Top Executive Coach Tony Mayo details the why and how of the treadmill desk he built for his office. www.TonyMayo.com

1. Why & How I Made My Treadmill Desk

2. I read in Scientific American about the mounting evidence that many health problems and premature deaths were attributable to too much time spent sitting. I am concerned about my clients’ health so I included it in my blog. http://tiny.cc/standingorders

3. Just a few days later, a client told me about treadmill desks. There is a doctor at the Mayo Clinic (not a relative, unfortunately) who is a great proponent of walking while you work. The New York Times wrote about him.

4. I like being healthy and I like working with tools, so I set out to build my own treadmill desk. I bought a Sole model F63 treadmill for $1,000.

5. I started by jury rigging an old desktop I happened to have from the Container Store. $79 Mine has square edges but if I were buying new I would get this one with more comfortable rounded corners. $179. I propped it up with C-clamps and scraps of metal to experiment with height and angle.

6. The desktop is 54” wide and 24” deep, so it is a bit wider than the treadmill. I am about 6’1”. Experimentation brought me to a desk height of 44” above the walking service for the front. I wanted a slight incline so the back is 2 ½” higher. The goal is to have your wrist straight or bent slightly downward when you are using the keyboard.

7. I put my computer monitor on top of a four-drawer filing cabinet. This placed it about 40” away from my eyes and that is a more comfortable reading distance than most desks provide. I also set Windows to increase the size of everything 125% because I am well past age 40.

8. After walking several hours a day for about a week I felt comfortable with the position of my equipment, so I decided to make the desk more permanent. I cut 1” stainless steel U-channelto length and drilled holes for the bolts. By tightening the bolts I was able to secure the uprights without drilling or altering the handles of the treadmill. 13” 6”

9. 8.5”

10. I filed the edges and corners of the steel uprights, of course. To give an extra level of protection to my skin and clothes I coated all the edges with plastic dip. Fantastic stuff. Be sure to use it outside or near an exhaust fan.

11. I also put the plastic dip on the galvanized steel mending plates used to support the back of the desktop. You can get mending strips at Amazon or any good hardware store. Even Home Depot.

12. The plates happen to rest on the console of the treadmill at just the right height. I gave them a little twist in the vice to compensate for the slope of the console.

13. Mending Straps Stout Screws

14. Two stout screws on the underside of the table top fit inside the U channel uprights to keep it from moving side to side. Gravity handles the rest. I put black tape on the screws to stop me from sending them through to the other side.

15. That is the story of my treadmill desk. I wish you good luck & good health with yours.