In January of this year (2024) I posted about wanting to walk more and I thought about getting a walking pad for the office. Here my real thoughts and review of my walking pad at work!
I found myself to be just bleh at the end of the day and not wanting to work out then feeling more that crud – it was just compounding and spiraling. Plus there were days when I was sitting watching body cam videos or listening to jail calls when I could have been up and moving. I obviously still needed to be able to take notes on things of importance but the point was that I could be moving.
I had some concerns though: I thought it might not be appropriate in a professional office (actually inside the office), I’d have to change in/out of walking tennis shoes which at the office, and then what if I got sweaty?!
So I posted a poll asking for your thoughts Colleagues – and boy did you deliver! Here are some of the things y’all DM’d me about:
One of the main things that I took away from all of your ideas and tips was that:
1. It was about moving my body not running marathons
2. Get good shoes and a fan
3. Can break up into small sections or walk at the end of the day to avoid getting too sweaty
4. Re: professionalism it’s up to everyone’s different office
After reading all the messages and looking at the poll, which was split pretty equally on the Yes / No haha, I thought okay, let’s answer the dispositive questions: is it appropriate for MY office. I went and asked my division chief (one of the higher ups, for all you non prosecutor office people) if having a walking pad in my office/in the office was something she had an issue with or believed that the administration would have an issue with. She didn’t think there would be any issues and told me to go for it!
24 hours later I ended up ordering one. I had it in my Amazon cart for a while and then there was a $100 off coupon and boom next thing I know I’m clicking purchase and this huge box is showing up to my house and TM is like WTF? My lovely husband brought it into my office one weekend so I didn’t have to lug it in on a dolly during the week and I got it set up.
Bottom Line: I would 100% recommend getting a walking pad for work.
The walking pad I purchased folds up, this was important to me because I do not have much space in my office and I couldn’t slide it under a couch or anything. When it folds I can lean it on it’s side and it’s under my desk against the wall. It’s perfect and incredibly easy to unfold and set up each time I want to use it.
The set up is odd, it’s not a plug and go. You have to run through all the settings it offers before it “unlocks” the walking pad but it only took about 5 minutes so it’s not really annoying. The beeping (on wake up/start/end etc – not while walking though) is a tad loud but my office neighbors have told me, after I asked, they cannot hear anything. So the beeping really only annoys me which I can deal with. I use the handheld clicker for start/speed up-down/stop instead of the app. The noise from walking isn’t loud, if anything it sounds like a sound machine. You can’t hear it outside my office and if that’s true for government buildings I’m sure your office will be no problem.
There were a few other things I purchased to stash in/under my desk. I keep slip on tennis shoes under my desk with socks. I also have two charcoal inserts to put in my shoes after I’ve finished walking to absorb any odor. I have a small fan that I use while I’m walking, I think this has been really helpful. I also have body wipes. After my first walk I found that my Apple Watch doesn’t record my walking because I’m typing so I bought a larger ankle strap for my watch and no switch it from my wrist to my ankle before I get on the walking pad. From me deciding to walk to actually hitting start I bet it takes me five minutes to change shoes, put my watch, turn on the fan, set up the walking pad, and go.
At first I couldn’t walk very fast and type at the same time. I was doing 1 mph and just getting the hang of it. You definitely need a standing desk or treadmill desk. Now I’m usually at 1.5 or 1.75 mph and still typing well. Once I hit 2 mph I find myself switching to “walking mode” instead of staying in “working mode,” so I usually stick around 1.5 mph. I had to move my keyboard closer to me so my wrists are off the desk otherwise I felt myself leaning or stabilizing with my wrists and that ended up hurting them.
After using it for over a month I have definitely found that I am moving more. I was getting an average of 3k-4k steps per day if I wasn’t walking on the walking pad and now if I use it, I will average 11k. Doing the math for the month I was keeping track I would average 5,271 steps without walking and 11,866 steps with walking on the walking pad – more than double! There are still days when I can’t use it, if I’m in court all day, or I’ve got meeting after meeting. But when I can use it, I am, and I think it’s making a difference. I feel better when I get home from work, I feel like I haven’t just been sluggish, and one of the best things, for me, is that it’s happening WHILE I’m working. It the combination of the two that has been the best thing for me. It’s not another hour out of my day, it’s that it’s happening while I’m also doing things I have to do. That has seriously been the best.
Am I sleeping better? Yes. Feeling better? Yes. Lost some weight? Yes.
I’ve recommend this to everyone. A legal assistant at my office has recently purchased one after seeing and trying mine and she loves it too! There are a few people at my office who walk during the lunch hour and have thought about getting a walking pad too. I think they like the social aspect of the group walk at lunch. I went on a walk during lunch with a colleague and got immediately sweaty. I hate being sweaty – yes I know I live in Texas and it’s a way of life, but I just feel so gross. Have I gotten sweaty on the walking pad? A little, but I’m also in the AC, walking fairly slow, and have a fan pointed directly at me, so I’ll take that as a win.
(the above graphic shows my month of walking or not walking – the days that are struck through are days when I wasn’t in the office)
Another concern I had was that people at the office were going to look at me weird etc but everyone has been either supportive or they just don’t care. Some people don’t even know about it, the only odd looks I get are when they pass my office, my door is shut, and see me up higher than normal and walking. I usually get a double take and a reverse to look in my office – they get a wave and usually come in to test it out haha!
I did not think I was going to like this as much as I do. I really thought I was going to have to eat some crow and be like wow this was a waste of a couple hundred dollars. But it hasn’t been. I’m completely comfortable and happy with my purchase and know that I will be using it for a long time!
If you’re on the fence then consider this your push – purchase one and get moving!
