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For the past 2 weeks, I've been working from a treadmill. It has been incredible. I got a small under-the-desk treadmill for my standing desk and I walk at abou

by daenz 5y ago

For the past 2 weeks, I've been working from a treadmill. It has been incredible. I got a small under-the-desk treadmill for my standing desk and I walk at about 2.5km/hour and get around 20,000 steps in per day. It has improved my mood, my clarity, and also has improved my sleep (because I'm tired of walking). I also find it easier to focus on tasks for some reason. If you can make a setup like this work for you, I highly recommend it. Your body will thank you in the long run. EDIT>> A few of you are asking about the model. I actually bought 2, one for myself and one for my partner, who also loves it. This one is mine https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07V7F8QYK https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07V7F8QYK. I got it when it had a $100-off coupon, so the price wasn't as steep. No real complaints so far, except you can't store it upright. I just roll it out of the way when I want to sit. The one for my partner is https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0895DRWVY https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0895DRWVY. She likes it. It's a little smaller and can be stored upright and out of the way, which is nice. There have been complaints about the remote (and it only comes with 1), but the manufacturer claims to ship new remotes free of charge if yours breaks. They're both a little quirky with a very simple LCD screen. Supposedly mine has an app integration for step counting, but I just use my phone in my pocket. They both get the job done.

