My original treadmill desk setup had some problems. These can probably be solved by spending $500-$3,000 for a purpose-built treadmill desk, but here in Colorado we like to take things into our own hands and reuse wherever possible. I started out by positioning my monitors on a board placed across two computer towers in front of the treadmill, but this proved to be too far away (and I have good eyes; definitely don’t try this if you wear glasses!). For the keyboard and mouse, I used another board across the treadmill arms, but this was a little unstable and didn’t leave much room for my phone, date book, etc.

I enlisted the help of my super-DIY’er husband, who came up with the idea of making a larger desk surface that would extend out farther than the treadmill arms in order to accommodate the monitors and the keyboard on the same surface. In order for this to work, you have to have a treadmill with a pretty long belt, so check the length before you make a large desk surface. My husband cut a piece of plywood to size, attached it to the treadmill arms with some metal strapping and screws (you can see this in the photo below) and used two shelving boards to make a “riser” for the monitors. This works really well; the plus/minus is that it’s hard to reach the treadmill control panel while you’re on the belt (since the monitors are in front of it). The minus is that I have to step off the treadmill to turn it off and on, but the plus is that because it’s harder to shut the treadmill off, I tend to just keep walking for a longer time.

Computer monitors on treadmill desk

I’ve been using a treadmill desk for about four months, and I think that the NYT article gives a very balanced view of the topic. For me, the bottom line is that I enjoy walking a lot more than I enjoy sitting at a desk, and I find that I can do most of my translation work while on the treadmill; while typing this I’m walking 0.9 miles per hour. In the past few months I have also had people of varying athletic levels try the desk, and they have all commented on how easy it was to get used to reading and typing while walking.

My sense is that if you are very overweight or inactive to start out with, you can probably lose a lot of weight by using a treadmill desk; one of the Mutual of Omaha employees interviewed for the NYT article lost 16 pounds in two months after gaining 75 pounds in the previous two years. If you’re reasonably active to start out with, I think that the major advantages of a treadmill desk are decreased desk-related pain (I now notice that if I work sitting down for a day, my back, wrists and neck really bother me), better alertness (because you’re moving instead of slouching) and increased satisfaction with your work environment. I also like taking fast-walking breaks on my treadmill, where I shut off the monitors, put on my mp3 player and walk at about 3mph for 10 or 20 minutes.

Also, I am still quite happy with the walking desk that I put together for under $200, centered around a Proform Crosswalk treadmill that I purchased for $150 on Craigslist. The Crosswalk works well at low speeds and its hand rails are at exactly the right height for a keyboard tray. If your employer is paying for it, I think that a $4,000 Walkstation is probably a nice option, but it’s definitely possible to put your own walking desk together for a fraction of that amount.

For most of my work time, I walk on the treadmill at about 0.8 miles per hour and I find that I can translate (either from a PDF/hard copy or using a translation environment tool), talk on the phone, read and respond to e-mail, read web pages, do accounting, etc. while on the treadmill at this speed. The one task that really doesn’t work for me while in motion is proofreading. I proofread from a hard copy, and I think it’s just too much motion for my eyes to scan between the two documents (or maybe I’m one of those thirtysomethings in denial about needing glasses?). So, when I’m proofreading I work at the kitchen table, but otherwise I spend most of my work day on the treadmill, and I really enjoy it.

A few questions that people have asked me about working at a treadmill desk:
-Is it noisy? Not really. I don’t have a high-end treadmill, it’s a ProForm Crosswalk that I bought off Craigslist for $125 and even so the noise factor is not bad. For example, my husband and I work in the same office in our house, and he isn’t bothered by the noise level although (since he sits at a traditional desk), the motor is a lot closer to his ear level than to mine. In addition, no one has ever said “what’s that noise?” when I’ve been talking on the phone while on the treadmill.
-Do you get tired? If you’re used to a very low level of physical activity you would probably need time to work up to long stretches on the treadmill, or you would need to set the desk up such that you could alternate between walking and sitting. I’m not in Ironman shape but I’m fairly active to start out with and enjoy walking, and I find it to be a pretty pleasant level of exertion.
-Does it get you in shape? It depends on how you define “in shape.” A treadmill desk isn’t going to train you to run a marathon, but it’s more exercise than you would think. Even if you walk 5 hours a day at 0.8 miles per hour, that’s 20 miles a week, and I’m betting that most of us don’t walk 20 miles a week to start out with. In my case, I used to believe that I gained 10 pounds when my daughter was born, and now I realize that I gained 10 pounds when I started sitting at a desk all day.

