Three weeks of walking

Three weeks ago I got my sit-stand-walking desk put together (see here for the gory details of how I picked the equipment). In this article I examine my experience. Over all I would say it’s pretty positive. I absolutely can code and walk without serious problem. Typing is actually a genuine joy while walking thanks to iMovR’s Omega keyboard tray. Seriously, it rocks! Mousing is still a bit tricky but it’s honestly not that big of deal. Motion sickness was a bit of a problem early on but I found a way to deal with it. The biggest problem is probably moving my monitors around, the Ergotron arms, especially the one with the iMac, are not fully up to the job. But all things considered the whole setup works and I’m happy.

1 Setting it up

The first components to arrive were the VESA mounts for my iMac and Cinema display. They were pretty disappointing. The instructions didn’t make much sense to me and the hex wrenches in both of my mounting sets didn’t work right. Getting the “switch” to activate that lets you remove the mounting stand was a bit tricky but doable. Connecting the adapter was a bit of a pain because it wasn’t machined to be a super tight fit so it would rotate around it’s axis. But for all of my whining the first bracket took me about 30 minutes to install and the second took me about 15 minutes. So really, no big deal.
Next up were my monitor arms, the Ergotron LX HD and Ergotron LX. The instructions for installing them were easy to follow. My only suggestion is that if you have really heavy monitors then get a friend to help. I did both by myself and it was o.k. but I have to admit to a few dicey moments while putting the monitors on the arms. If you have heavy monitors/computers be prepared to turn the huge hex screw that tightens the spring a lot of times. I think it took several minutes of turning that thing before it was tight enough to handle my iMac properly.
I then had the LifeSpan TR1200-DT3 treadmill arrive. There is nothing to assemble. Just plug in the control panel and power and go. The treadmill is about 150 lbs or so and almost all of that weight is in the front where the motor is. I was able to drag it in its box on my own to a bedroom on the ground floor and unpack it. But I had to get help to move the treadmill to my office upstairs. There was no way I could move that thing upstairs on my own.
An issue I ran into immediately is that the treadmill wasn’t sitting on level ground. I had it on a thick exercise mat over carpet. So immediately I noticed that the tread was moving to the side and started making awful noises. Fixing this required me to get out a level and adjust the legs. The whole adjusting process probably didn’t take much more than 20 minutes and after adjusting the legs I haven’t had any further issues with the tread moving out of alignment.
The 72 inch iMovR Omega EVEREST is enormous. There was no way I could move that thing on my own. And I looked at the assembly instructions and just didn’t want to deal with putting it together myself. So I paid a few hundred dollars to have “White Glove” delivery which has the desk delivered fully assembled, put in place upstairs and all waste removed.
One thing I didn’t do during set up that I paid for later is make sure the desk is level, especially front to back. Because I didn’t check the desk started an awful screeching after a few weeks because the legs weren’t properly aligned. In the end I and a friend had to do a bunch of dead lifts in order to adjust the little adjustable pads under the feet to get the desk to finally be properly level. This would have been a lot easier if we had done it before all the equipment was on the desk. Of course I can’t be sure if the imbalance would have shown up without the equipment. But my setup is pretty extreme with almost a hundred pounds of equipment between the iMac, cinema display and two monitor arms. Most people I suspect will have substantially less weight on their desk so I would imagine that checking if the desk is level before putting on equipment should be o.k.

2 Reviewing the component parts

2.1 iMovR Omega EVEREST

2.1.1 How does it look?

It’s a laminated desk. Once you accept that then I think you will find that it’s a very nice laminated desk. The “3D” laminate they use encases the entire desk, top, sides and bottom in one continuously laminated cover. I certainly prefer that to other laminate desks which use separate laminate on the sides and often leave things like the grommet holes “raw” so you are staring at composite or whatever the desk is actually made of. But it is laminate. If someone just looks at the desk for a second they would probably think it was wood but if you look at it for more than a second you realize it’s laminate. The real give away is that the wood grain has this amazing ability to turn 90 degree around edges. Nevertheless it is a good looking desk and I have no aesthetic complaints.

