Standing desk vs treadmill desk
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I keep reading articles about how sitting 8 hours a day is going to kill me, so I'm looking at alternatives. From what I've read on various blogs standing is actually more tiring than walking and comes with another set of risks. With that in mind, I'm thinking of building a desk onto a treadmill I already own (and never use). Every blog I've read about people using treadmill desks goes into detail about how they built theirs and how excited they were when they first started using it, and how much weight they lost in the first 6 weeks or so. Most of the blogs go dead silent at that point with a couple reporting back after a year. The people who report back after a year swear they are never going back to sitting desks, but I'm wondering about the others. Did they enjoy the walking desk and just get bored of talking about it? Did they begin to hate it and just not blog about they day they dragged their treadmill into the yard doused it with gasoline and threw a lit match at it? If you've used a standing or walking desk: 1. Did you like it long term, or did the shine wear off and you returned to sitting? 2. Did you notice any of the increased productivity/focus that many of the bloggers reported? Did this last long term or did it wear off after a few months? 3. Did you notice any of the increased energy/feelings of well being that many of the bloggers reported? Did this last long term or did it wear off after a few months? 4. Did you lose weight as a result of standing/walking? Did that last long term? 5. How long was it between when you say all of the time to when you walked or stood all of the time? If I don't have an easy way to raise and lower my monitors, how long am I going to need to keep moving them from my sitting desk to standing/walking desk? Obviously I'm going to New Years resolve to use a walking desk, I'm just trying to get an idea if I'm just trying it out with a slim chance of success long term (still have to try), or if it's likely to just be the way I work for years to come?
I've known about treadmill desks for years now, but never really paid them much attention. I worked out 3-4 times a week for many years but didn't think that walking was necessary to achieve my goals. Then, at an ever increasing rate, I started noticing major publications warning about the devastation caused to the body by sitting for any length of time. Irreversible damage. Higher chance of heart trouble. Higher chance of death. Not good. So about two months ago, I decided it was in my best interest to get off my butt. Literally. I've been a software developer for more than 11 years, which means it's easy for me to spend 10-12 hours a day sitting on my keister. The combined effect of those articles I had been reading, my age, my slowing metabolism, and an ever expanding gut, convinced me that standing was better than nothing. Fortunately, the modularity of my cube at work allowed me to easily raise one of the tables to a height that worked great. Most of the 60 something people that work in my office thought I was crazy, but commended my efforts. And it was a difficult effort, just standing. It took probably two weeks before I could go through an entire day without complaining much. I tried different shoes, different standing exercises, and different cushioning under my feet until standing became easy. One month into standing and I knew there was no going back. Though I have the option of working from home periodically, I'm no longer interested in sitting in my recliner all day. I would go to work simply because my environment was configured for standing. The real world benefits of standing, as opposed to sitting, came almost instantly. Somehow, I found it easier to focus and almost never got sleepy. My posture improved and my back stopped hurting. It was the best I've ever felt working! But that wasn't enough. It didn't take long to realize that, to really make a difference, I was going to need a treadmill. It helps I work for a company (Computer Software Innovations in Easley, SC) that goes to great lengths to ensure their employees are healthy. It took almost no effort getting approval for a treadmill -- the one condition being that I had to purchase it myself. No biggie. I spent a few weeks checking craigslist, ebay, and local stores until I finally scored a Livestrong LS7.9T for $399 at Dicks Sporting Goods. It had the mandatory 2.5 continuous horsepower required to keep me moving at 1-1.5 MPH, is practically silent, and has a lifetime warranty. Sold. The pictures I included (I can get higher quality p
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I've not tried these types of work stations, but... I like to break my work day into 2 chunks. 4 hours working, then DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) and a shower at home (over 2 hours including lunch), then 4 more hours working. I seem to be able to do this 3 days of a 5-day work week. Also, every day (that I don't play DDR) I walk to the cafeteria, which is 5 minutes in each direction. Not too long a walk, but should get a little blood flowing. I think this could be improved on a larger scale if company cultures were changed. At my company, it's not stated one way or the other that it's OK for me to take such a long lunch break, but nobody has complained so far. Nobody else I know at my company takes these types of breaks. If they did (or if the company encouraged employees to do so), I probably wouldn't feel so guilty about taking them, and would probably take these types of healthy breaks more often.
