I Tried a Treadmill Desk for 30 Days

My Treadmill: https://walkingpad.pxf.io/c/41544/1332891/16080
My Treadmill on Amazon: https://amzn.to/49mpZsD

Yup. A treadmill desk. This is my story.

It all started when we moved from downtown Toronto to the suburbs and my daily PLUMMETED. I took about 2,000 less steps per day!

I decided to try a treadmill desk to get my steps back up and documented my experience for this video.

I’m just a middle-aged guy telling a very middle-age story.

PS — My standing desk is a GeekDesk V2 but I don’t believe it’s for sale any longer. I got it like 10 years ago.

so I got one of those treadmills you put under your desk nothing fancy it just lets me walk while I work I’ve been using it for 30 days as an experiment now I’m going to share uh how it [Music] went 5 years ago I wouldn’t have had to get a treadmill cuz I lived here on the street in downtown Toronto and I just naturally walked more on a typical day in the morning I’d walk to a coffee shop and work there for a bit then after an hour or two there I’d walk to my co-working space later I’d walk to lunch and at the end of the day I’d walk home my commute was around 2,000 steps each day but this all changed when we started a family we needed more space and we moved to the suburbs I never thought of myself as a suburbs guy but I get it now it’s actually pretty great if you have young kids there’s less traffic it’s quiet we actually have a good siiz backyard and get this we even have a driveway we never had a driveway downtown but here’s the problem I stopped walking once we moved to the suburbs my iPhone has tracked my steps since 2017 and we moved to the suburbs in 2020 my steps went way down and I can’t even blame Co lockdowns for this because it’s 3 years later and my steps have never recovered but it kind of makes sense my morning commute is literally walking downstairs it’s not that many steps to my [Music] computer and if I need to go somewhere I drive I drive everywhere now probably not surprisingly I’ve also gained 15 lb since we moved and this all led me in an active desperation to order a treadmill off Amazon and commit to 30 days of using [Music] it they won so far it’s not really that hard to be honest yeah it’s true walking on the treadmill was n like rigorous exercise so I didn’t feel fatigued when I was done so in a way it was easy and yet I wasn’t totally sold on it okay I’m starting to feel a little skeptical about whether or not this will turn into a habit I know every day I’m supposed to walk on the treadmill but I keep deferring it to later in the day so my new idea is every day at 10:00 a.m. that’s my treadmill time no excuses yeah so this was big talk because I never stuck to the 10: a.m. Rule and instead after a few weeks walking on the treadmill just sort of settled into a habit I just do it at some point in the morning for 20 minutes and I’d get about 2,000 steps in okay so I’ve discovered I can’t do everything while on the treadmill cating no email no they both made me feel nauseous like a mild car sickness fortunately design work meetings and video editing didn’t make me feel so sick Mouse fatigue was sometimes a problem too my wrist would sometimes start to hurt if I was just using the mouse too much but overall it was nothing too bad and by day 25 I had figured out what worked for me now you might be wondering how annoying is it to set this thing up it’s actually pretty easy first things first you do need to raise your desk up somehow and pull out your treadmill mine is pretty heavy but the wheels make it easy to roll then you fold it out step on and start the treadmill with the remote and begin your leisurely walk treadmill desks are not cheap I paid around $650 Canadian dollars for mine I didn’t do a ton of research I just bought one off of Amazon and frankly I wouldn’t even recommend this treadmill the main problem is that there’s no way to turn it on without using the remote not a big deal except I’ve had to replace the battery twice already and it’s not even 30 [Music] days all right there we go that’s 30 days with the 30 days now over I definitely have some thoughts on treadmill desks so by now walking feels like a habit like if I don’t walk I’ll start feeling antsy like my legs will get Restless cuz they want to walk which is good cuz I’m not a disciplined person for something to work for me it has to become a habit like I exercise four to 5 days a week and I’m pretty consistent with it but I’m also not hardcore like I’ll bike for 15 minutes or I’ll run for 15 minutes and that’s my exercise in order for me to exercise for like an hour it has to be something fun like rock climbing or like basketball relying on discipline just has never worked well for me what works instead for me is I need need things to become like habits take my standing desk for example I’ve had it for like 10 years and I use it consistently I can feel when my body has been sitting too long and I just naturally switch the desk to standing it’s not a conscious thing I don’t set a timer or have it on my to-do list it’s just a habit and I’m pretty sure the treadmill has become a habit of course check in with me in 6 months but I kind of think I’ll still be using it maybe not everyday but often now you might be wondering did I lose lose weight over these 30 days and the answer is no I weigh about the same but that was never my goal and frankly I’m not above ordering a pizza late at night so if I wanted to lose weight I’d probably just start with the pizzas I do still think it’s interesting to contrast the treadmill with my walking commute the treadmill helped me reach my steps goal which is good but I still miss my walking commute like recently I met up with my co-founder to work together for the day we got some sushi and took a walk over lunch and when we got back back to the office I felt super refreshed which makes sense a treadmill is a good way to get more steps but I also get something from fresh air and a change in scenery but I don’t know I I I also don’t want to romanticize a walking commute cuz I like working from home I like that my kid can come over and hang out and I like the suburbs we’re going to be here for a while so I’m thankful that I have this imperfect treadmill it’s maybe not a replacement for my old walking commute but it’s more than good enough