2.1.2 How well do the motors in the legs work?

The motors aren’t going to win any races but they do the job reasonably well. What I like is that their movement is smooth so the desk doesn’t shake itself to pieces as it moves up and down. I can safely put down a full cup of tea and move the desk without worrying about spills. The noise level while moving the desks is very moderate and as long as one doesn’t ride the motor up and down all the time I can’t imagine anyone finding it objectionable.

2.1.3 How are the desk’s controls?

The desk uses the same controls I’ve seen on lots of other height adjustable desks so nothing special there. I actually don’t use the memory feature at all but I do use the display of how high the desk is. I’ve memorized my two favorite heights and I use the numbers to make it easy for me to get to the right position.

2.1.4 What about stability?

The desk absolutely does have stability issues. But in practice I don’t run into them much. But the reason I don’t have practical problems is because I have slightly changed how I work, although to be fair, all to the better.
When the desk is all the way down and if I’m really banging away on the keyboard I absolutely will get some sway. If, however, I’m typing “properly”, that is, with my hands hovering over the keyboard and using a firm but not smashing touch then there is no sway. I actually tested even wresting my hands on the wrist pads and typing and it wasn’t much of an issue. But as a result of the sway I now tend to sit upright, rather than slouch and I tend to type more “properly”. So I can’t really complain.
When standing, but not walking, at the desk, sway is an issue. Although the amount of sway depends on which monitor I’m using. When I’m standing the iMac’s monitor arm is extended from the other side of the desk and so tends to sway given even the smallest excuse. Even typing as lightly as possible there will still be a tiny bit of sway. If I focus my typing on the second monitor, whose arm when I’m standing is folded in on itself, then the swaying is less. The amount of sway, even on the iMac is very little. We are literally talking a few millimeters of movement. But I do notice it. Even if I’m typing on the secondary monitor I can see the big iMac monitor moving a bit out of the corner of my eye and it is annoying. The reason this hasn’t been a big deal in practice is that I don’t really type much when standing. Walking? Yes. Standing? Not really. I don’t enjoy typing as I stand for some reason. My guess is that if I regularly typed when I stood and given how tiny the movement is, that I would eventually get used to it. I also suspect that if you have a single light monitor on a shorter arm then the swaying would be less.
When walking I’m sure there is sway but compared to the movement of my head and body as I walk, I don’t notice it at all. I’ll talk more about stability while walking below but the bottom line is that when I’m walking there is no problem with sway. Even with my hands wresting on the wrist pads there is no problem. Again I suspect this is because the movement of my head as I walk far, far out moves anything happening with my monitors.

2.1.5 What about power and cable management?

This is the area where the desk really falls down on the job. There are nothing but two grommet holes and some plastic tabs you can stick to the underside. They do sell power plugs for the grommet holes but I need those holes to deal with cabling. So right now my desk is straight out ugly. There are two power strips on the floor, cables hang everywhere, it’s nasty. I really wish the table came with a power strip built in and a box running along the back where I could easily stick cables in and out. It’s not a huge deal but honestly the desk is nice and having cables all over the place ruins the effect.

2.2 Lifespan TR1200-DT3

2.2.1 How are the controls?

The controls really suck. It’s almost silly how badly they suck. Even easy things like starting the Treadmill after resetting its mileage counter are annoying. You have to hit the ON button but there is no beep to confirm when you have held it long enough to start things up. Instead you have to guess when you have held it long enough, let the button go and see if it starts the “3...2...1” count down. But all I really want from the thing is to start it, set the speed and work. It does that. Yes, the controls suck, but only enough to make me chuckle at how ineptly designed they are, not enough to actually ruin the daily experience of using it.

2.2.2 What about noise?

There are two separate sources of noise. One is the motor. It’s not terribly loud but if I was in an open plan office and had to hear the person next to me use it I suspect their treadmill would have an “accident”. It’s mostly a white noise but it is there.
A separate source of noise is that it can creak depending on how and where on the tread I’m walking that day. I find that by moving around a little bit I can make the creak go away but it is there. If I’m “in the zone” and not noticing the slight creaking I’m sure any coworkers would instantly remind me, probably with a hammer.
Again, it’s not a super noisy treadmill. When I’m working I don’t notice it at all. But I work by myself in my own office. In an open or cubicle area I suspect it would make enemies. But look at the bright side. If your employer has so little consideration for your productivity that they stick you in an open office space then you probably should be looking for a new job, not worrying about someone’s treadmill.

