A year or two ago (maybe more), a writer friend, Mindy Starns Clark, shared that she had started writing while walking on a treadmill. She actually has three work stations: seated, standing, and walking.
That was the first time I’d heard of the concept of the treadmill desk. Since I have an exercise cycle, I wondered if the same thing could be done with the cycle, but since I’m not a hammer and nail kind of girl, I didn’t think about it too long.
Then last month, the RWR (magazine of Romance Writers of America) had an article written by two members who have both created treadmill desks to work on. That piqued my interest a little more.
My recent bout with back trouble, however, made me more interested than ever. Then, when running an errand last week, I happened to see an outlet fitness store (70% to 80% off, the sign said). So I whipped into the parking lot and went inside to see what they had. I didn’t expect to buy anything. I was just going to look. But when I saw the price of one unit, it was too good to pass up. About a fourth of what I thought I would have to pay. (This is not a top of the line model, of course, but it should do the trick for a couple of years.)
A really good friend from church made me the “desk” to put across the handles on the treadmill (cut to fit and fastened with velcro strips). I quickly found that the laptop needs to be raised up higher, so Sunday evening I bought a pretty basket to put on the board. I used the non-skid stuff you can put in drawers to make sure my laptop doesn’t slide off (both under and on top of the basket). A photo of my treadmill desk is shown at the top of this blog. To the right is the TrekDesk which I would love to have if/when the day comes that I could (1) justify the expense and (2) if I could rearrange furniture enough to make it work in my limited space.
I have a small office with a desk and credenza and bookcases already using up all available space so the treadmill is in the spare bedroom right across from my office. Yesterday was only the second time for me to use it, but I think I will slowly work my up to using it quite a bit each day. Even an hour a day would be helpful for my health. And hey, if I could drop twenty pounds (like the guy in the GMA video), I would not complain!
Embedded below is the aforementioned video from Good Morning, America’s segment on the treadmill desk if you’re interested in knowing more. It really is pretty fascinating.
Have you tried it? Have you thought about trying it?
