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Ask HN: Anyone use a treadmill desk daily?

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Re: Ask HN: Anyone use a treadmill desk daily?

#21

Post by aegon_is_coming »

greygore wrote: post #18

I've been using a treadmill desk almost daily for the last 2-3 years and I absolutely love it. I had two laminectomies for herniated discs about 5 years ago and the dynamic motion of walking has helped me maintain my back health better than an ergonomic chair or a standing desk would. On days when I had a lot of meetings and couldn't walk at my desk it was noticeable. It works particularly well for me, but your milea…

2 mph is a very slow walk... People typically say that with a standard walk you can walk a mile in 20 minutes. 2 mph means a mile every 30 minutes, or 50% slower than standard.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone use a treadmill desk daily?

#22

Post by paulcole »

askafriend wrote: post #14

How about you just go to the gym and build real strength and endurance instead of having a treadmill desk. The treadmill desk will only make yourself feel better about sitting around all day but it won't move the needle significantly on much else besides emotion. The reason I chose the harsh wording is because there truly is no substitute for getting in the gym to correct posture, build strength, build endurance, and…

> won't move the needle significantly on much else besides emotion.

To be fair there are worse things than feeling happier.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone use a treadmill desk daily?

#23

Post by greygore »

aegon_is_coming wrote: post #21
greygore wrote: post #18

I've been using a treadmill desk almost daily for the last 2-3 years and I absolutely love it. I had two laminectomies for herniated discs about 5 years ago and the dynamic motion of walking has helped me maintain my back health better than an ergonomic chair or a standing desk would. On days when I had a lot of meetings and couldn't walk at my desk it was noticeable. It works particularly well for me, but your milea…

2 mph is a very slow walk... People typically say that with a standard walk you can walk a mile in 20 minutes. 2 mph means a mile every 30 minutes, or 50% slower than standard.

You are correct: it's a fairly slow walk around the neighborhood. Typically I average between 3.5 and 4 when strolling around outside.

That being said, it's fast by the standards of treadmill desk usage (judging by what I've read and a coworker that bought her own treadmill). I can't speak authoritatively but the impression I get is that most people walk around 1.0 mph which is maddeningly slow for getting around, but appropriate for mindlessly pacing while typing or talking on the phone.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone use a treadmill desk daily?

#24

Post by ykevinator »

vosper wrote: post #20

I do. Against all the online advice to not DIY I have a normal running treadmill (a freebie from the people we bought our house off, who didn't want to move it) with a couple of polystyrene blocks across the bars. The blocks support a bluetooth keyboard and a wireless mouse. I use normal garage shelving (also left for us) to support a 32" 2560x1440 monitor. My laptop sits on the shelves, but the one screen is plenty…

Wow, this is exactly the situation I was looking for and your practical "get healthier slowly" approach is exactly what I have been contemplating.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone use a treadmill desk daily?

#25

Post by ykevinator »

PascLeRasc wrote: post #13
towelr34dy wrote: post #8

It doesn't have to be. I put together my own. Here is what I purchased: Jarvis Stand Desk Frame Only ($445) Home Depo Door ($60) Confidence Power Plus Motorized Electric Treadmill Black ($200) So total of $700~ for basics. Additionally, to make it look nice I added: WireTamer Cable Trays ($20) Shelf and Drawer Liner Wood Grain (x3 for a total Of $27) LED Lights ($20) Drill-able Cable Clips (x2 for $10) Belkin Power S…

Sounds cool, can we see a photo of it?

Second

Re: Ask HN: Anyone use a treadmill desk daily?

#26

Post by ykevinator »

askafriend wrote: post #14

How about you just go to the gym and build real strength and endurance instead of having a treadmill desk. The treadmill desk will only make yourself feel better about sitting around all day but it won't move the needle significantly on much else besides emotion. The reason I chose the harsh wording is because there truly is no substitute for getting in the gym to correct posture, build strength, build endurance, and…

I'm not interested in strength or endurance, I'm solely interested in burning extra calories and back strengthening. I'll be 50 next year, my first born is off to college next year, I cannot tolerate the mental torture of the gym, it's just too boring, I have tried for 3 decades to try to like, I just don't.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone use a treadmill desk daily?

#28

Post by vosper »

ykevinator wrote: post #24
vosper wrote: post #20

I do. Against all the online advice to not DIY I have a normal running treadmill (a freebie from the people we bought our house off, who didn't want to move it) with a couple of polystyrene blocks across the bars. The blocks support a bluetooth keyboard and a wireless mouse. I use normal garage shelving (also left for us) to support a 32" 2560x1440 monitor. My laptop sits on the shelves, but the one screen is plenty…

Wow, this is exactly the situation I was looking for and your practical "get healthier slowly" approach is exactly what I have been contemplating.

If you can get a cheap treadmill I'd say give a shot. It doesn't have to be expensive to setup. Especially if you're working remotely and noise isn't an issue (my treadmill is in the garage; I have noise-cancelling headphones that help a lot, but it's really not that bad without them - and this is an old treadmill).

The (well-intentioned) concerns that I see about posture if you DIY I think are aimed at people who are planning to walk all day. To me walking slowly all day never made sense, I'd much rather walk faster for a short period of time and then return to my desk and rest.

I also think the safety concerns are overblown. I look straight ahead at my screen, which is at head height; I'd also be looking straight ahead if I was walking without working. I've never fallen, tripped, etc... I don't see how it's any more dangerous than running would be, probably less so because is everything is moving a lot more slowly.

If you do try it out be sure to put the speed up periodically to see what you can handle. I walked at 3.5 kp/h for months before my wife mentioned she was walking at 5 kp/h and I discovered I could handle faster speeds, too.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone use a treadmill desk daily?

#29

Post by cweiss »

Our company has several LifeSpan treadmill desks (~$1200) scattered throughout campus. For a while, I was using one daily. My experience:

1. You're bouncing up and down while you're walking. At best, you can read something - typing/mousing is a challenge. I had little success writing or coding. I ended up using the desk first thing in the mornings while I caught up on emails, news and such. This was the dealbreaker for me in getting a setup at home.

2. I wanted a separate set of footwear for the treadmill. I suppose I was right on the edge of sweating too much to be comfortable the rest of the day in my 'walking clothes', but swapping out shoes/socks was a must.

3. It _is_ much better than not using one. For all the same reasons that any regular exercise is good - better mood, lost weight, break in the day, etc.

The desks had 'dead mans switch' leashes (strap that kills the treadmill if it's pulled out), workout computers with HRM, adjustable height desks with memory and were beefy solid machines. I think the only thing they missed was a USB charge port. I would think a cheaper machine might be flimsier, which could aggravate the bouncing issue.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone use a treadmill desk daily?

#30

Post by jobigoud »

floatingatoll wrote: post #9

Hospital workers at a local hospital have warned me personally to never use a treadmill desk. They tried them for some of the staff and after one injury per week for a while — to people’s noses, mouths, and faces — the treadmill desks were banned outright. They are not a viable substitute for being away for monitor. It’ll work fine for a while, but the eventual injuries that occur are to the most sensitive human-soci…

Computer vision to detect the face approaching and trigger airbag deployment.
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