These days there are more people who are inclined to spend their working hours sat down and getting very little exercise in the office.  Our office desks are often places that we stay chained to if we have deadlines or work to complete.  The outcome of an office based society has lead to obesity as many struggle with a nine to five existence, we get little time to exercise as well.

The famous Mayo Clinic in Minnesota has set up the office of the future.  It is a small test space specially designed to help a person work out whilst they work and changes the whole concept of office furniture as we know it!

The office chair – this is replaced by an office desk which comes complete with an attached treadmill which means you can walk off calories as you are on the phone. After testing the system it proved that employees lost weight at an average of 15.4 pounds in 6 months and also showed that they felt much better for getting the exercise.

As well as this, the new office boasts a mini-basketball net and a pool table with other activities, designed to keep your body and your brain constantly on the move as you work.

Results: Happier and healthier employees and better productivity.  In a test, companies profits returned a 10% increase after the new office exercise regime was purchased.

However, there are some that are still not convinced. Julie Rusciolelli at Maverick PR, Toronto said;

“I don't know if it would work in our North American sedentary culture."

There are other ways to increase calorie burning in the office without purchasing costly systems, such as; using a stability ball instead of your office chair to tighten your stomach muscles.