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

I love this! Very pleased for you - I’d be delighted to if I’d come up with it!

This is great, and also I'm enjoying your deft deflection of the naysayers!

179 BMP for over 100 minutes? Major red flag.

You need to take your pulse manually to verify that the HR reported by FitBit is correct.

If your heart rate is genuinely that high from what you're doing for that long of a time period, book an appointment with your GP to get checked out asap.

I hope it's simply that your FitBit is mis-reporting your HR.

@MmeD

I've lost six inches off my arse in about 3-4 months

Get out of my way!

The Fitbit clearly thinks you’re on an elliptical machine, so is working out your calories from there - but I think it’s much less of a workout than an elliptical would be.

It’s great that your bum is shrinking, but please spare a thought for your wrists - they should NEVER be resting in the edge of the desk and swivelling from there - that is a recipe for carpal tunnel and RSI. They should be hovering over the keyboard and your whole arm moving,. Not just fingers - especially for a mouse.

But otherwise - if it works for, crack on!

Brava!

I think you’re a genius 👏👏👏. Well done!

Haha I love this!

@MsAgnesDiPesto

The Fitbit clearly thinks you’re on an elliptical machine, so is working out your calories from there - but I think it’s much less of a workout than an elliptical would be.

It’s great that your bum is shrinking, but please spare a thought for your wrists - they should NEVER be resting in the edge of the desk and swivelling from there - that is a recipe for carpal tunnel and RSI. They should be hovering over the keyboard and your whole arm moving,. Not just fingers - especially for a mouse.

But otherwise - if it works for, crack on!

Good point, I'll set up the exercise manually as 'walking' and see if it makes a difference to what FitBit tells me, I do know they aren't to be taken as gospel. Tbh though the inches lost speaks for itself, the specific HR/calories figures don't really matter. I haven't noticed any ill effects on my wrists at all but I will keep an eye out for anything - thanks

I made myself a walking desk by buying a standing desk platform for my current desk, plus a flat treadmill to slide under it. I'm using it now! There's no way I could be in a Zoom meeting, but I can type uncomplicated emails (thinking too hard throws me off my stride!) and do other facets of my work quite easily. I can walk between 5-10K no problem whilst doing my work, it's fab! I always take the calories burned with a pinch of salt - best to round down by a third.

[quote GertrudeKerfuffle]'There are all sorts of exercise desks - treadmills, bikes, wobble boards, yoga balls.

This is very far from new!'

@WouldIBeATwat yes I know but I've never heard of a trampoline desk before. Although now I've found this:

www.fastcompany.com/90607676/this-company-is-trying-to-make-trampoline-desks-happen[/quote]
It should be really easy to verify that company's claims, so I wonder why they don't do it.

I think I will stick to my treadmill + TV so I can watch Below Deck while i walk.

Thank you @yesimbragging for mentioning the trampoline. I definitely need this!

Runs to Argos too...

This is so fabulous! Really brightened my day

[quote yesimbragging]@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![/quote]
If you remove your feet before getting on it how do you bounce?

Fabulous!

Well done on the inches bum loss!!

It will be interesting to see the difference when you change it from elliptical to walking.

I still don't quite get what you're doing on the trampette. Are you just gently bouncing up & down with the guve in the springs?

I have an under-desk set of bike pedals from Decathlon. I pedal away throughout meetings and no-one is any the wiser.

Tale measure is presumably accurate, though, so who cares about the fitbit.
I can’t even chew gum when working, though, without reducing my accuracy, so I don’t think it will work for me. Might get one for watching TV though.

Tape measure!

Great that you've found a way of exercising that suits you but you need to check out that heart rate.
A heart rate of 175 is far too high and means there's something wrong, either with you or the Fitbit.

This amazing! I’m fashioning one out of my never used ironing board this afternoon!

No snidey remarks from me - I think this is a bloody fantastic idea. Don't care if pps have heard this one before, cos it's the first time I've heard it. Thanks for sharing, op!

Ok I found this
"One small study looked at the differences in energy expenditure for 30 healthy adults while they were at work. The researchers measured participants’ energy expenditure while sitting, while standing on a flat surface, and while standing on a balance board (2Trusted Source).

Participants performed a total of 1.5 hours of typing — 30 minutes in each of the 3 positions. Results showed that energy expenditure was 14.2% higher when using a balance board than when sitting (2Trusted Source).

The number of calories burned during exercise depends on several factors, such as the type of activity, the intensity, and your body weight. To determine an average, you can use a physical activity calorie counter that allows you to input body weight, duration, and activity."

Here: www.healthline.com/health/fitness/balance-board-exercises