2.2.3 What’s it like walking on it? Any foot issues?

The tread is firm but has a little give. I walk in my socks and I haven’t had any issues with blisters or pain in my feet. But I am keeping an eye on the issue. As I walk for longer and longer periods of time I wouldn’t be surprised if I don’t need to use something like water shoes to protect my feet against blisters.

2.2.4 Any other issues?

I have run into the “DC-1” error code. The Intertubes claim that this is due to the treadmill not getting enough power and that it can be fixed by resetting the treadmill. Apparently the power strip I have the treadmill attached to can’t draw quite enough power under all circumstances. But I’ve only had this error code happen twice in three weeks and never during use. In both cases a quick power cycle solved things. If it starts happening a lot then I’ll have to find a higher rated power strip.
If I have a complaint it’s actually how the black plastic casing over the motor is a huge dust magnet. Within a day or two it was covered with dust!

2.2.5 So what’s the bottom line?

But the bottom line is - it works. It’s reasonably quiet. It moves smoothly. I basically can just forget about it and work. It’s meant to be invisible and it does the job well.

2.3 Ergotron LX and LX HD Arms

These are by far the most disappointing part of my setup. The good news is that they have the reach I need so I can set up my monitors properly both for sitting and walking. Equally fortunately, once I turned the hex key enough, the springs on both arms are strong enough to hold their respective monitors in place.
But unfortunately the elbow on both arms don’t move at all well. Especially with the LX HD I have to use a non-trivial amount of force to get the monitor into position. The situation is bad enough that I have taken to only moving the monitors from behind the desk. This allows me to grab both parts of the arm around the elbow and force it to move. As a result moving from sitting to walking and vice versa takes a good three of four minutes of yanking and pulling.
To make matters more complex the arms only have a wire guide on the bottom part of the arm but not on the pole. As a result my cables are constantly getting wrapped around the poles that hold the arms up. I’m going to have to figure out a better arrangement because my cables keep getting physically yanked out of the machine when I move positions.
For all my whining the arms do work. The monitors go where I want them to go and they stay there. But the process is no where near as slick as I would like.
For those reading this do keep in mind that I have an old Apple Cinema Display and an old iMac. They are both seriously heavy. Especially compared to modern all in one machines and monitors. So my guess is that if you have modern light weight monitors then the arms will just work. I think my problem is that while my monitors are absolutely within the advertised weight tolerances of the Ergotron arms I suspect the advertised tolerances may have been a tiny bit overstated.

3 Reviewing the experience of working while walking

3.1 What’s it like to type while walking?

The absolute best part of walking while working is getting to use the keyboard tray on the Omega. It’s brilliant! It really, really works. It’s a pleasure to type on it. I actually look forward to using it every day. I intentionally look for typing heavy work items just to use it. It feels so ridiculously natural to type with the keyboard at an almost 45 degree angle. I use a Microsoft sculpt keyboard and my fingers just fly. Walking doesn’t seem to affect my typing speed at all. I didn’t even really have an adjustment period. It just feels so natural.
Just to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating things I took a typing test when sitting and when walking. The results were identical.
But there is a caveat. Because the keyboard is at a steep angle one really can’t see the keys. So I would imagine that someone who isn’t a touch typist isn’t going to have quite as great an experience. They will probably need to keep the keyboard at a shallower angle so they can see the keys. I believe this will mean that the typing experience won’t be as good.
Also note that while I’m a touch typist for letters and numbers it turns out that over the years I’ve gotten lazy because I’m not a touch typist for things like symbol keys, delete key, home key, page up, etc. As a result I’ve had to re-teach my “finger memory” where those keys are because looking down really is an annoyance. In other words, using this desk has actually made me a better typist!

