Walking workstations help improve physical, mental health: study

Indianapolis – Workers who use “walking workstations” reap both physical and mental health benefits, according to a new study.

Faculty and student researchers at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis evaluated 180 participants on boredom, task satisfaction, stress, arousal and performance as they completed computer tasks at seated, standing, cycling and walking workstations.

They found that participants who used walking workstations were less bored and stressed, and felt higher satisfaction than participants who stood or sat at their workstations.

Participants who used cycling workstations felt less satisfaction and had lower performance than those who used the other setups.

The study was published online Oct. 27 in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.