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

Sounds amazing. Tempted to try it but I would probably fall over!

You had me at '6 inches off my arse'

Sorry if you’ve already said this but how do you write anything while bouncing?

I was curious so I'm on it now as I type this, and have set the exercise to walking. Heart rate is 174 apparently and took just over two minutes to get to that. Also I forgot to say that it doesn't track your steps at all as your wrist isn't moving! I'll post a screenshot when I'm done.

I don't think the heart rate thing is that bad/dangerous. Lots of HIIT or kickboxing etc burns well over 700 calories an hour. I've just googled and one article says kickboxing can be 800-1000 calories a session! I don't do anymore than 90 mins across 24hrs, and I'm miles fitter than I was a few months ago which can only be a good thing.

People asking, as I'm jumping atm I can tell you - so I'm pushing down with my legs, knees slightly bent, so it's the resistance against the upward push from the springs, I'm slightly out of breath but could hold a conversation if there was anyone to talk to (!) and because of the repetitive nature of it and the desk to help you balance, I have no trouble typing or concentrating on work/reading complex things etc. Easier than one foot in front of the other on a treadmill while trying to work I think.

It'll be really funny if Argos suddenly sell out across the country

How many hours of bouncing a day do you do on average? I couldn’t do it while working but would try it out of working hours if it’s that good.

@WilliamofBaskerville

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.

Are you able to share a link to it? I love this idea. I’d hoped to do this with my peloton but never managed to get the tray thing sorted.

When I run at medium pace ie quite hard, but could still chat a bit if I wanted to, my HR is about 150 - 160 and I'm breathing hard.

I simply cannot imagine trying to do brain work while my heart was working even harder than that.

What is your job that enables you to concentrate while your body is working so physically hard?

Argos will be wondering about the surge in traffic to the opti mini trampoline page.

By the way standing desks aren't quite £200. I got one on amazon for about £120 because I was full of good intentions. I sold it subsequently on gumtree for £45. So you might get a cheap second hand one on gumtree or local facebook pages.
(although obviously your hack is excellent and I bet you are now wishing you'd posted under your usual name)

I don’t think based on your last post that gently bouncing against the springs without your feet leaving the trampoline is anywhere near the effort of kick boxing, so I don’t think the Fitbit is accurately getting your heart rate

But all exercise is good exercise so good for you!

Okay, so setting it as walking made no difference to the BPM, the only thing different was that it tried to track me via GPS and showed me a load of squiggles on a map of my address as I was rooted to the spot

@ShirleyPhallus

I don’t think based on your last post that gently bouncing against the springs without your feet leaving the trampoline is anywhere near the effort of kick boxing, so I don’t think the Fitbit is accurately getting your heart rate

But all exercise is good exercise so good for you!

I agree, but if kickboxing burns up to 1000 calories and I'm 'only' burning 500... who knows, as I say it's an improvement on sitting on my now much smaller arse all day!

That’ll confuse the GPS data collectors (the address squiggling).

Hey, it's working for you op so ignore the haters!

This is a great idea. Any exercise is good, so crack on! And it's not just about cardio. As you mentioned a while back, you're using your core and anything that strengthens that is a positive.

I love this idea and I bet it’s great for your mood as well! Gentle exercise just makes you feel GOOD - what a great mindset to be doing work with 😊

And because you're working against gravity to some extent, isn't it good for your bone density too? I believe rebounding is used by astronauts to prevent bone loss, or muscle loss or something (definitely read that astronauts do this!)

@PooPooPongDelong

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

I was going to say you could use an ironing board instead. It’d be steadier.

Well done for finding something that works for you

Are you able to type whilst bouncing?

Genius! I just got a proper sit/stand desk (second hand) and after someone on MN said about standing on a wobble board so that you don't just lock your legs I've been using that (am up to 3 hours a day now) and OMG you can feel everything from the muscles in your feet upwards constantly working. I'm pretty fit as it is, but my core and my posture is looking better after a week.

Oh I love it. I also doubt the accuracy of fitbit etc, having spent most of my life battling with weight and using gadgets to monitor exercise, but whatever - bouncing on a trampette even a little bit will work some of the largest muscles you have plus your core, so it's definitely burning more cals than just sitting.

As your shrinking arse can prove! Hmm, pity my tiny 2.5m x 1.5m home (shed) office is set up with a sitting desk.

Doesn't the leaning forward give you terrible lower back ache? I suffer with sacroiliitis...

You’re certainly thinking outside the (storage) box here.

I love this @yesimbragging 🤣

Make sure you don't miss the call from JML to set your invention into production.

@Sweatilicious I get sciatica, and it actually seems to have helped it, but that's a nerve thing rather than a joint thing with sacroilitis, so I'm not sure if it would hurt you more. Honestly if I had a smaller lid/tray to put my laptop on, I would experiment a bit with the height of the stand and maybe not have to lean forward. Maybe I should pinch mum's ironing board next and try it!

In theory the exercise should improve blood flow to the brain, and improve thinking. Personally I can't imagine being able to concentrate on complex things while trying to balance at the same time. Possibly just requires practice, though?