The Treadmill Desk - Week 1
I'm a lot more used to the movement now and the process of walking, typing and reading is a lot easier and feels very natural.
My feet and legs ached a bit the first 3 or 4 days. I think I overdid it at first but now I'm having no aches or pains at all. I guess I'm getting used to the activity.
I've walked almost 23 miles so far. The last week was kind of unusual as far as my schedule goes - I was out of the office a lot more than normal - so I expect to walk more this week.
I'm still getting used to what speed to walk at but I'm going a lot faster now than I did the first couple of days. As I'm typing this I'm walking at a speed of 1.8 mph. When I'm just reading - not typing - I go about 2.0 mph. When I'm on the phone I turn it down to about 1.0 mph. It isn't a big deal to adjust the speeds now. It happens naturally and I do it without thinking.
At the higher speeds I get a bit sweaty. At the lower speeds I don't.
I recommend tennis shoes at all times. I wouldn't walk on this wearing sandals, dress shoes, etc.
I still think this thing is AWESOME and I'm so glad I got it.
I have been eagerly following along with your progress and hope to get set up soon with a treadmill & desk. I really appreciate all the details and feedback you've been providing on your site.
I probably would have ordered the Treaddesk by now, but I'm in Korea and still waiting on a shipping quote. I like that it's smaller than regular treadmills and also doesn't have the console sticking up to get in the way. I haven't found anything like that here, yet, and I'm kind of worried that even if I do, the quality may not be very good.
How did you determine how high to build your desk? Are you happy with its height? (You mentioned having to adjust the keyboard tray height.) Could you try to describe the height relative to when, say, you're typing? Eg, are your elbows at your sides and your forearms bent straight out at a 90-degree angle? And from there, maybe the desk is 3-4 inches higher than your keyboard tray?
Thanks!
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Hi Dan,
Great questions! I agree with you about the treadmill by the way. The reason I bought the one I did was because it didn't have the console attached and the arms sticking up. I couldn't find one anywhere else without arms.
"How did you determine how high to build your desk?"
That was a tough one. The short answer is I took a bunch of different measurements and then just kind of guessed. The long answer is that I brought my old treadmill into my office and placed it next to my desk. I propped up the monitor on my desk on top of a small table I have. I measured that distance. It was 47 inches but it was kind of hard to measure it exactly because the treadmill console was in the way. I couldn't type normally or get an accurate feel because it was in the way of the monitor.
Then, I measured me standing at my desk typing. I propped things on my desk until I got the keyboard to a comfortable height. I then added 4 inches to that height (the height of the tread desk treadmill) and measured the distance from my keyboard to monitor sitting. That distance will remain the same whether you are sitting or standing (The carpenter made it lower than I requested because he thought I messed up on the measurements.) Measuring it that way the distance to my desk came to about 47 1/2".
Tread Desk desks go up to 48" so I figured that since they sold the desks that was the top height comfortable for most people. I also looked at their pictures to see if I could figure out their desk heights and I noticed no one was hunched over or too tall for what seemed like the highest desk height.
I went with 48" high because it's a 'standard' size for the materials and I was worried about it being too short. I didn't want to hunch over.
What I didn't figure in my calculations was that the desk top is 1" thick and it sits on table legs that are 48" high so the distance from the top of my desk to the floor is actually 49".
It's a good height and I'm happy with it. It may be just a shade too tall for me but because the keyboard monitor is lower I think it's okay. Ergonomically it feels good. I've adjusted the keyboard (propped it up on a box) so now it's 4" from the top of the desk and seems like a good fit. I'm not totally sure the keyboard is positioned the right height and I'm still playing around with it but it seems really close.
My guess is that as long as your keyboard is properly situated then the 48" (really 49" if you consider the top of the desk) is a good height for anyone between 5'6" and 6'1" or so. If you're taller, you may need to go up an inch or two. That's just my guess on it though.
Could you try to describe the height relative to when, say, you're typing? Eg, are your elbows at your sides and your forearms bent straight out at a 90-degree angle?
I'll try.
And from there, maybe the desk is 3-4 inches higher than your keyboard tray?
Yes. From the bottom of my keyboard to the start of the desk top is 4". That's the one thing you can make sure of before you build the desk. Because whatever the comfortable distance is from your keyboard to your monitor while you are sitting is going to be the same comfortable distance while you are standing. I'm pretty confident about that one. To me, that's the most important measurement of the whole desk.
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How about an update on the treadmill desk setup? Are you still liking it? Any complaints?
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Hi John,
I still really love it. No complaints so far. It's the start of my second full week with it and I've walked about 57 miles total. I averaged a little over 5 miles a day this past week. What's funny is that I haven't been on the computer as many hours as normal the last two weeks due to life stuff so I figure I will normally walk further. I have noticed that the more comfortable I get walking on it the faster I can go. My speed ranges from 1.8-2.2 now. I still haven't got the keyboard at the right level yet. I think it's close but I'm still playing around with it a bit. I've noticed I have a bit more energy too. Overall I still give it a big thumbs up.
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Hey there Kip,
It's been a while, any updates for us on how it's going, how it's feeling, etc?
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Hi Bob,
How goes it? Great timing. I was going to do an update tomorrow but will do it today instead. Stay tuned ...
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