Jordan,
I'm interested in your opinion on the following and whether it would negatively impact strength gains or maintaining strength.
My employer has made a number of 'treadmill desks' available to us. Basically, a treadmill below a standing-height desk, the idea being you walk on the treadmill at some speed so low that it does not interfere with your desk work, but provides some ongoing activity during the day.
I tried one and am somewhat surprised to find that I like it--if I use it at 1 mile per hour or so, I forget about it after the first few minutes, but I end up feeling a lot better, back-wise and generally, than if I sat all day long. According to the display, it burns about 120 calories per hour, so I'd have to adjust my diet based on that and my weight goals.
Obviously this is not a replacement for conditioning by prowler, rower, etc. But is it a negative for strength like LISS jogging/running? So far it does not seem to have a negative effect on me (I just add more milk to make up the calories since I want to maintain my current weight). There's no eccentric loading to speak of, so that shouldn't be a factor. In fact the intensity is so low, it doesn't really feel like a workout. I'd guess it wouldn't be much different than having a job that kept you on your feet all day. Maybe the lack of eccentric loading and bias towards fat metabolism (if similar to other LISS) would make this a useful addition during a cutting phase?
I'm thinking it should be called MISS (micro-intensity steady state) so folks can start heated internet arguments about whether to use the HIIT or MISS training program. Haha. Sorry. Thanks for your opinion.