The Amazing, Fantastic, Super Spectacular Treadmill Desk

Recently I came upon this video that is a segment from Good Morning America about a treadmill desk.

I was immediately fascinated by the concept – walking at 1.0 MPH while working on the computer, which is what I currently do while sitting on the couch, to burn calories and get fit. 

I went online and looked for some and found them to be extremely expensive.  Being the, “I can do that myself” kind of person that I am, I decided to construct my very own treadmill desk. 

What I wanted to do and what I was forced into because of supplies and saw issues at my local Lowe’s home improvement center, were two different things.

I’ll take you through the process, in case you’re interested and an “I can do it myself” kind of person also.

Obviously the first thing I did was measure the treadmill and figure out exactly what pieces I needed and how big they needed to be. Here are all of the supplies that I gathered. When my husband and I went to the store, I wanted to get a solid piece for the top, but their saw was broken, so I had to get two smaller pieces and glue them together – not optimal, but it works. They made the cuts for the top and the legs.

This is the top after I glued it together and added the bracing. I used 2 x 2s for the bracing and the legs. I figured that that would be sufficient enough for me because I really only planned on using my Mac laptop on it – nothing heavy.

This is a photo of the top with the legs added.

Then I added bracing to the legs to add some stability.

After a little sanding the desk is ready for paint…which hasn’t happened yet.

And here it is in use.  It’s holding my laptop on which I am working on some fairly detailed Photoshop editing. My TV is close by and I can see it perfectly from the treadmill - here I am watching March Madness (college basketball tournament). This day I walked at 1.3 to 1.4 MPH, which actually makes me sweat and burns about 250 calories for every hour I walk. I think I walked almost two hours this day.

I am beyond happy with the way it works and also with the amount of exercise that I get, while getting my graphic design work done, or while I am checking my emails, Facebook, and Twitter. I would say that it cost me about $55 in supplies, including the paint…

Please feel free to leave me any questions or comments that you may have about the construction or use of the desk.