iamgopal 5y ago
share some photo or model of treadmill.
littleweep 5y ago
Can you please link the model?
gota 5y ago
Can you walk during calls, e.g. remote pair programming? Heavy breathing, noise from the treadmill and footsteps etc. affect you? If not, what kind of mic are you using? I think a headset will suffer from the heavy breathing Also - post your standing desk or its dimensions please
- daenz 5y ago
  Yep! I walk regularly on calls and during pairing sessions. Google meet is pretty good at noise cancelling. My coworkers say they can't even hear the treadmill. Heavy breathing isn't really an issue for me at 2.5km/hour. I'll have to dig up our standing desk dimensions, but there is no problem there for me or my partner. I'm 6', she's 5'8", and we both have different standing desks and different treadmills. There would be no issue with the desk height or width, but you should measure your own setup if you're thinking of doing the same.
rendaw 5y ago
Do you walk 8h a day then? Or do you somehow sit sometimes? How do you sit with the treadmill there under your desk? Do you wear shoes while walking? Do you typically wear shoes indoors then?
- daenz 5y ago
  I walk around 4 hours per day. Yesterday was 4 hours 13 minutes, 22k steps, 5.96 miles. It seems like a short distance for that many steps, but it's because you tend not to take huge strides. I'll usually do 10k steps in the morning, take a break and sit and eat lunch and rest for a bit, then finish another 10k steps. The treadmill has rear wheels, and I roll it back out of the way of my desk, then roll my chair back to my desk, when I want to sit. I don't wear shoes while walking or indoors. If I start getting foot problems, I might get a pair of indoor shoes.
giomasce 5y ago
I never tried that: is it comfortable to use mouse and keyboard while walking? To me it feels quite weird.
- coldtea 5y ago
  Like everything else, you get used to it. You can adjust your speed to lower at first of course.
tartoran 5y ago
I jump on a rebounder a couple of times a day, nothing like your setup but it seems to improve my wellbeing. The rest of my time is unfortunately quite sedentary, I tried working while standing but for some reason it didn’t work out for me. But now im thinking that standing and walking are quite different. You made me think about getting a thredmill...
- pimlottc 5y ago
  Google tells me a rebounder is a kind of mini-trampoline? What do you do with it?
  - tartoran 5y ago
    Yes, it is a mini trampoline of around 4 feet in diameter, it doesn't have springs but bungee cords so it doesn't make any sound when you jump on it and the jump is quite a bit smoother. I jump on it in sessions of 10 minutes, and it feels like a very convenient and fun cardio. Jumping somehow works out your whole body and it supposedly helps with lymphatic fluid drainage - actually , any kind of movement or sport does help with that but having a sedentary lifestyle affects it heavily. It is a good general exercise and very convenient to do in the confines of your own home. Oh, and jumping on it feels effortless while it actually does work out your body quite well, when you stop jumping it does feel like you had a workout. Of course towards the end of the session the heart and breathing rates goes up. I really like it.
babesh 5y ago
Picture tech people walking on their treadmills for compensation and then picture gerbils running on wheels for food. Picture tech people drinking Soylent and then picture gerbils eating pellets. The world is whack. People are substituting artificial things for the natural things that made us happy in earlier times. Walking on a treadmill vs walking outside in the sun and shade amidst plants, trees, and other living things. Eating things for nutrition vs eating fruits and vegetables for enjoyment.
- daenz 5y ago
  I also get plenty of sun and eat well. But I happen work at a job that requires me to look at a stationary screen for much of the day, like I imagine most of us do. So I am choosing to not be as sedentary. But if you're suggesting that we should abandon working in tech because it's unnatural, I'm afraid you're probably talking to the wrong audience :) You're not the first person to mention gerbils on wheels to me. I think it's mostly a reaction to seeing something unconventional, despite its health benefits. If you feel like you're not living your ideal life in this industry (assuming you are also in tech), that's fine, but don't project that onto me please. I enjoy what I do and how I live.
  - babesh 5y ago
    You are projecting. I referred to the archetype and trend and not you specifically. No longer in tech.
- themolecularman 5y ago
  > Picture tech people walking on their treadmills for compensation and then picture gerbils running on wheels for food. Picture tech people drinking Soylent and then picture gerbils eating pellets. The world is whack. A bit much? I'm not sure where you get soylent from. Nobody is substituting here, I didn't get that from the OP at all. Another commenter mentioned that working from home allows for asynchronous tasks, the OP merely stated that means he can work and work-out on a treadmill. He is neither being compensated for or replacing going out into nature.
- xkeysc0re 5y ago
Groxx 5y ago
A coworker was into climbing and bouldering. We often joked that, when we all inevitably got treadmill desks, we'd have to get him a climbing-wall desk. It'd be great! We could just stick a computer at the top of this thing, and maybe some espresso for motivation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjiepNna8GA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjiepNna8GA He agreed. Sadly, we never did get treadmill desks.
abootstrapper 5y ago
How do you track your steps? I have treadmill desk and a Fitbit, but my Fitbit is worthless because my arms don’t swing while I’m working.
- fastasucan 5y ago
  Fitbits have longer bracelets you can swap in, so you can fasten it over your ancle. People in jobs where they cant use watches usually do that if they want to track steps. Your doctor/nurse might be wearing one.
- daenz 5y ago
  I use a pedometer app on my phone and put my phone in my pocket.
pvtmert 5y ago
IMO sitting just makes your blood slower to flow = less juice for your brain. I was helping IT support before the pandemic when I had free time (or waiting something to finish) And I liked all the walking around the office, between buildings, etc. Now, I artifically simulate situation by leg-shaking :)
Tempest1981 5y ago
Surprised to see a "smart" product, sold on Amazon, that doesn't integrate with Alexa.
pnut 5y ago
After 2 whole weeks, I don't think you should be offering "in the long run" advice about things.
- jt2190 5y ago
  I’ve had a walking treadmill desk for over ten years. Whether it’s for you is quite personal: See if you can find somewhere to try it out for a few minutes, in particular try typing and using the mouse/trackpad while walking. My treadmill tops out at 4 mph (6.4 km/h), which is really too fast to do anything but walk. I can watch videos at 3mph, code routine easy stuff at ~2mph, code hard stuff at ~1mph, and to read hairy code I have to stop completely. I don’t walk all day, I also stand and sit. Some things that will help you have a good experience: • Get a purpose-built walking treadmill: They’re smaller and more importantly go much slower. • Get a very solid, stable desk and put it on a stable floor. Any little monitor shake will make things miserable. • The treadmill is not silent, so you’ll probably need to stop when speaking on video. It’s awesome to be in watch/listen-only meetings and put in a mile or two. • A nice option I’ll upgrade to someday is a stand-alone walking treadmill with a wireless control, plus a nice sit/stand desk.
  - IshKebab 5y ago
    I tried watching videos on an iPad while walking on a treadmill and found that head movement made it annoying to watch. The obvious solution is a bigger screen further away. Did you find anything like that?
    - jt2190 5y ago
      Note that my treadmill can go down to about 0.4mph (0.25 km/h) which is really slow. Anything you can run on is usually too fast.
- daenz 5y ago
  I'm not intending to give health advice but the health benefits of walking are pretty well established and commonly accepted by doctors. I encourage you to do the research if you are skeptical or talk to your doctor.
WettowelReactor 5y ago
In my experience typing while walking has not been an issue but using a mouse with moderate to high sensitivity can be challenging. Using a gaming feature such as "sniper" mode to toggle mouse sensitivity when precise clicking is necessary solved the problem.

