All that depends upon the exercise regime you are on, the equipment you are using, and how rigorously you use it. Try typing while using a Concept II rower (impossible), typing while using a crosstrainer (almost impossible), treadmill (pretty much impossible) or just about any weights machinery. I'd guess the only way you can use that is on the bike or, as illustrated in the CNN article, on a step machine.

Then again if you offset how much weight you want to lose against the level of workout you want to do at the gym, then I guess you can easily work more while exercising less.

Yes Julian, but most rowers have played the piano whilst on a Concept II rowing machine. It's a standard rowers exercise on the recovery - in order to relax your grip, you imagine you are playing the piano with your fingers (any tune will do!).

Can't understand this boredom thing during exercise. It hurts too much to be boring the way I do it.

Jay Leno made fun of this last night on the Tonight Show. It is a pretty ridiculous concept and it really just shows that America is fat and lazy and only wants convience.

I think it was Bill Bryson who observed that Americans are so addicted to convenience that they will go to almost any inconvenience to get it.

My office (and some of its inhabitants) smells bad enough as it is without everyone sweating away on excercise equipment.

Well Rob, apropos Mr Pollard's rant against the smell of cigarette smoke in an earlier post, perhaps your office could be persuaded to take up smoking en masse?

I have actually had good results keeping from turning into utter jello by doing Maxalding at the keyboard at work. It's not a true workout, but enough to keep away the "I've been sitting too long" glakh...

"Can't understand this boredom thing during exercise."

I concur in the strongest possible terms! I never get bored during exercise. Even running is fine for me - It's often about the only chance I get to daydream and think about interesting distractions. People who get bored exercising must have no 'internal' world of thoughts and ideas. How obvious and uninteresting life must be like that...