The TrekDesk was born of necessity after an injury made sitting at a desk a challenge for Steve Bordley.
"What if I could work while walking?" Bordley started thinking -- so he fashioned a "desk" atop his treadmill, using the lid of a plastic storage container.
Right away, Bordley started feeling better. His back pain disappeared and he lost 25 pounds in six weeks.
And as he started researching treadmill desks, Bordley got hooked on the benefits of walking, which he says has been shown to reduce the rates of heart attacks, diabetes, strokes, cancer and depression.
"If it were a pill, it would be the miracle cure of the ages," says the CEO of TrekDesk in a phone interview from Phoenix.
Promoting the wonders of walking is the mission of his company, which started selling the TrekDesk in October, Bordley says. The desk fits over any treadmill and can be adjusted to various heights.
The idea that being more mobile will benefit our health shouldn't be surprising, Bordley says. His "caveman theory" is that our bodies were designed to be on the move and depend on that movement to function well.
Yet many of us struggle to work physical activity into our day because of lack of time or motivation, he says. With a treadmill desk, "You don't need any extra time out of your day and you don't need any motivation."
Many wonder if it's hard to read or do other tasks while walking, but Bordley says it's no more difficult than walking down the hall reading a report and talking to an associate. Others worry about sweating, but the aim isn't a grueling workout session, just a slow, steady pace.
"Do you sweat when you walk through the hall and when you go to lunch?" Bordley asks.
About 20 percent of his desks are purchased for corporate offices and the remainder for home offices, where Bordley says some folks find creative uses for them.
One father, he says, ordered the desk for himself, but now tells his kids they are not allowed to play their computer games unless they're on the TrekDesk.
-- Becky Cairns
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