by daenz 5y ago

iamgopal 5y ago

share some photo or model of treadmill.

littleweep 5y ago

Can you please link the model?

gota 5y ago

Can you walk during calls, e.g. remote pair programming? Heavy breathing, noise from the treadmill and footsteps etc. affect you? If not, what kind of mic are you using? I think a headset will suffer from the heavy breathing Also - post your standing desk or its dimensions please

daenz 5y ago
Yep! I walk regularly on calls and during pairing sessions. Google meet is pretty good at noise cancelling. My coworkers say they can't even hear the treadmill. Heavy breathing isn't really an issue for me at 2.5km/hour. I'll have to dig up our standing desk dimensions, but there is no problem there for me or my partner. I'm 6', she's 5'8", and we both have different standing desks and different treadmills. There would be no issue with the desk height or width, but you should measure your own setup if you're thinking of doing the same.

rendaw 5y ago

Do you walk 8h a day then? Or do you somehow sit sometimes? How do you sit with the treadmill there under your desk? Do you wear shoes while walking? Do you typically wear shoes indoors then?

daenz 5y ago
I walk around 4 hours per day. Yesterday was 4 hours 13 minutes, 22k steps, 5.96 miles. It seems like a short distance for that many steps, but it's because you tend not to take huge strides. I'll usually do 10k steps in the morning, take a break and sit and eat lunch and rest for a bit, then finish another 10k steps. The treadmill has rear wheels, and I roll it back out of the way of my desk, then roll my chair back to my desk, when I want to sit. I don't wear shoes while walking or indoors. If I start getting foot problems, I might get a pair of indoor shoes.

giomasce 5y ago

I never tried that: is it comfortable to use mouse and keyboard while walking? To me it feels quite weird.

coldtea 5y ago
Like everything else, you get used to it. You can adjust your speed to lower at first of course.

tartoran 5y ago

I jump on a rebounder a couple of times a day, nothing like your setup but it seems to improve my wellbeing. The rest of my time is unfortunately quite sedentary, I tried working while standing but for some reason it didn’t work out for me. But now im thinking that standing and walking are quite different. You made me think about getting a thredmill...

pimlottc 5y ago
Google tells me a rebounder is a kind of mini-trampoline? What do you do with it?
- tartoran 5y ago
  Yes, it is a mini trampoline of around 4 feet in diameter, it doesn't have springs but bungee cords so it doesn't make any sound when you jump on it and the jump is quite a bit smoother. I jump on it in sessions of 10 minutes, and it feels like a very convenient and fun cardio. Jumping somehow works out your whole body and it supposedly helps with lymphatic fluid drainage - actually , any kind of movement or sport does help with that but having a sedentary lifestyle affects it heavily. It is a good general exercise and very convenient to do in the confines of your own home. Oh, and jumping on it feels effortless while it actually does work out your body quite well, when you stop jumping it does feel like you had a workout. Of course towards the end of the session the heart and breathing rates goes up. I really like it.

babesh 5y ago

Picture tech people walking on their treadmills for compensation and then picture gerbils running on wheels for food. Picture tech people drinking Soylent and then picture gerbils eating pellets. The world is whack. People are substituting artificial things for the natural things that made us happy in earlier times. Walking on a treadmill vs walking outside in the sun and shade amidst plants, trees, and other living things. Eating things for nutrition vs eating fruits and vegetables for enjoyment.

