Like many of us, I spend a large part of my day at my desk. Some of you may have heard about health issues from sitting too much. Have you heard the disturbing phrase 'sitting is the new smoking'? I have observed that too much sitting, especially at a desk in front of a computer, can lead to specific health issues: back issues, pinched nerves, core muscle atrophy, reduced circulation.
Software Developers and similar knowledge workers may also experience an insidious issue. We often enter a trance state when we work and become unaware of our body, sometimes for hours. I've come out of such a trance and realized that I was uncomfortable, thirsty, cold...
I decided to try a treadmill desk. Currently they are expensive when compared to a desk plus treadmill of similar qualities - too expensive to justify an experiment. I feel that situation will change but in the mean time I pieced one together from three main parts:
1. a Wynston sit-stand desktop device - about AUD$200
2. the smallest treadmill I could find on ebay - AUD$150
3. a piece of 80cm-wide white shelving and a one-meter-long piece of right angle aluminum, cut in half, to hold the shelf - AUD$15
After an hour or two of adjustments, I stepped on and started the treadmill at its default speed of 1km per hour and started working. Reading was easy but, at first, typing and navigating broke my stride. After a week, and after rigging up an arm rest my stride is more resilient. I'm typing this on the treadmill without issue. I'm moving 1.3 k per hour.
I first encountered the idea of a treadmill desk while researching ergonomic setups for software development. One developer had set up his treadmill desk a couple of years earlier and lamented that he wished he would have done it a decade earlier, avoiding his weight fluctuations.
Without any hype at all, I feel the treadmill desk has improved almost every aspect of my life. I feel more energetic and cheerful, I'm more inclined to start work earlier, my waist has shrunk to the smallest size I've measured in five years, a discomfort in my lower back is nearly gone, a minor nerve issue in my right leg is improving daily, my digestion is better...
Unexpectedly, my feet are happier - I had expected them to get sore. Instead, they get a continual massage and feel fine. If I stand working with the treadmill off, my feet start to get uncomfortable. That doesn't happen on the treadmill moving.
A couple of times I've gone into a software-development trance while walking on the treadmill and come out of it 3 hours later. After that I do feel like sitting down for a moment but I'm otherwise fine. I've brought a padded bar stool into the office which can sit on top of the treadmill in case I want to work sitting, more or less upright. I haven't wanted to use it yet.
Some details
- The treadmill I selected is only 125cm long and 60cm at its widest point (the motor) and is able to collapse, by lifting the track, to a small-footprint, portable unit on wheels. Plus, the the sit-stand desk is easily collapsable - on the off chance that I want to go back to a standard chair.
- I used some PVC tubing I had lying around, along with some padding and a white towel to rig up a temporary armrest for my left arm. Back in my sitting days I discovered that my left wrist would become uncomfortable without an armrest. It's no different with the treadmill.
- I used some cable-tidy tubing from Jaycar for tidying the half-dozen wires which now rise to the standing desktop.
- Instead of the using the keyboard tray in the Wynston sit-stand desk, I put the keyboard on a white shelf from Bunnings which is Velcro-ed to the top of the sit-stand desk and is further supported by two sturdy right-angle aluminum pieces which I attached to the sit-stand desktop. That puts the keyboard at the perfect, ergonomic height. See the photo for how the treadmill control panel just fits in a gap between the sit-stand desk and the shelf.
Conclusion
For an investment of less than AUD$400 and with no permanent disruption to your work space, you can try out a treadmill desk. The treadmill desk can avoid issues related to to much sitting and bring massive, positive health benefits with, what seems to me, no real effort at all. Also, it's fun.
I predict that if you take the time to source the components and set them up optimally over a week or so, you'll never go back. I won't.