Somebody in an online forum wrote:
INTJs never really joke. They make a point. The joke is just a gift wrapper.
I just keep going back to read this part:
AspDotNetDev wrote:
4 hours working, then DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) and a shower at home (over 2 hours including lunch), then 4 more hours working
Love the DDR part. We're getting Just Dance 3 for my son this Christmas. I hadn't thought of that as being part of my daily work/break routine.
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I just keep going back to read this part:
AspDotNetDev wrote:
4 hours working, then DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) and a shower at home (over 2 hours including lunch), then 4 more hours working
Love the DDR part. We're getting Just Dance 3 for my son this Christmas. I hadn't thought of that as being part of my daily work/break routine.
Not sure about Just Dance, but DDR is definitely an intense workout. It's also fun, which keeps motivation high to keep it up.
Somebody in an online forum wrote:
INTJs never really joke. They make a point. The joke is just a gift wrapper.
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Jeremy Hutchinson wrote:
Most of the blogs go dead silent at that point ....
That's where the blogger has died from too much treadmill use. :)
Chris Meech I am Canadian. [heard in a local bar] In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. [Yogi Berra] posting about Crystal Reports here is like discussing gay marriage on a catholic church’s website.[Nishant Sivakumar]
Chris Meech wrote:
That's where the blogger has died
Death by treadmill. :laugh:
as if the facebook, twitter and message boards weren't enough - blogged
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Erudite_Eric wrote:
How cold is that in Celcius? I cycled in -7 in Belgium a few years often, it was damn cold. A friend in Holland had -20 Celcius one day!
It's about -12 celcius. There are people who bike year round here, even when it gets below zero (-18 c), so in theory I could just but some more equipment to keep me warmer and some studded tires to make snow travel safer, but I have a feeling the fun of biking is gone for me until spring no matter what I do.
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I just can't see that working - the Hula Hoop desk just won't catch on.
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Chris Meech wrote:
That's where the blogger has died
Death by treadmill. :laugh:
as if the facebook, twitter and message boards weren't enough - blogged
Dennis E White wrote:
Death by treadmill
Sounds like an ice cream flavour. :)
Chris Meech I am Canadian. [heard in a local bar] In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. [Yogi Berra] posting about Crystal Reports here is like discussing gay marriage on a catholic church’s website.[Nishant Sivakumar]
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Andy Brummer wrote:
I find it works for simple tasks like reading email and stuff like that, but it's hard to write even moderately complex code while walking
I definitely see myself having to stop and maybe even sitting while working on more complex code. At the same time, I frequently stand up and/or pace when trying to puzzle something particularly complex, so who knows.
I've been looking at this, too. I want to keep the treadmill in the basement, but use another one for the walking desk. Some people buy used ones off Craig's list or somewhere else. There is a company that sells the Tread treadmill specifically for walking desks. About $800. Might be able to find a used one of those online, too. The desk is the hardest part. Saw one designed for this purpose and it was about $479 or so. Had decent space. But some designed for this - like the ones at the site where the manufacturer sells the Tread - have very little working space. They say you're only supposed to walk 1 mile per hour and typing seems doable, maybe easy, at that pace. But over the course of the day you walk maybe 3 - 4 miles. One guy walked across the country - the equivalent, at least - in about a year. I saw a picture of a guy with a chair on the treadmill for those tasks where you just have to sit. The ultimate: a desk that could be lowered and swiveled so that you could swivel it one way and raise it for walking, then go 180 with it and lower it and use it facing the other way in a chair for longer tasks that might require sitting (or if your feet were aching or you were injured). I haven't seen anything like that and I don't think it would be cheap.
