Recently one of my dear critique group friends told me that there are combination exercise bike/desks, and I looked them up and got one (the FitDesk specifically). I have to say this was a great choice.
Some people have said you can’t really effectively multi-task, but I will say I can read on there, and I can write on there. Maybe not incredibly fast, but in a half hour on the bike I tend to churn out at least a page, sometimes more. And when I’m done, I’m literally sweating from all the hard work.
I’m not suggesting that the bike is the only exercise one needs, but it makes it really easy to fit in some calorie-burning cardio and be productive at the same time.
A few cautions to anyone who might buy one of these:
- Get the desk extensions that give you a wider surface. Then you can have a mouse, phone, and drink up there at the same time.
- Make sure to put it where you’ll use it. I’ve discovered that in the cooler months I just won’t exercise much in the basement, so right now it’s in the upstairs loft. But it’s light enough that I can carry it down to the basement as it warms up.
- Be careful of posture. A regular laptop will likely extend off the front of the desk if you want to be in a relaxed or upright position. I find that otherwise I’m leaning forward a bit to use the computer.
- Be careful of computer type as well. To extend my laptop over the leading edge isn’t a problem, but I couldn’t do this effectively with my Surface Pro 3 (and also the screen there is a little small given it’s a bit more distance and my body is always moving a bit on the bike).
- If you’re out of shape, expect some back pain, initial knee pain (maybe noisy joints), etc. I’ve found that after a few times on the bike, this mostly went away for me and I just get the regularly expected soreness.
Overall, terrific investment both for my body and for my writing.