From the Founder: Working from a Walking Desk
I’ve had a walking desk for over a year. If you’re interested in my experience, or you want tips to set up your own walking desk, this post is for you.
Walking is one of the easiest ways to improve your health, but it can be a struggle to do enough of it. I used to walk miles a day as part of my commute. When I started working from a home office, my daily step count dropped by 5,000 steps.
I also like to take walks while listening to audiobooks or podcasts, but with my workload, I have less time for leisure walks. I wasn’t happy with my walking levels, so I did some research and discovered treadmills specifically built for walking at desks. You can double up and walk while you work. I've been using a walking treadmill for over a year now, and have greatly enjoyed the experience.
Erik’s desk setup.
Activity Level Changes
I don't need to spend the whole day walking to make meaningful changes to my activity, walking in short bursts adds up. On the high end, I add about 11,000 steps to my daily activity by using the treadmill. On slow days, I'll only add about 2,000 steps, but that's still close to a mile's worth of walking.
My first week on a walking desk.
Adding even a mile of walking per day feels significant. It’s a mile I wouldn’t have walked if I was sitting at a normal desk. Adding 4-5 miles makes me feel like I did real exercise for the day, except it feels like I have superpowers because I did it while doing my job.
I try not to skip out on exercise even if I walk on my treadmill desk: the distance I walk is more of an added bonus to my normal routine. But on days where I simply don't have the time for a workout, every step on the treadmill feels like a win.
The Walking Desk Experience
Working from the walking desk feels similar to working from a standing desk, except your lower body is walking. While you walk, your hands rest at the keyboard, so your upper body is mostly still. It is surprisingly easy to adjust to.
Most of the time, you can forget that you're walking, but for reasons I don't understand, certain mental work is easier and certain mental work is harder while walking. For example, when I'm doing a task that I'm unfamiliar with, I either have to slow or stop the treadmill so I can focus entirely on what I'm doing. If I'm doing boring work, walking is nice because it helps the work pass by faster.
Walking to Standing to Sitting
If you need to stop the treadmill at any point, then you simply go from being on a walking desk to being at a standing desk. Standing desks have benefits over sitting desks, so you don’t lose the benefits if you're not walking all the time.
I actually spend most of my time standing, either because I get tired or need to concentrate. Even if I'm only walking 15 minutes per hour, however, that translates to 2-3 hours of walking per day
It takes time to build up to standing up for a full work day. If you need to sit, you can place a chair or stool on the tread of the treadmill (while it's off, of course).
Walking While Gaming
One of my life's passion is video games (if you have used Pantheon, you will have noticed). As a busy professional, I've had less time for games over the years. I moved my Xbox One X, PS4 Pro, and Nintendo Switch to my office so that I can walk while playing. This has allowed me to enjoy games a lot more because I feel I am doing something good for my health while I play.
Unlike work, I don't need to stop or slow down my walking pace while playing. I can walk for hours non-stop if I'm into a game. The brain is weird.
(I also have a Philips Hue setup around my desk that changes the color of the lights to match the screen and the effect is engrossing. That might be a longer post for a different page).
Getting the Gear
Walking desks are really two separate components: a standing desk and a walking treadmill. You can buy them bundled, but you might find better prices or better combinations if you purchase them separately.
The price and quality of equipment varies greatly, so I can't provide too much advice other than you should go for what makes sense for your budget and what features you want. Spending less time sitting and more time walking is an improvement for almost anyone, so making that change is a good one, no matter how you get to it.
Standing Desk
The first component you need is a standing desk. You need something with a higher surface to work from, but also, something with enough clearance for your legs. Standing desk converters might be a little awkward, but I haven't tested that.
If you want to move from standing to sitting, or if you want to share the desk with people of different heights, you might want to get a height adjustable desk.
If you are interested in treadmill desks, but don't want to commit to the full cost, you can start with just the standing desk, which I think is a huge benefit on its own.
I chose a standing desk from Uplift because they let me customize the desk’s features and they offered the size I wanted.
Walking Treadmill
The second component you need is a walking treadmill. Walking Desk Treadmills are different from standard treadmills in two key respects. First, they don’t include the handguard/rail and control system you find at the front of normal treadmills. This allows you to put the treadmill under a standing desk so that you can do serious work the way you would at a normal desk. Second, walking treadmills are designed to run at low speeds, so they're significantly more quiet than regular treadmills. If you work in an office (or at home with a partner), not running a loud treadmill several hours a day is important.
Walking treadmlls start at $200 and run over $2,000.
I chose the higher-end ThermoTread GT from iMovR. I read several reviews and iMovR was consistently rated as the most quiet and the most durable. I knew I'd be spending hours a day on the thing, so I splurged.
Nice-To-Haves: External Display, Monitor Arm, Keyboard & Mouse, Shoes
Good ergonomics would say that you should have an external display, a monitor arm, and a separate keyboard and mouse if you work from a laptop. The experience of working with a good ergonomic set up makes a difference, but all that equipment along with the desk and treadmill is expensive.
If you can't get it all at once, I would recommend starting by elevating your computer or monitor on some boxes or books to get it to eye level. If you don't have a keyboard and mouse, get those next. Then you can layer in the missing pieces as your budget allows.
Finally, you need clean shoes for walking on the treadmill. Every treadmill review I read indicated that you can increase the life of your treadmill by keeping a dedicated pair of shoes that stay inside so that you're not gunking it up with outside dirtiness. I personally like the minimalist experience, and my favorite shoes for my treadmill have been a $20 pair of Fitkicks (these are one of my favorite sub-$50 fitness purchases in recent memory).