Sandy Jesteadt doesn't trudge through her work days any more.

In fact, ever since April the technical adviser for remote control applications at BWI Eagle, 105 Bonnie Drive, has been going through her 9-to-5 routine at a brisk pace.

Because of a treadmill and a three-sided desk that attaches to it, called a TrekDesk, Jesteadt spends her workday standing up and walking.

Jesteadt said, “I got the idea from seeing nurses at the hospital. They have those stand-up computer stations.”

“The main reason was that I found myself sitting constantly,” she said. “I was so busy I felt that I couldn't get up and walk around.”

“Sitting for eight hours a day can decrease your life span,” she said.

So, after doing some research, Jesteadt and her husband, Tom, assembled the TrekDesk atop a Horizon T101 treadmill in about two hours in the office at BWI Eagle, a manufacturer of electrical specialty products for industrial applications.

“I wanted something quiet that could go for long periods,” said Jesteadt of the treadmill.

The metal legs of the TrekDesk support a resin desk surface. Jesteadt has a calculator, laptop and docking station, large monitor and keyboard and telephone. The desk comes equipped with a copy stand, cup holders and drawers.

Jesteadt said she comes to the office in the morning, changes into a pair of running shoes, gets on the treadmill, turns it up and starts her day.

“I started at one mile per hour,” she said. “It doesn't sound like much, but I'm on it almost seven hours a day. ” She said she usually stops the treadmill an hour before quitting as a cool-down period.

“It's been pretty good. I've probably put 600 miles on the treadmill,” she said, adding she's now got the pace up to a mile and a half an hour.

She said, “At first, it took some working up to it. I was all gung-ho. I wanted to do it all day, but you can really feel it. In the beginning, I had to stop for 30 minutes.”

She said the desk was sturdy enough that she can carry out all office tasks — typing, calling, working the computer — with little problem.

“Writing took some getting used to,” she said. “Sometimes when I'm on a long telephone call, I'll have to catch my breath. I just put my feet on the side rails.”

“None of my clients can tell I'm on a treadmill,” she said.

“The only thing is when you are doing something where you really have to concentrate, I might have to stop ” and put her feet on the side rails.

In the last eight months, she said she walked six to eight miles a day.

“I've lost 20 pounds, but some of that might be because I've changed my diet,” she said, adding she does workouts at her home in Prospect involving a treadmill and exercises using a person's own body weight before coming to work.

“There's no dress code in the office,” Jesteadt said. “So I'm going for comfort: shorts in the summer and jeans in the winter, and I turn a fan on if it gets too hot. I'm not going fast enough to sweat, per se.”

“I'm just going to continue the way I'm going,” she said. “I could up the pace to 1.7, 1.8 miles an hour, but it's not about having a certain goal, it's about health.”

“I do feel like I have more energy in the evenings, she said after she began her walking in the office routine.

Stand-up desks and office treadmills aren't new to Kathy Hensler, a personal trainer at the Cranberry Township Rose E. Schneider YMCA, 2001 Ehrman Road.

Hensler said, “I believe UPMC has a slew of them. They are trying them out.”

“You are moving your arms and legs while at your desk,” said Hensler. “That's good for your brain.”

“They say you should get up and move around every hour,” Hensler said of office workers stuck behind a desk.

Sandy Ihlenfeld, senior physical director at the YMCA in Butler, said, “What research I've seen shows that the U.S. is a sedentary population. Even if you exercise an hour a day, sitting all day is hard on your body.”

“You are better off moving, even moving at a very slow pace,” Ihlenfeld said.

“I don't know myself how I would work the computer and move my legs,” said Ihlenfeld.