3.1.1 What about mousing?

For mousing I use an Apple Magic Trackpad. Using it while walking is a bit of a pain. The problem is that I have to move my hand relatively far in order to use the mouse. I have to take the hand off the keyboard, raise it up and then move it to the right. I have found that putting the track pad slightly in front of the keyboard seems to work best. But even at the best of times I do have to put a tiny bit of thought into using the mouse. I’ve noticed, for example, that I use the arrow keys a lot more when I’m standing than when I’m sitting. So clearly there is an issue.
The problem is that my whole body is moving while I’m trying to mouse so I have to keep my hand steady on the pad while the rest of my arm moves. And since the mouse is touch sensitive if my fingers shake a bit then that translates to the mouse. It’s not an awful experience but as evidenced by the fact that I subconsciously seem to use the keyboard more than the mouse while walking it is clearly an issue. But in practical terms it doesn’t seem to be a big deal.
What I really wish is that the Omega’s awesome keyboard tray was wide enough to let me put the track pad right by the keyboard. That would make it much easier to use the mouse. And since it’s a track pad it doesn’t matter that it would be at an almost 45 degree angle. But oh well.

3.1.2 What about motion sickness?

The first day I had everything set up I walked for a full hour. I didn’t have any muscle pain nor did I get dizzy. I was a working machine! Then I stopped. Oh boy. That was unpleasant. I had to sit up in bed for over an hour before the nausea went away.
So the next day I dialed it back to just 15 minutes. After 15 minutes I would stop and continue to work while standing still. Only after another 5 or 10 minutes of standing still would I then sit. I found that this generally worked. So I increased by another 5 minutes. I kept increasing until I plateaued around 30 minutes. I spent several days there because I was getting a bit nauseous after finishing walking.
Eventually I realized that rather than just stopping what I needed to do was to have a slow down period. So after I hit my target time I will slowly reduce speed over a one or two minute period. Then I would continue working while standing for a few minutes before going back to sitting. I found that this approach really did the trick and after three weeks I’m up to 65 minutes and still increasing. My goal is to walk for three or four hours a day and based on my experience so far it seems totally doable.

3.1.3 What about desk sway when walking?

Conceptually I understand that there must be a bunch of sway because I see how much sway there is when I’m just standing and typing. But as a practical matter I don’t notice the sway at all while walking. When walking my head is bobbing all over the place. I have actually done video calls while walking and I can see just how much my head and body are moving as I walk. Compared to that movement any movement in the monitors is not noticeable to me. So my subjective experience while typing and walking is that there isn’t any desk sway at all.

3.1.4 How fast can I go on the treadmill and still work?

I started walking at around 1.5 MPH, pretty quickly increased to 1.6 and I’m currently starting to use 1.7. I am only increasing the speed because the slower speeds are starting to not feel comfortable. I don’t confuse walking on the treadmill with exercise. This is about getting me out of my chair, not about substituting for real exercise.

4 Conclusion

I’m out of my chair. I’m walking. It feels great! I am getting work done. The whole thing really does work.

27 thoughts on “Three weeks of walking”

  1. Great review! Really answered the things I had been wondering about. I also find myself glancing at my keyboard for certain symbols and less common keys, so I too will get to learn to type better :-)

    Hopefully they find out what is causing the desk leg screeching noise, and you can post a follow up comment to let us know how that worked out.

  2. I contacted Ron Wiener, the CEO for iMovr about the screeching problem and he instantly diagnosed it. The desk wasn’t level, especially front to back. Once I and a friend leveled the desk the screeching almost completely went away. There is an itty bitty amount left but the desk is also still an itty bitty amount not level. I edited the article to expand the first section to warn people to make sure their desks are level and removed the reference to the screeching from the original section where I mentioned it.

  3. So, would you purchase the Omega Everest again? I am a bit worried about the sway and not sure why they don’t put an additional stabilizing bar between the legs.

    Any update on cord control?

    Did you look at their monitor arm products? I have 2 monitors as well ~23″ screens

    1. Yes. I would buy it again given the current alternative choices.

      How much sway you will have depends on how many monitors you have and where they are positioned. I have really heavy monitors and to keep the table’s lift motors from getting unbalanced I have to keep their poles towards the legs. This means that regardless if I’m sitting or standing at least one monitor is going to be extended out pretty far (since it has to reach from the other side of the table). This isn’t great for sway. Even when I’m sitting if I type too hard I will get a tiny bit of sway. When I’m standing I absolutely do get sway. But since I primarily walk when I’m standing this hasn’t proven to be a problem since my head is already moving so much I literally can’t see the monitors swaying. If I just stand without walking and if I touch type in “proper” form then the sway is minor enough that I don’t really notice it. But honestly I only type while standing still when I’m transitioning from walking. I find that I need a cool down period of a few minutes or I get a bit of sea sickness.

