So, I bought a treadmill about three years ago and used it off and on… mostly off. Some of the posts I’ve made are related to getting healthy: mentally and physically. As my current job requires me to be at a computer always sitting (have I mentioned my gaming addiction which also places me in the sitting position), I decided that I needed to change that. As much as I would like to have changed it to professional stunt man, I opted for a treadmill desk. Sitting is the new smoking. I quit smoking in earnest and am smoke free since June 1, 2014. It’s time to quit sitting.

I purchased an app called ‘Noom‘ and joined a small support group around eating right and being active. That was about four weeks ago and so far, the group and Noom are a positive influence. I have had the treadmill desk for about a month and thus far have used it more than I did in the previous three years of owning it. Currently, per the Noom walking app I have walked around 200,000 steps which, per my stride, equates to about 100 miles (doing the math for you, that’s 25 miles per week, 3.5 miles per day).

I did some research around ergonomics and costs and benefits. I found you either bought one or in some cases you pushed your treadmill against a wall and mounted shelves (no judgment… well, maybe a little). I decided to design my own for my specific treadmill (Sole F63). I began by using some cardboard and then upgraded to some foam board. That way I was able to piece together a ‘perfect’ fit which would allow me to put the treadmill away without removing the desktop (I have not put it away yet). I wanted to have access to all the buttons and I wanted to be sure there was room to mount a dual monitor stand (I fucked that up, but more on that later).

I spent $26 on the piece of plywood and about $20 on the other items (screws, 1x6x4, metal bracket). The biggest expense was the dual monitor stand. That was $45 and much sturdier and solid than I expected. As I mentioned, I failed to account for it’s beefiness and the angle of the treadmill console so needed to modify my original design (see image 6 below). I added some additional desktop area on the back and provided additional support via a 1×6 that rested upon the frame of the treadmill.

I have not gone beyond 2.5 mph as anything more and I can’t type or use the trackball effectively. I changed to a trackball as I needed more stability for navigation. I’m hoping and expecting great things from this fundamental change to the way I spend much of my time. I still need to get an active stool which will give me a third position between walking and standing.