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I keep reading articles about how sitting 8 hours a day is going to kill me, so I'm looking at alternatives. From what I've read on various blogs standing is actually more tiring than walking and comes with another set of risks. With that in mind, I'm thinking of building a desk onto a treadmill I already own (and never use). Every blog I've read about people using treadmill desks goes into detail about how they built theirs and how excited they were when they first started using it, and how much weight they lost in the first 6 weeks or so. Most of the blogs go dead silent at that point with a couple reporting back after a year. The people who report back after a year swear they are never going back to sitting desks, but I'm wondering about the others. Did they enjoy the walking desk and just get bored of talking about it? Did they begin to hate it and just not blog about they day they dragged their treadmill into the yard doused it with gasoline and threw a lit match at it? If you've used a standing or walking desk: 1. Did you like it long term, or did the shine wear off and you returned to sitting? 2. Did you notice any of the increased productivity/focus that many of the bloggers reported? Did this last long term or did it wear off after a few months? 3. Did you notice any of the increased energy/feelings of well being that many of the bloggers reported? Did this last long term or did it wear off after a few months? 4. Did you lose weight as a result of standing/walking? Did that last long term? 5. How long was it between when you say all of the time to when you walked or stood all of the time? If I don't have an easy way to raise and lower my monitors, how long am I going to need to keep moving them from my sitting desk to standing/walking desk? Obviously I'm going to New Years resolve to use a walking desk, I'm just trying to get an idea if I'm just trying it out with a slim chance of success long term (still have to try), or if it's likely to just be the way I work for years to come?
Jeremy, I am a month into the use of my treadmill desk and I too can't see myself going back to a full time sitting desk. Do I have more energy yes...has my productivity improved yes...the focus thing I have not noticed any changes. My purchase was less about losing weight as it was about teh ill effects of sitting for 10+ hours a day...the research is VERY alarming. I have varied how I use the desk and find that I am more successfull with using it during blocks of time...I mean when I started I would walk for 15-30 minutes each hour as many of the bloggers and Dr Levine recommends...i find it better for me especially with transferring items back and forth that I select tasks best associated to use the desk---emailing in the AM, phone conferences, lunch break are great ways to get in larger 1-2 hour blocks at a time. I too was skeptical about long term use and was looking at the Steelcase and the Lifespan...for 1/4 of the price and some pretty good reviews I settled on the Lifespan. Also, check out sites like www.officewalkers.ning.com that is where I got my start...
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They do a horrible job of plowing the streets in my neighborhood, so I can generally ski from my front yard into the local park and back without any problem. To get to work I'd have to take my skis off dozens of times and probably have to walk more than a mile over the course of the trip to work.
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I keep reading articles about how sitting 8 hours a day is going to kill me, so I'm looking at alternatives. From what I've read on various blogs standing is actually more tiring than walking and comes with another set of risks. With that in mind, I'm thinking of building a desk onto a treadmill I already own (and never use). Every blog I've read about people using treadmill desks goes into detail about how they built theirs and how excited they were when they first started using it, and how much weight they lost in the first 6 weeks or so. Most of the blogs go dead silent at that point with a couple reporting back after a year. The people who report back after a year swear they are never going back to sitting desks, but I'm wondering about the others. Did they enjoy the walking desk and just get bored of talking about it? Did they begin to hate it and just not blog about they day they dragged their treadmill into the yard doused it with gasoline and threw a lit match at it? If you've used a standing or walking desk: 1. Did you like it long term, or did the shine wear off and you returned to sitting? 2. Did you notice any of the increased productivity/focus that many of the bloggers reported? Did this last long term or did it wear off after a few months? 3. Did you notice any of the increased energy/feelings of well being that many of the bloggers reported? Did this last long term or did it wear off after a few months? 4. Did you lose weight as a result of standing/walking? Did that last long term? 5. How long was it between when you say all of the time to when you walked or stood all of the time? If I don't have an easy way to raise and lower my monitors, how long am I going to need to keep moving them from my sitting desk to standing/walking desk? Obviously I'm going to New Years resolve to use a walking desk, I'm just trying to get an idea if I'm just trying it out with a slim chance of success long term (still have to try), or if it's likely to just be the way I work for years to come?