      In your case however you have two 23 inch monitors. Assuming they are reasonably modern they should be super light. In that case you should be able to put the arms near the center of the table. This will reduce the length the arms have to extend when you are sitting or standing and so will reduce sway.

      Also note that iMovR doesn’t make their own monitor arms, they “white label” arms from, I believe, Ergotron. They even use the same Ergotron model names (e.g. LX, HD, etc.)

      In regards to an additional stabilizing bar there are bases that have that. I’m not completely sure how much the additional bar will actually make a difference though. There are still two legs. My guess is that the only way to really get rid of most (but not all) of the sway is to have four legs or to mount the monitors separately from the desk.

    2. Oh and I forgot to comment on the cord situation. It’s still a mess. It works. It’s not a problem on a day to day basis. But it is ugly.

    1. As I explained in gory detail here the math says that only a 72 inch desk is wide enough to meet my needs. But the Series 7 is unfortunately only available at a maximum length of 58 inches. So it wasn’t suitable for my needs and thus I didn’t evaluate it any further.

  4. I purchased the identical setup (Omega Everest Desk, Lifespan TR1200DT Treadmill, and 2 Ergotron LX Arms). I use dual 22″ standard Dell monitors, which probably put far less stress on the desk/arms. So far my experience has been overwhelmingly positive. The setup is very stable and solid feeling. I was able to get to 2 MPH and hover there pretty regularly, about 2 hours a day. I have pretty serious back problems (herniated disk) including a very recent major flareup, and the desk/treadmill have allowed me to be back at the office full-time with comfort, vs. sitting at my desk for 8-9 hrs. a day. Switching from standing to sitting can be a bit of a chore, but honestly we are talking about maybe 60 seconds of moving monitors, raising/lowering the desk, and other small transitions. Noise is very minimal (though it helps I am in a separate office from co-workers). I agree the cable situation is probably the weakest part of the setup but almost seems unavoidable. I purchased a bunch of extension cords and cables and that makes it functional, but not pretty. That said, it is a small quibble and overall it is a very clean and functional setup that has gotten me off my butt for at least 2 hrs. a day.

    One struggle I had when ordering was dropping for the Omega desk vs one without a moving tray. I am still trying to figure out the optimal setting but have just ordered a Microsoft Sculpt keyboard and hoping that helps, as my current keyboard, while conveniently small, is pretty much an ergonomic disaster. I am pretty sure it was the right move though as I feel no upper body or arm fatigue and I’ve done about 2 weeks of 2 hrs. a day now.

    The treadmill seems fine–zero issues. The width is a plus as you do accidentally come close to the edges, but it too is very solid and smooth. The controller is fine. No issues really.

    All in all, after much research, if you are trying to set yourself up for easy transition from sitting to standing, I feel that this is A+ combo. Not cheap mind you, but it feels like quality all around and if it didn’t I’d question whether I’d really use it all that much.

    1. I’m now up to 2 hours a day and am at around 1.8 – 1.9 mph. I only increase speed if the old speed starts to feel uncomfortable. I also did finally have to get shoes as my feet were starting to hurt. I happened to have around some quite old Teva water shoes (I think they are Protons) that do the job nicely. I like them because I can slip them on and off easily since I work from home in my socks.

      As for cords and power management the best I’ve seen is something like the NextDesk Vanity Cover plus a power strip attached to the desk. That would get rid of almost all my cable issues and make the desk look pretty sweet. Especially if the power strip is just behind the Vanity Cover’s raceway and so not visible. But for now I just live with the mess.

      I really like using my Sculpt from an ergonomic perspective. It separates my hands in a position I find very comfortable and its thin profile is a perfect fit for the Omega. The only downside is that the key action is pretty mediocre. The scissor switches aren’t horrible but nothing to write home about.

      As for monitor arms, I definitely find that the LX works better than the LX HD. But for me switching modes takes a good 2 minutes. Mostly because I really have to fight with the LX HD.

