To brag about my amazing life hack? lighthearted!

[yesimbragging]

NC because if replies are snidey and dent my ego I'd like to go back to my usual username and pretend this thread never happened

I put on a little weight over lockdown, as WFH in my small flat I was walking less than 1000 steps everyday. So I bought an exercise mini trampoline and tried to get into the habit of using it while watching Netflix.

The thing is, I always have found any exercise really tedious and boring and like I should be doing something else more productive with that time, and thought how great it would be if I could get some work done on my laptop at the same time as exercising.

I looked into standing desks, and they are SO expensive. Like £200. But then I remembered I have an old music keyboard still stored at my mum's. I pinched the stand, and placed the lid of a plastic storage box over it, and I've made a standing desk!

So now I get paid to work out. My feet don't actually leave the mat of the trampoline, so I'm not bouncing all over the place, but according to FitBit, my heart rate averages around 175, burning over 500 calories an hour, and the time passes quickly as I'm concentrating on work, not the monotony of exercise.

As you can probably tell, my work doesn't involve Zoom calls or anything

I'm just rather pleased with myself solving my lifelong hatred of exercise and love of multitasking all in one go I guess, and I haven't really got anyone to tell

Genius but couldn't you have used your ironing board?

What are you doing on here? Get yourself off to Take A Break for real appreciation

500 calories an hour??? Off to amazon

pah - I don't iron! but that's a good idea too! Strange thing is I don't play the keyboard either, think it was a failed New Year's Resolution bought on a whim and used as a clothes horse instead

Genius!

@Cofifeefee

What are you doing on here? Get yourself off to Take A Break for real appreciation

I don’t know, if you aren’t resolving your slippers with sanitary towels, they might not take you seriously…

OP, I’m trying to visualise — how is it you’re able to work (ie not bouncing) but exercising enough to burn 500 kcals an hour?

Resoling.

Omg Dragons Den beckons....

@Youdoyoutoday I got the trampoline for £40 in argos. Think it's called opti mini trampoline

What do you do for a job that you can bounce on a trampoline while working?
(I mean the tasks not the actual job, do you read / send emails etc? I don’t think I could do that while bouncing)

I'm 100% certain your FitBit is wrong

@Frenchfurze so I bounce, but keep my feet on the trampoline, so not actually jumping. the springs are quite taut so you're using the momentum which raises your heart rate and I think strengthens your core/improves your balance. I've lost six inches off my arse in about 3-4 months so it must be doing something!

Now you just need a name and a patent for your invention.
Great job @yesimbragging you made me smile this morning. Hope you get many hours of bouncing/ working done!

Go you! You should look into marketing this, if it isn't already a thing.

TaB will pay you £50 for this if you provide photos. That pays for the trampoline. Fitness and profit.

Maybe you could call it Work And Wobble

My (small) standing desk cost about £60. I bought a wobble board (around £100) and spend at least 6 hours a day on it (on zoom for most of them).

@GertrudeKerfuffle

Go you! You should look into marketing this, if it isn't already a thing.

There are all sorts of exercise desks - treadmills, bikes, wobble boards, yoga balls.

This is very far from new!

How can you concentrate.on a screen while bouncing?!? I'm baffled

@GerbilCurse I'm quite happy to accept that the heart rate and calories FitBit tells me may not be 100% accurate, however a brisk walk to the shops shows a max HR of in the 120s, and on the odd occasion I go for a run it says maybe high 130s if I'm lucky. Only when I use the trampoline does it decide to get into the 170s. In any case it's burning more than sitting on my arse so I'm not that bothered about specific figures

Emma Donoghue writes all her novels at a walking desk.I couldn’t write a single sentence — plus I would probably fall off the treadmill bit and injure myself.

Found it! Only trouble is I have nowhere to store it.... I did find a foldable one on amazon for 60 quid!

Sounds as it its more like walking on the spot rather than bouncing like a kangaroo so easy to work at the same time. Although I'd love to see a zoom call with your head bouncing in and out of shot 😂

@PooPooPongDelong

Genius but couldn't you have used your ironing board?

I love re-purposing my ironing board... makes a great surface for sorting paperwork or wrapping Christmas presents while watching TV 😁

@Youdoyoutoday I stand mine up against the wall and remove the feet - though often don't bother. My flat is a very very small studio and it doesn't seem to get in the way. Foldable could be the way to go!