I don't think the point of it is to get more exercise. I think it's to avoid the problem created by sitting for more than a few hours at a time. There's many ways to solve that issue, and if you don't need more total exercise, you could actually hurt yourself by not getting enough rest during the day. I used to work in retail, and I was on my feet all day walking around, and it's brutal. Walking at a steady pace for 8 hours a day would not be good. You have to strike a balance.
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I keep reading articles about how sitting 8 hours a day is going to kill me, so I'm looking at alternatives. From what I've read on various blogs standing is actually more tiring than walking and comes with another set of risks. With that in mind, I'm thinking of building a desk onto a treadmill I already own (and never use). Every blog I've read about people using treadmill desks goes into detail about how they built theirs and how excited they were when they first started using it, and how much weight they lost in the first 6 weeks or so. Most of the blogs go dead silent at that point with a couple reporting back after a year. The people who report back after a year swear they are never going back to sitting desks, but I'm wondering about the others. Did they enjoy the walking desk and just get bored of talking about it? Did they begin to hate it and just not blog about they day they dragged their treadmill into the yard doused it with gasoline and threw a lit match at it? If you've used a standing or walking desk: 1. Did you like it long term, or did the shine wear off and you returned to sitting? 2. Did you notice any of the increased productivity/focus that many of the bloggers reported? Did this last long term or did it wear off after a few months? 3. Did you notice any of the increased energy/feelings of well being that many of the bloggers reported? Did this last long term or did it wear off after a few months? 4. Did you lose weight as a result of standing/walking? Did that last long term? 5. How long was it between when you say all of the time to when you walked or stood all of the time? If I don't have an easy way to raise and lower my monitors, how long am I going to need to keep moving them from my sitting desk to standing/walking desk? Obviously I'm going to New Years resolve to use a walking desk, I'm just trying to get an idea if I'm just trying it out with a slim chance of success long term (still have to try), or if it's likely to just be the way I work for years to come?
Treadmills cause me to have a modified walk, I feel tension in my hips and lower back, it is unnatural for me personally. When I go to a daily "stand up" SCRUM, I like standing by file cabinets with my laptop, but sitting I prefer my desktop. While standing/moving I notice a lack of desk space, and sitting, you can practically take up a whole dinner table, using every square inch. Solution: every two hours get up and take a litle walk. It keeps your energy level up, and on a hot day, you won't smell like a locker room from walking at your desk. Your feet won't hurt/stink, and your deodorant won't give out before lunch. I actually work for Beachbody, aka "p90x" and the idea of taking a little break every few hours to walk around is actually suggested. We even had that at my last job at the NFL. Right now I work in an area with tough parking and have to move my car every two hours, so sometimes I just walk to my car, and move across the street, but on a tough day, I have a quarter mile to walk back. It mixes it up, but I see the benefit, add in a massive 18" laptop from Alienware, and ther is your resistence traning! ;) So to put it mildly, get off your butt, and take a walk, it clears your mind, is good for you, and it make you look busy by being mobile, people think you are on your way to something important. *--==[::tSc::]==--* TestShoot.com Film Supplies
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I really enjoy biking, but I think sitting on a bicycle seat for hours a day would be hell. Some people have suggested recumbent bikes, but then you're knees get in the way. Also, one blogger tried biking before switching to a treadmill and said that it took a lot more thought to keep pedaling than it did to keep walking. Probably because your body knows at some level that if it stops walking on a treadmill it's going to hurt.
Yes, if you stop walking on the treadmill it gives a whole new meaning to the word "computer crash".
