Just for fun go ahead and type “treadmill desk DIY” into Google Images and take a look at the hundreds of awesome homebuilt treadmill desks people have created. To a one, these were fashioned together by “early adopters” who wanted to take better care of their bodies and minds, and either already had an unused treadmill at their disposal or acquired a cheap one on Craigslist. (See Selecting the right equipment for your home-built treadmill desk in our Build Your Own section to learn more about the shortfalls of walking on treadmills that were designed for running.)
The good news is they’ve taken the first step. They’ve grasped the initiative, and are probably raving about their treadmill desk to all their friends and co-workers, as they should. The bad news is that for many of them the next step they’ll be taking will be to their chiropractor, physical therapist, massage therapist, acupuncturist, orthopedist, internist or witch doctor when the aches and pains of a bad workstation setup start to set in.
You’ve finally done it: after years of back-breaking, hunched-over desk work, you’ve made the switch to an adjustable-height treadmill desk and are ready to start walking your way to better health. But before you step on that treadmill, you ask yourself: how high should my desk be?
A common answer for this has been to raise your desk so that your arms are bent at a 90-degree angle when you type. This is a partial solution: a 90-degree angle keeps your wrists straight when you type (assuming your keyboard is level with your desk top) and helps prevent the wrist strain and injuries that come from improper wrist posture. However, maintaining this right angle for long [...]
Much of the work in today’s offices is conducted on a computer. Indeed, a majority of our working lives, as well as a good deal of our personal lives, is spent staring at a screen. But, if improperly positioned, monitors can spell trouble for office workers by subjecting them to agonizing neck and shoulder pain.
Thankfully, these posture-related pains are easy to fix, and it begins with the right equipment. An adjustable monitor arm should be a staple in any ergonomic workstation. The Ergotron LX Monitor arm offers a wide range of adjustability in both height, depth, and angle, to really customize your monitor setup. It is a very bad idea to use a laptop without an [...]
Typing intensively while on the treadmill desk will create more muscle strain than walking with your arms by your side. So experienced treadmill desk users have learned to accumulate intensive writing tasks for those hours when they are sitting or standing, and to save up emails and online articles (and videos) to consume, and phone calls to return for walking time. Having said that, some people find that the increased focus they gain while walking makes it the ideal time to compose documents and develop creative works, so this is a very subjective preference. Just keep in mind that when you do dive into intensely focused work you will more readily lose track of time, so set a timer [...]