Posted by Funkyguy on October 17, 2008 2:47 PM
A couple of weeks ago, Doc Joe of Book of Joe fame was on New York Times as a blogger who manages to fit in a work out along with his daily blogging activity. It made for extremely interesting reading , and certainly makes sense in this time strapped world of today. However I felt that the NYT did not go into sufficient details with some questions.
I emailed Doc Joe, who graciously agreed to answer a few questions for us. I felt that being a full-time blogger AND a medical doctor, it gives him a rare unedrstanding of the pressures faced by bloggers who can definitely take up this challenge of blogging / exercising without any more demands on their time.
I have been meaning to put this up since then , but have been completely swamped in assignments and stuff that is normal for any Uni student.
Turns out its all for the better since a lot of blogs covered the issue in that week and this should enable us to give you a fresh perspective.
Q:When did you start?
A: I started in 2005 - details.
Q: What gave you the idea?
A: Reading a story about Dr. James Levine gave me the idea.
Q:Is there any special equipment which helps power your computers through walking?
A: No special equipment to use walking to power the computer, although there are places doing so
Q: How many miles do you do a day?
A: I do 4 to 6 hours a day on the treadmill, mostly blogging bookofjoe, at 1 mph; seven days a week. I've done so for over three years now.
Q: Did it make a difference? - as a doctor (expert opinion)
A: Yes, it makes a huge difference in 1) Attitude toward work done while walking: outlook and mood are significantly better (my expert opinion); 2) Quality of work and clarity of thinking is improved due to increased cerebral blood flow while upright and walking as opposed to sedentary (innumerable physiological studies demonstrating same).
Q: Would you recommend it to those looking for becoming fit / loosing weight?
A: I would recommend treadmill working without reservation to those looking to become more fit and improve their work experience/mood/quality AND have free time to do stuff other than work out.
Q: Any drawbacks?
A: You have to have access to a treadmill.
Q: Do you follow the regimen religiously?
A: I am religious about my routine, as detailed above.
Q: Did you hook it up yourself or buy it from somewhere special - how much?
A: I bought a treadmill over the Internet after reading reviews. I purchased a Smooth 5.15, since discontinued in favor of the 5.45, which has a better motor. My original machine is still working fine, now in year 4 of daily use so you can see why I'm sold on this company and will buy a model 5.45 when mine finally dies. Their service is superb as well.
Q: How much would it all cost?
A: I paid $900 in 2005; the 5.45 is around $1,000. However, even a cheap machine is fine, say around $400; all you want is to go 1 mph, you're not doing Olympic marathon training on it, after all. If you're not sure, rent a machine from some place, have them bring it over and set it up, they'll take it away when you're done: cheap and dirty way of finding out if treadmill working's for you.
Q: And finally, besides blogging as you walk what else would you recommend bloggers who would like to emulate the success of bookofjoe.com ?
A:
1) Post daily, NO exceptions (the reader must be certain of finding something new every day or you're history)
2) Keep your site free of distractions/blinking stuff/sounds that come on automatically/Flash (no one wants to wait around for stuff to load, they'll click away in a heartbeat)
3) Be yourself
4) Avoid misspellings/poor grammar/improper syntax (if you can't be bothered to be precise and accurate in the little things, no one will think you're credible on a larger scale)
5) Link to others and give credit whenever possible (that's currency that will be returned many times over in links, citations and Google page rank)
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