  5. I am looking at a very similar set up (amazing how I had come to that conclusion and then found your review). Just one monitor though and a smaller table and putting a Varier stool on the treadmill. I “can” fit it in the office (my office, like yours is small – 75 square feet) and I did a similar mock up on my iPad app. I just need more storage room/space as I run Sunday School and Adult ed through my tiny office which means I have STUFF!

    Question I have is, since this will be my work desk (paying out of pocket, but I have to do something as I quite literally have daily headaches and strain from sitting so much and for so long) is how is it if also using something like a laptop or iPad?

    1. Personally I can’t imagine walking and typing on a laptop keyboard while staring down at a laptop screen. I’m fairly sure I’d get motion sick. But I haven’t tried it. I also thinking that using the touch interface on an iPad while walking would be really tricky. I still have a tiny bit of issues with the mouse, I doubt a touch screen would work for me at all. Minimally I’d try to run the laptop through your monitor and connect it to a reasonable size keyboard. You can even control your iPad from a computer using something like VNC Viewer.

  6. My desk is just a manual adjustable height desk (I believe it’s the same manufacturer as the manual Omega desk) with a 30″ by 60″ laminated board (I think it was a leftover from our cherry kitchen cabinets – I haven’t gotten around to replacing it). My keyboard and mouse sit right on the desk. Thus my question – how do you find the Omega keyboard insert ? Does the angle work for you ? Does the mouse at a different angle (on top the desk) cause you any difficulty ? Do you miss the desk space from the cut out ? It looks like the keyboard insert cuts the desk in half depth-wise, so you’re losing some usable space. Do you miss it ? Do you find things rolling off the desk into the keyboard insert area?

    (from here down it’s just a ramble and some preachin’ about working while walking!)
    I came across this thread as I’m considering a second height adjustable desk (an “L” on the cheap – I guess) and tried to find some reviews on the Omega line. I’ve been work-walking since the beginning of the year and put about 1000 miles on my Lifespan TR1200-DT3 in the first half of the year. I’m a convert. While I typically walk about 1.5 to 2mph (although CAD work can make me drop under 1.5), I’ve found I can “game” at 3+ mph. It’s a good way to work up a sweat and pass the time if you’re on the computer after hours.

    For those of you on the fence – I kept my sit-only desk because I wasn’t sure if a standing desk was really going to work for me. I still have the sit-only desk and never use it. It has my business laptop and a 3 monitor workstation around it. I remote into them from my walking desk.

    Oh, a possible solution for the “sit” – I put a piece of plywood over the top of my treadmill and use a Muvman stool (a bit expensive). I find I usually just stand or walk, so the stool isn’t getting a lot of use, but I switch it in from time to time depending on the kind of work I’m doing. I believe the adjustable height of the Muvman is what has allowed me to rarely adjust the height of my desk. I think I’ve lowered it once when I was doing some equipment testing and the cable from the ground was too short.

    I didn’t see any mention of the static electricity issues. I’m using a grounded outlet and all for the treadmill, but in the winter, I have noticed myself shocking the keyboard. I ended up running some grounding strap stuff across the front of the desk and wired into the ground of a plug. (Fancy, I know!) It’s heavy and flat enough that it just mostly sits on top of the desk near the front end under my forearms. It did remove the static electricity “shocks” that I was getting.

    Please update us as you continue to use your equipment.

    1. I absolutely adore the Omega keyboard insert. It’s beyond awesome! Typing on it feels incredibly natural and fun. Even after using the desk for months I still look forward to typing on it. I only wish my mechanical keyboard would work with it. I still use my Microsoft sculpt because it’s absolutely the perfect size for the Omega keyboard insert.

      As I mention in the article the mouse is a minor pain but not a major one. Honestly I don’t really notice it anymore. But keep in mind that I use the Apple touch pad mouse. So I just have to move my fingers around. I really like how this cuts down on desk space.

