The health problems of a sedentary lifestyle are well known, but what do you do if you don’t have the time to exercise? According to Compactix, the answer is simple: exercise at your desk.
To help further this aim, the company has just announced the launch of the DeskMate – a desk accessory designed to allow you to perform basic exercises without ever leaving the comfort of your office. The company claims that it offers a gentle workout for “your arms, back, shoulders, chest and wrists” without requiring anything that will get particularly strange looks from your co-workers.
The DeskMate isn’t a particularly complicated gizmo, basically consisting of a simple resistance strap terminating in a hand grip and a mechanism which attaches to the base of desks up to three inches thick. The general concept behind the device is that you strap it to your desk and then work through a series of stretching exercises, with the strap providing an adjustable level of resistance to your efforts.
Although it could help relieve cramped muscles with gentle exercise the DeskMate is never going to replace a workout at the gym, but Compactix points out that even if you only burn a mere fifty calories per day using the device, that equates to 1,500 calories every month – a not unimpressive figure for something the company claims provides exercises that “can even be performed while on the phone or reading.“ Compactix also claim that frequent use of the DeskMate can also “increase blood circulation and raise energy levels.”
Compactix are far from the first company to market their products at the desk-bound workers who find their middles sagging a little – affectionately known around these parts as blogger’s paunch – but the DeskMate is potentially simple enough to actually work. The issue with many previous desk-based exercise devices is they are just too disruptive to other workers, but the simple, silent band of the DeskMate looks as though it won’t be causing such problems.
Where the device could fall down is in efficacy: with Compactix not providing any estimated figures for precisely how much exercise will burn how many calories, it could turn out to be a pointless exercise after all.
Despite these possible misgivings, anything which encourages desk-based workers to enjoy a more active lifestyle is to be applauded – and with suggested retail price of $29.99, the DeskMate certainly won’t break the bank.
