These cold mornings are killing me – not to mention my exercise regime.

I normally wake about 5am, stagger out of bed, think it’s far too cold to do anything, and retreat back to the comforts of the doona.

The exercise (and I use the term loosely) is usually repeated on the half hour until I realise I’ve run out of time to do anything as beneficial as taking a decent walk.

But after a week of watching the Olympics – okay I really like some of it – unlike what I wrote last week – I’m feeling a little guilty about my own lack of physical form.

The sight of all those finely chiselled bodies with not an ounce of flab to be seen is enough to send you into a guilt spin – or to the cupboard for another cookie to battle depression.

But rather than wallowing in my woes, I’m contemplating putting in for my desk at work to be replaced by a walking station – it might be the only way I can get a few kilometres in.

I’ve already got the evidence I need on workplace, health and safety grounds.

I was reading a story last week that men who work sitting at a desk are far more likely to develop prostate cancer than manual workers.

Scientists looked at whether levels of physical activity in the workplace were linked with tumours and found that having a desk job significantly increased the risks.

Men who worked as civil servants, teachers or in office jobs were much more likely to get cancer than those who spend much of their day on their feet, such as labourers, bakers and barbers.

I’m sure we could throw desk-bound newspaper editors into that mix.

For the uninformed (like myself two minutes before I googled this), prostate cancer is responsible for about 3000 deaths in Australia each year – about the same number as the much more highly publicised breast cancer. There are 18,700 diagnosed cases each year.

In Britain, there are nearly 32,000 cases each year and 10,000 men die from it, equivalent to more than one every hour.

That alone, surely, should be enough for all employers of us desk-bound workers to spring for a treadmill, fancy headgear so we can take the odd phone call and a couple of assistants to help do our work.

After all, we wouldn’t want it to get in the way of our exercise regime.

Already one Minneapolis company is leading the way.

At SALO, a financial-services staffing firm, you’ll find employees clattering on keyboards while they walk.

SALO replaced its office chairs with 16 treadmill workstations, each equipped with shelves for a mouse, keyboard and monitor.

Employees can amble at a leisurely 1.6 kms per hour, burning an estimated 100 calories an hour. They can also chat during “walking meetings’’ in two conference rooms equipped with treadmills.

Craig Dexheimer, director of operations and administration at SALO, participated in the trial program.

At the start of the study, Mr. Dexheimer weighed 105 kilograms.

He walked on the treadmill desk three to four times each week - and dropped 10 kilograms over a six-month period.

The workstations may cost about $4000 a pop – but hey, that’s a small price to pay for your employees’ ongoing health, right?

And consider the potential to chain your staff to them – they could be drip fed, have no reason to leave to go to the gym – and perhaps family and friends could be encouraged to visit. Think of the productivity gains.

Some US firms have obviously seen the potential – one firm alone has sold more than 250 walkstations.

But if your boss is a little stingy, there’s always the cheaper, cobbled together solutions.

One bloke apparently bought a used $300 treadmill, a $20 piece of plywood and some styrofoam for armrest cushioning.

He’s lost about nine kilograms walking about a kilometre an hour for seven hours a day.

His computer monitor is even equipped with a virtual map of the United States on which he can overlay his virtual walking tour.

Other workplace solutions being suggested include walking meetings with co-workers, using long phone cords so employees can roam while they talk or even doing a yoga class or walk with your boss or colleagues at the end of the working day. How relaxing would that be?

Realistically, I think I’ll be waiting for the weather to warm up in the morning before I get to hit the road.

And I after getting back on the pushbike in the sun on the weekend, I know the sooner I hit the pavement, the better.

If I don’t shed a few kilos before the start of summer, my trusty bike is likely to go on strike.