Lisa Marie Sidlow
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I keep reading articles about how sitting 8 hours a day is going to kill me, so I'm looking at alternatives. From what I've read on various blogs standing is actually more tiring than walking and comes with another set of risks. With that in mind, I'm thinking of building a desk onto a treadmill I already own (and never use). Every blog I've read about people using treadmill desks goes into detail about how they built theirs and how excited they were when they first started using it, and how much weight they lost in the first 6 weeks or so. Most of the blogs go dead silent at that point with a couple reporting back after a year. The people who report back after a year swear they are never going back to sitting desks, but I'm wondering about the others. Did they enjoy the walking desk and just get bored of talking about it? Did they begin to hate it and just not blog about they day they dragged their treadmill into the yard doused it with gasoline and threw a lit match at it? If you've used a standing or walking desk: 1. Did you like it long term, or did the shine wear off and you returned to sitting? 2. Did you notice any of the increased productivity/focus that many of the bloggers reported? Did this last long term or did it wear off after a few months? 3. Did you notice any of the increased energy/feelings of well being that many of the bloggers reported? Did this last long term or did it wear off after a few months? 4. Did you lose weight as a result of standing/walking? Did that last long term? 5. How long was it between when you say all of the time to when you walked or stood all of the time? If I don't have an easy way to raise and lower my monitors, how long am I going to need to keep moving them from my sitting desk to standing/walking desk? Obviously I'm going to New Years resolve to use a walking desk, I'm just trying to get an idea if I'm just trying it out with a slim chance of success long term (still have to try), or if it's likely to just be the way I work for years to come?
I work standing up most of the time. I prop my laptop up on an Ergotron extension arm http://www.ergotron.com/Products/tabid/65/PRDID/317/language/en-CA/Default.aspx[^] fitted with the laptop tray. The one trick is to have the bluetooth keyboard sitting at waist height so you don't end up scrunching your shoulders and getting a sore neck/shoulder. Been working like this for over a year and won't go back to sitting only.
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I keep reading articles about how sitting 8 hours a day is going to kill me, so I'm looking at alternatives. From what I've read on various blogs standing is actually more tiring than walking and comes with another set of risks. With that in mind, I'm thinking of building a desk onto a treadmill I already own (and never use). Every blog I've read about people using treadmill desks goes into detail about how they built theirs and how excited they were when they first started using it, and how much weight they lost in the first 6 weeks or so. Most of the blogs go dead silent at that point with a couple reporting back after a year. The people who report back after a year swear they are never going back to sitting desks, but I'm wondering about the others. Did they enjoy the walking desk and just get bored of talking about it? Did they begin to hate it and just not blog about they day they dragged their treadmill into the yard doused it with gasoline and threw a lit match at it? If you've used a standing or walking desk: 1. Did you like it long term, or did the shine wear off and you returned to sitting? 2. Did you notice any of the increased productivity/focus that many of the bloggers reported? Did this last long term or did it wear off after a few months? 3. Did you notice any of the increased energy/feelings of well being that many of the bloggers reported? Did this last long term or did it wear off after a few months? 4. Did you lose weight as a result of standing/walking? Did that last long term? 5. How long was it between when you say all of the time to when you walked or stood all of the time? If I don't have an easy way to raise and lower my monitors, how long am I going to need to keep moving them from my sitting desk to standing/walking desk? Obviously I'm going to New Years resolve to use a walking desk, I'm just trying to get an idea if I'm just trying it out with a slim chance of success long term (still have to try), or if it's likely to just be the way I work for years to come?
I've been using a standing desk for about a year now, and I do still use it most of the time. That said, I can't say I've noticed a productivity improvement, and in fact I think I do better work on the rare occasions I'm sitting down -- standing seems to take away a small bit of my ability to concentrate that can be important for the really tricky stuff. Feeling of increased energy or well-being in the first few months? Not really. Most of all, what I noticed was a stiff upper back. Seems I had underdeveloped neck muscles. These days, that's not a problem, but it did mean the first month or so was actually quite unpleasant. I did jump straight in to full-time use, though.