      Having the insert does cut the top of the desk in half but I have the 6 foot long desk so I keep all my crud (and alas there is a lot of it) on the other side of the desk. I can’t say I have ever felt pressed for space. In fact I kind of wish there was slightly less space because I have a tendency to fill it up with junk. Right now I have my Windows laptop, my Mac laptop (on a stand no less), my Wi-Fi Router, my house phone, two key boards, a mouse, a 10 key pad, a cup pad, my backup hard drive and a stack of papers sitting on my desk. Oh and 6 cell phones I use for testing. It’s a mess. But space isn’t a problem.

      I’ve never noticed any problems with static electricity. My second keyboard is wired and I’ve never been shocked.

      I also have to say that I’m super happy I got a sit/stand desk. There is no way I would survive standing or even walking all day. I got up to over two hours a day before my child was born. I then didn’t work for a month and when I came back I found myself resetting my time down to an hour. I’m not up to 1.5 hours and climbing. I tend to walk these days at around 1.6 – 1.8 MPH. Before the baby I was closer to 1.9. I find that a good speed to let me stay comfortable while still getting coding and email done. I suspect I could go faster if I pushed it but that isn’t the purpose of the desk. The real purpose is to make sure I don’t sit in the same position all day. My real goal is to start having two shifts of two hours each on the desk.

  7. I am considering getting a smaller sit to stand Steelcase Series 7 and a Steelcase Walkstation so I could have them side by side. I was thinking to have two sets of monitors with the hard drive between them, then would just switch the screens between the two desks. The reason for getting two is that way I would have a dedicated Walkstation that has a curved table, so hopefully better configured. However, it wouldn’t have the Omega type insert, so do you know if there is a keyboard that can be purchased that gives you some of the negative degree or at least better angle?

    Also, I do a lot of mouse work, does the Apple touch pad work well? Is it one of the flat pads that you use with your finger?

  8. I re-read your last post and realized your touch pad is just the pad in a laptop. I have been looking at a newer, separate flat touch pad type, but you may not have experience with that type?

    1. I was actually referring to the Apple Magic Touchpad. I absolutely adore it! I’ve been using it for many years and it works quite well. Keep in mind that I just do programming and word processing so I don’t need super ridiculously fine control. It’s not so good for that. But I’m not a graphics designer.

      In regards to the desk, a Steelcase Series 7 goes for around $1,500 and a Steelcase Walkstation goes for around $4,500. For $729 you can get the Electra from iMovr at 72 inches plus for $100 or so a very nice Ergotron monitor arm and have a much cleaner experience. That would certainly be the way I would go if I didn’t want the Omega keyboard tray.

      But if you are a touch typist then I can’t recommend the Omega tray enough. It really is quite awesome.

      Note, I do not work for, with or have any financial relationship with iMovr. I paid street price for all my equipment and am just a happy customer.

  9. No doubt the set-up I was looking at is expensive. However, I had seen some video reviews of the Omega desks and my real worry is the swaying issue. It seemed to me that the Steelcase desks were sturdier than the iMovr and other standing desks. Steelcase also has a 72″ (or close to that) walk to stand desk with a treadmill for about $5000, but I began to think that having separate desks that are dedicated might be a better option.

    Believe me, I’m still noodling over all of this!

    Thanks for clarifying on the touch pad; it sounds like I’ll have to find another solution, since I do need precision mousing for my graphics type work.

    Thanks so much for keeping this tread alive!!

    Karen

  10. Karen – where did you see a video review of the Omega desk that wasn’t from the company and kickstarter? There is ONE review I see, but it’s also from the guy they were giving away his books as a promo… which leads me to believe that he was doing a favor in exchange of imovr buying so many books.

    That is the one thing I’m really having a hard time with – the marketing/PR of these desks is 100% Imovr Workwhilewalking promoted. They diss all other options and rate theirs the best. Well, really?

    I wouldn’t go with a steelcase as an alternative, imo, but it makes me really wonder if the extra cost is worth it. I can get a pretty nice set up through other companies. I just don’t know if the special desk top is worth it with the Omega desks or not. Like does it REALLY have an advantage over a better quality keyboard tray? Perhaps keyboard trays introduce sway… I simply don’t know… And I’ve been waffling on this now for a MONTH.

