Office walking without the treadmill

[catfiend]

We still don't have my office put together and patience isn't one of my strong points so I decided to try another idea I had a couple of months ago - a mini-elliptical trainer. The one I picked up is the Stamina InMotion e1000 - though I doubt that it's any different from the many others out there that look the same. Yesterday was spent getting a fake desk slapped onto the dining room table so I could use it and I'm walking at it as I type today.

This is NOT a treadmill! On the other hand, it's not bad at all.

On the plus side:
- It's very, very quiet. Not quite completely silent but very close. No motor whirring and no feet slapping down on the treadmill.
- No external power required.
- Inexpensive relative to a new treadmill.
- It actually seems to be very well built and mechanical simplicity will help with longevity.
- You can vary the workout without varying the pace by adjusting the resistance.

On the minus side:
- As the reviews on Amazon indicate, the stride is a little short. It's not as bad as it would be if you were using it for running but it's a little short. I expected this to be the biggest drawback but I adapted to this very quickly.
- There's nothing to regulate your speed. I didn't even think of this before ordering but it's hard to keep moving slowly enough that I'm not sweating. It's not hard to keep moving slowly enough to not breath hard on the phone but I'm going to soak multiple shirts a day until I get used to moving slowly enough to keep the sweating down.
- You don't completely unweight your feet. It's somewhere between just standing and actually walking in that respect.

The jury is still out on whether I'll just go ahead and use this indefinitely rather than getting an actual treadmill but at least I'm finally getting moving!

[John]

Yes, almost silent. Though I rock out w/my headphones on sometimes, if that counts. ; )

The InStride is basically a "manual" stepper (i.e. not powered/paced like the ones at the gym), so basically it's like truly climbing stairs. Pace-wise, I'm not sure what to say.... I just "hike up stairs" at varying paces . What I find useful to watch, though, is how many steps I climb. The stepper "estimates" calories, but I prefer to watch the hard numbers of how many steps I climbed. I'll usually do like 400-1000 in a session, and alternate throughout my workday between sitting in a very adjustable but otherwise-normal task chair, a rolling "kneeling chair," standing, and sometimes sitting on a high stool. I have a foot rest too (a nursing stool, of all things). The easy-to-change, constant variety has a made HUGE different for me, back / neck / shoulders / stress-wise. I can't imagine working at a regular desk now for any length of time.

I don't find it distracting at all -- in fact, my body kind of "lets me know" when it's time to move some, and that's when I adjust the desk to way up high, pull out the stepper (it's right there under the desk by my chair), and "climb" for a while. It isn't quite as "zone-like" as a true treadmill (we have one here as well), but I find I can't type/mouse that well w/a treadmill, so this works better for me. The non-powered/able-to-stop aspect is very helpful for that and for the precision mouse/stylus work work I often need to do, too.

[shonofear]

Thanks for this info,
Im also using a Wacom Stylus a lot and think the Stepper option may be the best for me.
I tried doing just stand up work for like a few hours at a time but my knees became
really stiff and sore and a few days latter could not do my regular morning run because of
the downwards pressure on my knees, id have to assume its from standing incorrectly
cause my body dosent like being motionless for any x amount of time.
Therefore the Stepper may be the answer and just rotating from short standing moments to
using the stepper to using a high stool chair etc.
Thanks matey

[catfiend]

John, I'm interested that you've managed to keep using the stepper for a year. I tried one - not the instride - shortly after Dr. Levine's work first hit the news. It did a good job for me, though there was no chance of my being able to use it without sweat pouring off of me, but I think it lasted less than 1 month before the hydraulics in one piston were shot. The instructions for the one that I had (marketed by Sharper Image) recommended never using it for more than 20 minutes at a time or something like that.

Today's totals on the exerciser look like 14000+ steps, 300+ minutes and almost 2000 calories burned. Further research into how many calories people burn at various activities has lead me to believe that this probably isn't that far off - probably no more than 20%.

[John]

I've heard of people having issues w/the pistons on home-model steppers, but so far mine has been OK. I'm NOT a monster-workout-guy though; mostly I exercise on it at what is probably equivalent to a brisk walk uphill, w/some breather breaks along the way. For me, the stretching of it and just plain *moving* is useful and helpful; that's more important to me than calories / weight loss (which isn't that "major" of a goal for me; ENERGY and FEELING GOOD/HEALTHY is). : )

As far as sweat though, I also have a little in-room A/C unit, separate from the house main (lots of equipment in here = heat), so I make the place feel an icebox when I'm working out. That helps. ; )

[Bill Sodeman]

Clever! I use a mini-stepper. My experience is similar to yours. For $73 with free shipping, it's hard to beat.

[Kelly]

When I used to work out in a gym I loved the elliptical trainers. It was a great full body workout with zero impact. I originally wanted to make one into my treadwalker, but I'm so lazy that I realized if the thing was not powered I would not use it. I'm not 100% sure this is true, but typing to you on the powered treadmill now I think I made the best choice (for me).

But that being said, I can't remember if those fancy systems were powered. I know they were, but I don't think they 'forced' you to walk with how they moved, you could sort of just stop moving. With the treadmill you have to physically stop the machine or get off, not simply stop your legs moving.

So if anyone could develop an elliptical treadmill that would be the best of both worlds!

(posted while walking 400m!)

[Bill Sodeman]

Most gym elliptical trainers use AC power, as I recall.

[Patricia]

So I am just getting started to set up my own walking contraption. Do you have any issues with it effecting your eyesight working on the computer all day long with motion?

I wish I had seen your post with the pedals, I would have tried that first. The treadmill takes up so much space.

[bdrhoa]

Working on a computer all day definitly isn't the best thing for your eyes. But I doubt there's any difference between sitting and walking while you fry your corneas.

My dad is an Optometrist. I'll ask him about this.

[JZ]

I'm excited to see that other people have had success using a stepper instead of a treadmill.
Are you continuing to use a stepper? What have you learned from the experience? Any suggestions?

I have just started to investigate the stepper option, and my initial thought is to put my laptop on a 40" table (I'm short) and use the stepper right next to that table. Does that seem reasonable?