me arrangement in my office. I have dumbbells next to my left foot. Every half hour to an hour, I do a few sets with them.

About ten paces to my right, I have a Soloflex machine and bench, barbells, and an exercise bike that works arms and legs.

I don't have to go to a gym because I wor

I don’t have to recite the nasty figures, because we see them waddling around every day.

About a third or more of Americans are obese, and their children and grandchildren could break the scales, if projections hold true.

Fast food has been blamed. Stress is another villain. And of course, a lack of exercise is a large part of the equation.

I have an unusual proposal.

All businesses should invest in exercise equipment. It wouldn’t be located in one place, like in an official on-site gym. It would be distributed across the company, so clusters of employees could use equipment dedicated to their specific areas while they work.

Imagine, you just got off the phone with a difficult customer. You feel very uptight, defensive, and upset. Instead of taking a smoke or a snack break, walk five or ten paces to the gym rack, pick up a few dumbbells and do about ten pumps.

Feel the blood coursing through your body. Enjoy the release of endorphins. Pat yourself on the back for doing something positive. Go back to your workstation refreshed and prepared to take ten more calls.

How did I come up with this concept?

I’ve been enjoying roughly the same arrangement in my office. I have dumbbells next to my left foot. Every half hour to an hour, I do a few sets with them.

About ten paces to my right, I have a Soloflex machine and bench, barbells, and an exercise bike that works arms and legs.

I don't have to go to a gym because I work

se, a lack of exercise is a large part of the equation.

I have an unusual proposal.

All businesses should invest in exercise equipment. It wouldn’t be located in one place, like in an official on-site gym. It would be distributed across the company, so clusters of employees could use equipment dedicated to their specific areas while they work.

Imagine, you just got off the phone with a difficult customer. You feel very uptight, defensive, and upset. Instead of taking a smoke or a snack break, walk five or ten paces to the gym rack, pick up a few dumbbells and do about ten pumps.

Feel the blood coursing through your body. Enjoy the release of endorphins. Pat yourself on the back for doing something positive. Go back to your workstation refreshed and prepared to take ten more calls.

How did I come up with this concept?

I’ve been enjoying roughly the same arrangement in my office. I have dumbbells next to my left foot. Every half hour to an hour, I do a few sets with them.

About ten paces to my right, I have a Soloflex machine and bench, barbells, and an exercise bike that works arms and legs.

I don't have to go to a gym because I wor

uipment dedicated to their specific areas while they work.

Imagine, you just got off the phone with a difficult customer. You feel very uptight, defensive, and upset. Instead of taking a smoke or a snack break, walk five or ten paces to the gym rack, pick up a few dumbbells and do about ten pumps.

Feel the blood coursing through your body. Enjoy the release of endorphins. Pat yourself on the back for doing something positive. Go back to your workstation refreshed and prepared to take ten more calls.

How did I come up with this concept?

I’ve been enjoying roughly the same arrangement in my office. I have dumbbells next to my left foot. Every half hour to an hour, I do a few sets with them.

About ten paces to my right, I have a Soloflex machine and bench, barbells, and an exercise bike that works arms and legs.

I don't have to go to a gym because I wor

mps.

Feel the blood coursing through your body. Enjoy the release of endorphins. Pat yourself on the back for doing something positive. Go back to your workstation refreshed and prepared to take ten more calls.

How did I come up with this concept?

I’ve been enjoying roughly the same arrangement in my office. I have dumbbells next to my left foot. Every half hour to an hour, I do a few sets with them.

About ten paces to my right, I have a Soloflex machine and bench, barbells, and an exercise bike that works arms and legs.

I don't have to go to a gym because I wor

me arrangement in my office. I have dumbbells next to my left foot. Every half hour to an hour, I do a few sets with them.

About ten paces to my right, I have a Soloflex machine and bench, barbells, and an exercise bike that works arms and legs.

I don't have to go to a gym because I work in one!

I have always found going to a gym a major hassle. You have to commute, change clothes, compete for available equipment, shower, change back into street clothes, and transport yourself back home or to work.

If you add up the total time you’re actually using equipment, it’s just a few minutes, but it takes a good hour to two hours to fit them into your schedule. No wonder so many folks sign-up for health clubs that they never use!

The same ritual applies if you work for a company that is large enough to have an on-site facility. Just cut out the transportation steps.

That’s a plus, but still, you’ll have to compete with the dedicated gym rats, merging into or eschewing the cliques, and so forth.

If you can get some pumps in across an entire working day, you’ll get more of a benefit and you’ll be more productive.

You might be wondering, “Won’t people get really sweaty?”

I seldom break a sweat. Because there is no time pressure on me to come and go, I can do my regime in a very relaxed way. And believe me I’m still reaping a “cardio” benefit.

Given soaring health care costs, most companies that are shouldering the burden are