  11. What I’m having a hard time deciding on is getting this set up – where the treadmill is only for walking, or the proform thinline pro treadmill desk for work. I like the idea of being able to walk fast and turning it into a traditional treadmill for exercise. Now… with that said, I have never really used a treadmill, so would I ever use it as a traditional treadmill? I walk outside (or used to until I started work a year ago in an office). Now I just sit all day long. Weather is either too hot, too sticky, too wet, too cold. You get the drift.

    But the proform treadmill desk top is small. And the table only goes down to 34″ (and up to 46″) Who needs a desk 46″ high???? I was thinking of using it with a stool for when I’m not walking (like the muvman or its ilk)… but would I miss a traditional desk? Even if I put the monitor on a wall mount. ARGH!!! I just don’t know which to get and the price difference is like $700 between the two set ups I would get.

    1. I’m a fairly big guy and my settings are 24 inches and 43 inches. So a desk that only goes down to 34 wouldn’t work for me. As a touch typist 34inches is too high to hold my arms. Like you I waffled on this decision for literally months. Like you I couldn’t find an unbiased source of information. What finally pushed me over to buying something is that iMovr’s office is near where I live so I drove over and tried the desk out. I was worried about wobble and took a risk buying the desk anyway. In the end it hasn’t proved to be a problem. But what really sold me is the omega keyboard tray. It’s simply wonderful and I haven’t been able to find anything like it. It is so comfortable typing on it that it’s just crazy.

      Personally when I’m not walking I really want to be sitting so that’s also why I went with the Omega. I love being able to quickly lower it and go right back to work. But I did this using two monitor arms. That is actually the most painful part of the setup. It takes me a good 2 minutes to swing those arms around.

  12. Melissa, I looked for that YouTube review on the Omega desk and I can’t find it — perhaps it was taken down, not sure. One issue that I had with the Omega is that if I didn’t like it, the return costs were substantial, and there isn’t a show room anywhere near us. They are built on the West Coast and we live in Virginia.

  13. Sorry to keep pestering, but before I plop down 1500 on something, I want to be SURE. I’m about to pull the trigger on the Omega Olympus desk (or Everest). I plan on getting a small desk that I can put a ergonomic stool on top so that I just raise and lower the desk for my needs. BUT… how does the ergo keyboard tray work for sitting positions? Is it OK? I’m assuming it would be, but I only see photos of people STANDING with this keyboard. Of course, I could always just keep it flat, but then maybe a different desk with a pull out tilting keyboard might be better then.

    1. I’ve never used the keyboard tray in a sitting position so I don’t know. I have the tray configured on its lower bracket so even if I set it parallel to the ground the keyboard is lower than the desk and so my hand would hit the desk when using the mouse. There is another higher bracket one can use with the tray and it might then put the tray parallel with the desk which would then alleviate the mouse issue. You can ask iMovR. I found them very responsive to any questions I had. I also don’t know what the affects would be of moving the keyboard tray up and down all the time. But keep in mind that for me it was an absolute requirement to have a walking desk where I could walk on one side and sit on the other. So I never really looked at the desk from the perspective you are.

      Also, if you aren’t a touch typist then I doubt the angled keyboard tray is worth it since you can’t see the keyboard. But if you are a touch typist then standing and using the tray is a real joy.

  14. So, my keyboard is 19.7″ (Corsair K95). I notice the keyboard cut out is 20.25″.

    Would I expect to have a problem with this keyboard on the steadytype due to the close proximity to the size of the keyboard tray slot?

    1. So long as the keyboard is narrower on both the horizontal and vertical directions than the keyboard tray I would expect any problems. Personally I use a Microsoft Sculpt. It fits perfectly but obviously doesn’t have keys in the same league as the K95.

  15. I ran across this post while researching different treadmill desk setups as I plan to set one up in my work office. Are you still using the omega desk? I was all set to purchase an Uplift desk, then ran across the unique keyboard on the ImovR Omega desk line and was intrigued. I live on the east coast so there’s no showroom to try them out. Do you still find the omega desk keyboard to be a big benefit? Is it really that noticeable compared to a regular flat top desk? I have some underlying carpal tunnel which peaks my interest.

    1. I still use the Omega desk and using the tilted keyboard tray really does make a huge difference compared to trying to hold my arms up in proper typing position. I wish you could try it out because it feels so amazingly natural. My immediate and continuing reaction is “this is what typing was supposed to be”.

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