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I keep reading articles about how sitting 8 hours a day is going to kill me, so I'm looking at alternatives. From what I've read on various blogs standing is actually more tiring than walking and comes with another set of risks. With that in mind, I'm thinking of building a desk onto a treadmill I already own (and never use). Every blog I've read about people using treadmill desks goes into detail about how they built theirs and how excited they were when they first started using it, and how much weight they lost in the first 6 weeks or so. Most of the blogs go dead silent at that point with a couple reporting back after a year. The people who report back after a year swear they are never going back to sitting desks, but I'm wondering about the others. Did they enjoy the walking desk and just get bored of talking about it? Did they begin to hate it and just not blog about they day they dragged their treadmill into the yard doused it with gasoline and threw a lit match at it? If you've used a standing or walking desk: 1. Did you like it long term, or did the shine wear off and you returned to sitting? 2. Did you notice any of the increased productivity/focus that many of the bloggers reported? Did this last long term or did it wear off after a few months? 3. Did you notice any of the increased energy/feelings of well being that many of the bloggers reported? Did this last long term or did it wear off after a few months? 4. Did you lose weight as a result of standing/walking? Did that last long term? 5. How long was it between when you say all of the time to when you walked or stood all of the time? If I don't have an easy way to raise and lower my monitors, how long am I going to need to keep moving them from my sitting desk to standing/walking desk? Obviously I'm going to New Years resolve to use a walking desk, I'm just trying to get an idea if I'm just trying it out with a slim chance of success long term (still have to try), or if it's likely to just be the way I work for years to come?
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I keep reading articles about how sitting 8 hours a day is going to kill me, so I'm looking at alternatives. From what I've read on various blogs standing is actually more tiring than walking and comes with another set of risks. With that in mind, I'm thinking of building a desk onto a treadmill I already own (and never use). Every blog I've read about people using treadmill desks goes into detail about how they built theirs and how excited they were when they first started using it, and how much weight they lost in the first 6 weeks or so. Most of the blogs go dead silent at that point with a couple reporting back after a year. The people who report back after a year swear they are never going back to sitting desks, but I'm wondering about the others. Did they enjoy the walking desk and just get bored of talking about it? Did they begin to hate it and just not blog about they day they dragged their treadmill into the yard doused it with gasoline and threw a lit match at it? If you've used a standing or walking desk: 1. Did you like it long term, or did the shine wear off and you returned to sitting? 2. Did you notice any of the increased productivity/focus that many of the bloggers reported? Did this last long term or did it wear off after a few months? 3. Did you notice any of the increased energy/feelings of well being that many of the bloggers reported? Did this last long term or did it wear off after a few months? 4. Did you lose weight as a result of standing/walking? Did that last long term? 5. How long was it between when you say all of the time to when you walked or stood all of the time? If I don't have an easy way to raise and lower my monitors, how long am I going to need to keep moving them from my sitting desk to standing/walking desk? Obviously I'm going to New Years resolve to use a walking desk, I'm just trying to get an idea if I'm just trying it out with a slim chance of success long term (still have to try), or if it's likely to just be the way I work for years to come?
If you focus on other's failures you will have a slim chance of success. Motivate yourself and try not to worry about what happened to these bloggers. Most people who start off exercising stop after a certain time and never go back--just set a goal and keep at it no matter what. Well, no matter what except for injuries, then I'd go see a doctor. Other than that you are the master of your own success.
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If you focus on other's failures you will have a slim chance of success. Motivate yourself and try not to worry about what happened to these bloggers. Most people who start off exercising stop after a certain time and never go back--just set a goal and keep at it no matter what. Well, no matter what except for injuries, then I'd go see a doctor. Other than that you are the master of your own success.
5 for the motivational speech. I am definitely going to commit fully to it. It just strikes me as odd that you if you google "couch to 5k fail", and the first link is someone who has attempted the couch to 5k program and failed at it. If you google "treadmill desk fail" the first link is a guy talking about how his plans to build his treadmill desk were failed for a bit, but then succeeded and now he's walking and working regularly. So it appears that the success rate of treadmill desks is much higher than a regular exercise program. Maybe it's the kind of people who end up putting together a treadmill desk are more likely to follow through. And the people who would have failed at walk-working never got as far as building the treadmill desk to begin with. Just a theory.