daenz 5y ago
I also get plenty of sun and eat well. But I happen work at a job that requires me to look at a stationary screen for much of the day, like I imagine most of us do. So I am choosing to not be as sedentary. But if you're suggesting that we should abandon working in tech because it's unnatural, I'm afraid you're probably talking to the wrong audience :) You're not the first person to mention gerbils on wheels to me. I think it's mostly a reaction to seeing something unconventional, despite its health benefits. If you feel like you're not living your ideal life in this industry (assuming you are also in tech), that's fine, but don't project that onto me please. I enjoy what I do and how I live.
- babesh 5y ago
  You are projecting. I referred to the archetype and trend and not you specifically. No longer in tech.
themolecularman 5y ago
> Picture tech people walking on their treadmills for compensation and then picture gerbils running on wheels for food. Picture tech people drinking Soylent and then picture gerbils eating pellets. The world is whack. A bit much? I'm not sure where you get soylent from. Nobody is substituting here, I didn't get that from the OP at all. Another commenter mentioned that working from home allows for asynchronous tasks, the OP merely stated that means he can work and work-out on a treadmill. He is neither being compensated for or replacing going out into nature.
xkeysc0re 5y ago

Groxx 5y ago

A coworker was into climbing and bouldering. We often joked that, when we all inevitably got treadmill desks, we'd have to get him a climbing-wall desk. It'd be great! We could just stick a computer at the top of this thing, and maybe some espresso for motivation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjiepNna8GA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjiepNna8GA He agreed. Sadly, we never did get treadmill desks.

abootstrapper 5y ago

How do you track your steps? I have treadmill desk and a Fitbit, but my Fitbit is worthless because my arms don’t swing while I’m working.

fastasucan 5y ago
Fitbits have longer bracelets you can swap in, so you can fasten it over your ancle. People in jobs where they cant use watches usually do that if they want to track steps. Your doctor/nurse might be wearing one.
daenz 5y ago
I use a pedometer app on my phone and put my phone in my pocket.

pvtmert 5y ago

IMO sitting just makes your blood slower to flow = less juice for your brain. I was helping IT support before the pandemic when I had free time (or waiting something to finish) And I liked all the walking around the office, between buildings, etc. Now, I artifically simulate situation by leg-shaking :)

Tempest1981 5y ago

Surprised to see a "smart" product, sold on Amazon, that doesn't integrate with Alexa.

pnut 5y ago

After 2 whole weeks, I don't think you should be offering "in the long run" advice about things.

jt2190 5y ago
I’ve had a walking treadmill desk for over ten years. Whether it’s for you is quite personal: See if you can find somewhere to try it out for a few minutes, in particular try typing and using the mouse/trackpad while walking. My treadmill tops out at 4 mph (6.4 km/h), which is really too fast to do anything but walk. I can watch videos at 3mph, code routine easy stuff at ~2mph, code hard stuff at ~1mph, and to read hairy code I have to stop completely. I don’t walk all day, I also stand and sit. Some things that will help you have a good experience: • Get a purpose-built walking treadmill: They’re smaller and more importantly go much slower. • Get a very solid, stable desk and put it on a stable floor. Any little monitor shake will make things miserable. • The treadmill is not silent, so you’ll probably need to stop when speaking on video. It’s awesome to be in watch/listen-only meetings and put in a mile or two. • A nice option I’ll upgrade to someday is a stand-alone walking treadmill with a wireless control, plus a nice sit/stand desk.
- IshKebab 5y ago
  I tried watching videos on an iPad while walking on a treadmill and found that head movement made it annoying to watch. The obvious solution is a bigger screen further away. Did you find anything like that?
  - jt2190 5y ago
    Note that my treadmill can go down to about 0.4mph (0.25 km/h) which is really slow. Anything you can run on is usually too fast.
daenz 5y ago
I'm not intending to give health advice but the health benefits of walking are pretty well established and commonly accepted by doctors. I encourage you to do the research if you are skeptical or talk to your doctor.

WettowelReactor 5y ago

In my experience typing while walking has not been an issue but using a mouse with moderate to high sensitivity can be challenging. Using a gaming feature such as "sniper" mode to toggle mouse sensitivity when precise clicking is necessary solved the problem.