Is a walking pad worth it? Who it suits and who it doesn't

A walking pad is worth it if you already have a standing desk, spend a good part of the day reading, listening or on calls, and have the room and the floor for one. It is less worth it if most of your work is fast typing or precise mouse work, you share the room, or you would honestly rather walk outside. For many people, a walk after lunch and a lap every hour get most of the benefit with no equipment at all.

A walking pad is a low, compact treadmill, usually without handrails, made to slide under a standing desk so you can walk slowly while you work. Whether one earns its place depends mostly on the kind of work you do and the room you do it in.

Who a walking pad suits

It tends to work well for people who:

• Already have a standing desk, or are about to get one. Without a desk that rises high enough, there is nowhere sensible to put the screen and keyboard.
• Spend hours on calls, reading or reviewing. These are the tasks people find easiest to do on the move.
• Work from home, where the noise and the floor space are their own business.
• Move very little otherwise. If your days have no commute and few errands, slow walking through the afternoon calls can change your daily total a lot.
• Like routine. A walking pad pays off when it becomes part of how certain work gets done, such as "the afternoon calls are walking calls".

It tends to suit less well if you:

• Spend most of the day writing code, editing photos, designing or doing other fine detail work.
• Share an office, or live above someone who will hear the hum and the footsteps.
• Have little floor space, or nowhere to store it.
• Have balance problems, or joint pain when you walk. Ask a doctor or a physiotherapist first.
• Would rather be outside. A walk around the block gives you daylight and a change of scene that a pad under the desk can't.

The real test is whether you will use it. Exercise equipment that ends up as a place to fold laundry is a familiar story, and a walking pad is no exception. If you can, try walking at a slow pace while reading email on a treadmill somewhere before you commit.

Can you type and work while walking?

Yes, at a slow pace, though not everything works equally well. Studies of treadmill desks have generally found that typing and fine mouse work get somewhat slower and less accurate while walking, while reading, listening and talking hold up much better. Many people find it gets easier with practice over the first couple of weeks.

What tends to work:

• Good walking tasks: calls where you mostly listen, reading documents and long email threads, clearing an inbox, training videos, light planning.
• Better done still: long writing, code, spreadsheets, design work, anything that needs a steady pointer.

Many people split the day that way. They walk during calls and reading, and step off to stand still or sit for the precise work.

Set the desk higher when you are on the pad, because the deck lifts you up by its own height. Your elbows should still sit at about a right angle when you type. Desks with memory buttons can store a third height just for walking. If you catch yourself leaning in to read while you walk, make the text bigger: Command and the plus key zooms in most Mac apps.

Calls while walking

Audio calls are easy. Video calls work at a slow pace, though some people find their own bobbing head on camera distracting, and the motor hum and the footsteps can reach the microphone. While the microphone is in use, macOS offers a Mic Mode setting (in Control Center, or in the video and audio menu in the menu bar on recent versions), and its Voice Isolation option cuts down background sound, if your Mac and your call app support it. When it really matters, stop the belt while you talk.

How fast should you walk on a walking pad?

Much slower than you would walk for exercise. Most people who walk while they work go at a gentle stroll, roughly 1 to 2 miles an hour (about 1.5 to 3 kilometers an hour), and slower still while typing. Speed up a little for calls and reading if you like, and slow down for anything fiddly.

A few habits make the first weeks easier:

1. Start short. Twenty or thirty minutes at a slow speed, a couple of times a day, and build up over a few weeks, the same way you would with standing.
2. Wear shoes. Proper walking shoes, not socks or bare feet.
3. Know how to stop it. Keep the remote, the stop button or the safety clip within reach, whichever yours has.
4. Step on and off with care. Start the belt slowly, and look down when you get off.
5. Sit when you are tired. Slow walking still adds up. When your feet or legs tell you they have had enough, step off and sit for a while.

Noise, space and the practical bits

Before you buy, check these:

• Desk height. The desk has to reach your standing height plus the height of the pad's deck. Some desks don't go that high, especially for tall people. Measure first.
• Floor space. You need room for the pad under the desk, a gap behind it, and somewhere to keep it when it is put away. Many slide under a sofa or a bed, so measure that gap too.
• Noise. The motor hums and your feet thud, and on an upper floor the thud travels down. A mat under the pad helps with both the noise and the floor.
• Power. It needs an outlet near the desk, and a cable placed where nobody trips on it.
• Weight. Check it if you plan to move the pad in and out every day.
• Upkeep. Like any treadmill, the belt needs keeping centered and, on many models, lubricating now and then. The manual will say how often.

Simpler ways to move more without one

If a walking pad doesn't fit your room or your work, most of its benefit is available without one.

• Walk your calls outside. Audio calls on foot, with earbuds, add the most steps for the least effort.
• Get up about once an hour for a lap of the house, a flight of stairs or a water refill.
• Walk after lunch, ten minutes at an easy pace.
• Walk to start and end the workday, especially when you work from home and have no commute.
• Pace while you think, a few laps of the room while you work out a problem.

How to get more steps on a desk job goes through these one by one, with a sample day. Some people also like an under-desk pedal, which lets you cycle slowly while seated. It is quieter and takes less room, though you are still sitting.

The walk a pad can't give you

Of the Notchpals characters who slide out of your Mac's notch, Nick is the one with walks on his mind: a fluffy white spitz drawn from a real dog, which may explain his sense of timing. He is a Movement character, and with him in your crew he comes down once each early afternoon to suggest a short walk.

NickTen minutes outside. Sniff something. Tell me about it after.

No pad under the desk can stand in for that one. Nick also brings a Stand up visit after close to an hour at the keyboard without a break. Notchpals can't see a walking pad and only counts time at the keyboard and mouse, so if Nick turns up while you are already walking, take it as a cue to step off, stretch for a minute and rest your eyes, then press Done. More of his lines are on Nick's page.