recent epidemiologic evidence suggests that long periods of sitting lead to deleterious cardiovascular and metabolic effects that are independent of whether subjects meet the guidelines for adequate physical exercise,” Richardson wrote.

Using treadmills and elliptical trainers that fit underneath desks, radiologists at the University of Washington are walking between 1,000 and 15,000 steps in times ranging between one and three hours at their workstations. The sound made by the workout equipment is “barely perceptible” to other radiologists working in the same room, Richardson wrote. Exercising while working has not been found to make any difference in the work performance of office workers, he added.

“By adding a mixture of technologic and behavioral changes to our workplaces, we can put a large dent in the amount of sedentary time we spend at work.”