Another good use I’ve found for my treadmill is taking “fast walk breaks” during the day. When I’m feeling tired or struggling with a difficult passage to translate, I turn off the computer monitors, put on my iPod and walk at about 3 miles per hour for 15-20 minutes. This really clears my head, and it’s another good fitness boost.

• So far I still really like it, the adjustment has actually been much easier than I thought. I had planned to start by using it a few hours at a time, but I’ve found that I can use it for almost all of my work time. If I need to really focus on something on my screen, I just stop the treadmill and stand on the belt, then turn it back on. I haven’t noticed a major change in my work speed or accuracy.
• It’s worth experimenting with the treadmill speed. So far I’ve found that the recommended pace of 0.8 or 0.9 miles per hour often feels unnaturally slow. Right now (as I’m typing this) I’m using 1.2 miles per hour and it feels much more comfortable. Also, I find that if I’m just reading, for example reading my RSS feeds, I can do 2+ miles per hour.
• It’s amazing how quickly the distance adds up. Last night I checked my e-mail and almost didn’t turn the treadmill on because I thought I would only be at the computer for a few minutes, and lo and behold I walked half a mile. And we’ve all heard the health recommendations about walking 10,000 steps a day; even at a very slow pace of 50 steps a minute, you’ll reach 10,000 steps in a little over 3 hours.
• A vibration dampening mat really helps. My office has a hardwood floor and my treadmill, a ProForm Crosswalk LS, is on the loud side. In the Home Depot flooring section, I bought a thick rubber “anti-fatigue mat,” which you sometimes see in restaurant kitchens, and put it under the treadmill’s motor section. This cuts the noise drastically, to the point where it’s now at the “white noise” level. The Steelcase Walkstation promises that it’s “whisper quiet,” but for $125 for the used treadmill and $20 for the rubber mat, I’m quite happy with my setup.
• There’s a Ning group for people who use treadmill desks, Office Walkers.

Here in Boulder we’re always looking for new ways to exercise; not surprisingly the Treadmill Desk blog is written by a guy in Boulder, and after reading it I got inspired. I fall into the category that fits many home-based office workers; the flexible schedule allows me to exercise enough to stay in decent shape, but on many days, my run or bike ride gets pushed from before lunch to after lunch to the end of the work day to “now it’s time for dinner” and either never happens or is radically abbreviated.

Since I don’t have $6,000 burning a hole in my pocket, the commercially produced Steelcase WalkStation wasn’t an option. Based on the advice from the Treadmill Desk blog, I bought a used treadmill for $125 off Craigslist and with the help of two old shelving boards we had in the basement (one to hold my monitors at treadmill eye level, one to put across the treadmill’s arms to hold my keyboard, mouse and day planner), I was in business in about half an hour.

So far, I like it. Although the treadmill I bought, a ProForm Crosswalk LS, doesn’t get high ratings for snazziness, it is constructed really well for use with the treadmill desk. For me at least (5’7″), the treadmill’s arm rails are exactly the right height for use with the keyboard, and the treadmill works well at a very slow speed, 0.7 or 0.8 mph, which I turn up when I’m talking on the phone and don’t have to look at the computer screen. On the Crosswalk, I can put my cordless phone in the MP3 player holder and a cup with pens and pencils in the water bottle slot, and it has wide side rails that I can stand on if I need to stop walking for a minute. And it’s amazing how the distance adds up; even at 0.8 miles per hour, if you do that 5 hours a day, you’re already at 4 miles.

Anyone else out there using one? Here’s a photo: