Treadmill Desk! Go Forth and Walk!

I have longed for a treadmill desk ever since Michael Hyatt tweeted a video about his. I don't think I've eaten a piece of bread since 1979 in my constant search for caloric stasis yet it turns out, even working out daily and eating healthy isn't enough to keep my metabolism on par with where it needs to be. The latest studies coming out show that your metabolism is damaged by sitting too much during the day and people who sit longer die earlier (eeek!). Though I am often up and down between my desk and the soap lab, when I'm in the office, it's a sedentary existence. After seeing the metabolism study, I got serious about getting a treadmill desk.

After much planning and budgeting, I started watching Craiglist for used gym-quality treadmills. In my research, I was told several times that for walking slowly for hours a day would be taxing on any motor (which made no sense to me but to be fair, my degree is in psychology and I've never been great with mechanics). Since I needed a big motor, it took a while to find a treadmill that had a huge motor without costing a huge bundle. I finally found a refurbished Precor Treadmill, just like the ones at my gym. It's a huge monster of a beast. It took 4 guys and a forklift to unload it.

The next step was to figure out how to put a desk on it. I wanted a desk that I could unhook in case I wanted to run on the treadmill (what a crazy idea to use it the way it's supposed to be used). I found a custom woodworker locally, showed him the treadmill, told him about my crazy idea, braced for laughter and within a week, he had measured and built my treadmill desk. And, now, every day, I walk for at least 3 hours a day while answering emails. It's super easy. I don't even notice I'm walking and hallelujah, bread is back in my life.

Here's a blog post on how to build your own $39 desk to put on your treadmill. Or the fantastic cabinet maker that built mine said he is happy to share the plans for a nominal fee. Either way, if you work in an office and you'd like to burn calories while you work and yes, even live longer, start saving your pennies to save your life.