I’ve been having lower back issues for a while, which I’m working on with PT. Walking seems to be the best option for relieving pain. My desk moves up and down for standing and sitting, which I do pretty often. But, I’m wondering if a treadmill made for a desk would be a good addition. Does anyone use one? I’m curious if anyone keeps using it past the first couple of weeks. If you have a suggestion for a specific one, that would be great.
I’ve been having lower back issues for a while, which I’m working on with PT. Walking seems to be the best option for relieving pain. My desk moves up and down for standing and sitting, which I do pretty often. But, I’m wondering if a treadmill made for a desk would be a good addition. Does anyone use one? I’m curious if anyone keeps using it past the first couple of weeks. If you have a suggestion for a specific one, that would be great.
I don’t have anything of help to add when it comes to treadmill desks…
But what I can say is about months ago I started walking 1-3 miles because of lower back pain, specifically on the right side. That has made a huge difference, and I have zero low back pain at the moment.
I also got a lower back support cushion thing for the couch because I’m pretty bad with slouching. Not sure which made more of a difference, but regardless, I wish I had done both sooner.
I don’t have anything of help to add when it comes to treadmill desks…
But what I can say is about months ago I started walking 1-3 miles because of lower back pain, specifically on the right side. That has made a huge difference, and I have zero low back pain at the moment.
I also got a lower back support cushion thing for the couch because I’m pretty bad with slouching. Not sure which made more of a difference, but regardless, I wish I had done both sooner.
I probably should just up my mileage on walking. I’m probably getting in 1-2 miles everyday.
I’ve been dealing with back issues for a very long time. Most recently re-diagnosed with a few bulging discs and arthritis in my lumbar and thoracic regions. Walking has also been a godsend for me, in fact it’s about the only exercise I can do that doesn’t cause back issues. I’ve used standing desks to varying degrees of success, though haven’t tried a treadmill desk, that seems like it would be difficult as my work involves me using a keyboard 99/99& of the day.
I did find a good office chair that has terrific lumbar support, Serta iComfort Workpro. It’s pricey bugger, about $500 if i remember correctly, but I can comfortably sit all day without any issues now.
The corp office has a few of them down near the fitness area. I have never seen them in use.
My wife has taken the occasional conference call while on a walk. And I’ve had others do the same on a call I’m on. Personally, it’s not something I like to do as I always feel it’s important to give others undivided attention if it’s a work meeting or a call (or at least have it appear they have my undivided attention).
I assume you’re asking b/c you need to be typing or working on a screen while walking? Otherwise, couldn’t you just be outdoors walking?
I don’t have anything of help to add when it comes to treadmill desks…
But what I can say is about months ago I started walking 1-3 miles because of lower back pain, specifically on the right side. That has made a huge difference, and I have zero low back pain at the moment.
I also got a lower back support cushion thing for the couch because I’m pretty bad with slouching. Not sure which made more of a difference, but regardless, I wish I had done both sooner.
I probably should just up my mileage on walking. I’m probably getting in 1-2 miles everyday.
Yeah, I went from someone who barely walked at all since I WFH to walking a few miles a day, so it’s made a significant difference for me.
We have a folding treadmill (Asuna brand bough on Amazon during lockdown in 2020) that my wife has used as a treadmill desk. We got it because the arms fold flat with the deck and we keep it under a murphy bed, it’s a very slim deck. I built her a shelf she can put on the arms if she wants to take meetings while walking. But it could be used under a standing desk since arms fold.
I think something like this is a bit more versatile than the specific armless treadmills as those are often locked as to speed. At my last job, they put a couple in and they capped them at 2mph. Also, if you get tired of using it as a treadmill desk, you can actually use it as treadmill. It’s limited to 8mph, but fine for walking. I thought it would have died by now but other than replacing the power switch ($2 generic part) and a damaged belt, it’s still going after 1000+ hours.
I personally don’t love walking while working. I find it distracting while on a call and most of my meetings are video enabled so it would be weird to bob up and down during call (I’ve seen people do it though and no one cares). I also can’t really do much besides review docs and knock out a few emails while walking. But that’s just me, plenty of people are very productive this way. If you already own a treadmill, see if you can rig a desk on there and try working.
I’ve been having lower back issues for a while, which I’m working on with PT. Walking seems to be the best option for relieving pain. My desk moves up and down for standing and sitting, which I do pretty often. But, I’m wondering if a treadmill made for a desk would be a good addition. Does anyone use one? I’m curious if anyone keeps using it past the first couple of weeks. If you have a suggestion for a specific one, that would be great.
If you do sit/stand, you realistically need one of the folding treadmills (or a second desk). The biggest inertia point I’ve heard from a coworker with one of the folding ones is the added overhead of reconfiguring your desk setup so he ended up either having long stretches with the treadmill unfolded or folded back up.
I’ve got a non-folding which means my desk is stand only now (I’ve got a chair I can take my laptop to). I don’t use it all the time, but I do try to turn it on for calls where I’m not the primary presenter. I don’t use it for 1:1s or things where I need to be typing a lot (I can, but it’s less ideal). I’ve also got a trackball so my hand can stay static for navigating while walking (which I’ve found helpful).
you can actually use it as treadmill. It’s limited to 8mph, but fine for walking.
I just wanted to commend you for this very subtle backdoor brag 
I have a walking treadmill designed to go under a desk. It’s okay. I couldn’t find anything compact that seemed fantastic so it does the job, but I don’t absolutely love it.
I didn’t properly measure, so it’s too high to fit under the sofa bed in my office/spare room. A bit of a pain and I’m in a smallish space.
As with most of my workout tools, I would have better results if I used it more!
This is the treadmill I have - link.
Haha, just realized how that sounded. Thanks.
you can actually use it as treadmill. It’s limited to 8mph, but fine for walking.
I just wanted to commend you for this very subtle backdoor brag