Has anyone tried an under-desk walking pad?

[Anonymous]

Anyone? Tips? I’m considering one because I am glued to my computer 8-10 hours per day (non-negotiable, I lead a large team and am the family breadwinner), have little kids to take care of beforehand and after work, and I struggle to get meaningful steps in on work days. I do other working out too: lift with trainer two mornings per week and squeeze in jogs and other cardio for half an hour here and there, but I feel awful being sedentary for long stretches. Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Yes and I hardlly ever used it. You are doing two things at once and it can work for some things but if you're really concentrating, it won't. It's easier to get up and walk around every hour and gives you a mental break too. Others may have more positive stories

[Anonymous]

Everyone I know of who has one is already thin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone I know of who has one is already thin.

I am also already thin. That’s not the issue here.

[Anonymous]

I have an under desk pedal bike thing. It's easy to use while working on the computer or something (I find myself start and stopping-- possibly when I need a lot of concentration.).

[Anonymous]

I got one just 3 weeks ago. I thought I could maybe walk while working but no way. I do heavy computer work (lots of mousing and typing in between multiple screens) and it jostles too much. You could use it while having meetings though if you are mostly in listening mode.

Instead I set it up near my desk (I work from home full time) and I can hop up in between meetings or lunch and get 15-20 min of aggressive walking several times a day. I am happy with that use so far. I carry soft hand weights to amp up the walk.

[Anonymous]

I got a lifespan one 12 years ago. I used to have it in my office before Covid. It is still going strong. These days I do most of my walk outside but it is nice to have it in the home office.

[Anonymous]

My sister works ~12 hour days. For her the walking pad wasn’t really sustainable unless on long calls that she wasn’t leading. What does work is an under desk elliptical. She said she can use it for hours without issue.

[Anonymous]

I tried one from Amazon and it did not workout for me. The issue I was trying to solve was high levels of activity (like 2-2.5 hours of training on a week day), but being stuck at my home office desk after or before for hours, and feeling like I needed more movement to keep things from getting tight. I gave up and just pace around the upstairs like I did before while on the phone.

[Anonymous]

I got an under desk elliptical last year. Could not get comfortable using it under the desk though: either my chair is too high or there's not enough clearance. So I moved it to the side of the desk and get up every hour to use it standing up for 5 minutes. I put my earbuds in and listen to my favorite music and crank out a mini workout to 1-2 songs. Seems much more doable than other machines.

[Anonymous]

I got one at the beginning of the year. I used it quite a bit Jan/feb. I found I could do the boring parts of my job while using it but didn’t like it while on calls even if I was off screen. I got an inexpensive one as I wasn’t sure I’d use it. Unfortunately it’s noisy (part of the reason I didn’t use on calls) and is starting to grind.

[Anonymous]

For ppl with the under desk ellipticals or bikes -- any brands that you recommend?

[Anonymous]

I have a walking pad. I use it all the time. I try to get two 30-45 minute walks a day in. Days that are meeting heavy where I lead the meetings are tougher than days I have no meetings or that I just dial in and listening/minimal participation. I also use our treadmill at lunch time to get a walk or run in.

[Anonymous]

I have an under-desk walking pad and LOVE it--it seriously changed my life. During COVID, my steps went way down, and I felt terrible. Since I've had the walking pad, I'm consistently up to 10k, 15k steps/day, some days (like today), I'm well over 20k steps/day. I am on calls/in zoom meetings for about half of the day (and I walk through some of those), and I'm writing, researching, etc. the other half other half of the day. I'm an incredibly uncoordinated person, but I find that walking at 1.4-1.6 MPH is easy to maintain while I'm doing my work. I don't have a desk chair at all but either walk or stand all day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For ppl with the under desk ellipticals or bikes -- any brands that you recommend?

I have a Cubii (purchased during Amazon Prime Day for 40% off) and it’s good so far. I got it more because I have POTS and blood pools in my legs, being able to move them around a lot helps keep my blood pressure normal.

I don’t think it would ever really be a machine you’d gain strength from or burn a significant amount of calories, but it’s good to keep your legs moving instead of just sitting still for long periods.