Walking and Working

When we all started working from home, I jumped the gun and bought myself a standing desk. I thought that since we were going to do this for a while, it might be worth investing in my home office. And yes, I wrote a blog post all about how Matt and I set ourselves up at home. You can find that here. (Although it has changed slightly since that post because a) we moved apartments and b) we realised being in the same room just wasn’t working when we were both on calls. I think that’s for another post!)

Although switching between standing and sitting on my Autonomous standing desk has been a great way for me to wake myself up during the afternoon slump and to stretch my legs, there were days I still felt like I wanted to do a bit more to “reset” my brain. Whenever I used to feel like this in the office, I would go out for a walk or just walk somewhere like the kitchen to kickstart my brain.

Personally, walking does wonders for me.

I’d heard of people talk about treadmill desks before. The picture of one of the treadmills I used to use at the gym always popped up in my head. It made me laugh because how could anyone possibly work whilst running on a treadmill? It just didn’t make any sense. 🤔

I obviously got it all wrong in my head. As I started to investigate the concept of walking and working, I found so many dedicated brands that specifically create “treadmill desks” to allow those that work at a desk to walk and work. The more I looked into it, the more I was intrigued and wanted to try it out. After watching a few videos of folks on YouTube with their dedicated treadmill desks, the benefits of having it as part of my set-up was all I could think about. 😂 However, as I already invested in my awesome standing desk from Autonomous, I didn’t just want to get a dedicated treadmill desk to replace it. Also, I like how I’m set-up already but wanted to have the option.

I spent quite a few weeks looking around a “DIY” solution. I found all sorts of different set-ups from a piece of wood DIY’ed on top of a treadmill to foldable treadmills that go under and existing standing desk. Now, you can imagine which set-up I went for. 🤪

I looked after the foldable treadmill market and was overwhelmed by the choices! Who knew that this was actually a thing? I didn’t for sure! I saved some money from being at home all day and decided to invest in one. After all, I thought that it would be awesome for working from home but also when I’m at home just wanted to stretch my legs and walk (without leaving my apartment and being overly paranoid!) The one I got is from Dynamax, this is the exact one.

This is my first, initial review before the full thing. Here are some of my thoughts. I’ve also included a “demo” video to give you all an idea of how I’ve set it up under my standing desk.

DEMO + INITIAL THOUGHTS VIDEO

INITIAL PROS + CONS

Pros

• Quite lightweight and small footprint, it definitely isn’t a full-blown treadmill that you find at gyms! This is great because it fits nicely under my standing desk. When it’s folded up, it can be stored away. It is relatively easy to fold up and store away as well – not too heavy!
• It’s quiet compared to a traditional treadmill. This is great for apartment blocks! I say knowing my apartment is sound-proof though. I have jumped on a few calls and no one seems to have noticed any extra noise or anything!
• It helps me re-focus in the afternoon, especially after lunch.
• I get more steps in!
• It encourages me to not hunch over my desk all day.
• It’s easy to set-up, switch on/off and to speed up/down.

Cons

• It can be difficult to type when you’re using it INITIALLY. However, I’ve gotten used to it after a while! You have to bear in mind that you’re not fully sprinting on it or anything. The slowest pace (0.5) or 1.5 is what I usually have it on. This is enough for me to stretch my legs, have a nice walk whilst typing away.
• Although it is quiet, it’s not silent so you can hear it run. I combat this with some noise-cancelling headphones and some focus tunes on Spotify.
• Although it is easy to fold up and store away, it is still an effort to do it every single time. I usually do it once a day and “plan” ahead of when I use it to avoid having to set it up again and again throughout the day.
• Although it is relatively easy for me to lift, it may be difficult for others. It weighs around 38~40kg.
• I can walk on it for 2 hours without getting too tired, but I find that my Apple Watch doesn’t seem to recognise I’m walking because I do go quite slowly especially when I have to type. I get the “Finished your indoor workout?” Notification every 5 minutes which is slightly annoying!

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I wanted to give it a full review before doing any recommending! But I hope that this is useful. A full review coming soon! In the meantime, let me know if you have any specific questions. 😄

Stay safe!