A Fun Way to Stay Healthy While Writing—Try This!

How do you stay healthy while writing?

It’s not easy. I’m a full-time health and wellness writer and even I struggle with it.

There’s no doubt that spending a lot of time at the computer—which most writers do—is horrible for your health.

It leads to all sorts of problems, including weight gain, joint and muscle pain, repetitive stress injuries, neck and shoulder pain, hip pain, and back pain (including tailbone pain). If you’re using a standing desk, you may also suffer from heel pain, foot pain, knee pain, and circulation issues.

So what can we do? I tried something new recently that’s working great for me and I couldn’t wait to tell you about it.

Good Recommendations to Help You Stay Healthy While Writing

There are a lot of things we can do to take care of ourselves as writers. Some good recommendations include:

• Set a timer and get up and move around every 30 minutes.
• Drink water regularly—it keeps you hydrated, which is good for your body and brain, and also gets you up to go to the bathroom frequently!
• Exercise daily.
• Eat a healthy diet.
• Set up your home office so it’s ergonomically friendly.
• Use tools that will help you avoid pain, like cushions, split keyboards, and an ergonomic mouse.

All of these take time and energy to implement. The toughest one by far, though, is to exercise daily. I know a lot of writers who struggle with this one for all sorts of reasons. The most common excuse I hear is “I don’t have time.”

Writers Must find Time to Exercise

I get that. We’re all super busy. But I also know that we can all make time for those things that are important to us, and as a health writer, I know just how important exercise is.

After 25 years of researching scientific studies and writing on health and wellness issues, I can say with confidence that exercise is the best thing you can do to avoid disease and live a long and vibrant life.

But when you get busy with your day, you may find it hard to carve out a few minutes to write, say nothing of 30 minutes to exercise.

I’ve always stayed committed to my regular workout plans because I know how important exercise is to my mental and physical wellness. (Without it, I get draggy and brain foggy.)

But this past winter was a hard one in my neck of the woods. We got more snow than usual and more subzero temperatures. I also had a change in my schedule that interfered with my usual workout times.

The weather and the new schedule changed things for me, and soon I found the number of workouts I was doing per week dwindling.

I knew I had to do better.

Stay Healthy While Writing—If It’s Not Working You Have to Change It

At first, I decided that I would change my workout time. On certain days of the week, I’d exercise first thing in the morning. But as I mentioned in this post, that wasn’t a good solution for me.

The main problem is that my full-sized treadmill (which I’ve had for over a decade) is in the unfinished basement. In the winter, it’s very cold.

A “first thing in the morning” exercise routine would mean getting out of my warm bed, piling on layers of clothing, and braving the frigid temperatures for my morning workout.

Are you surprised it didn’t work?

Took me way too long to realize that this was a bad idea.

I beat myself up for not being disciplined enough to brave the cold temperatures. But then I realized I just needed a better solution.

I wanted something that I could use to not only exercise in the morning if I wanted, but that would help me move more throughout the day. Something easy and convenient and close to my work area.

The solution was a folding treadmill.

Stay Healthy While Writing with a Folding Treadmill

A folding treadmill is a smaller, more portable treadmill that takes up less space when you’re not using it.

Most have a folding component to them—either arms that fold down so the treadmill becomes an under-desk walking pad or a walking/running deck that pivots up so it takes up less space.

You can get some that are characterized solely as walking pads, but they are lower-powered machines that go up to only about a 4 treadmill speed (fast walk). They are made to go under a desk you already have—a standing desk in most cases.

If all you want to do is walk, one of these may be perfect for you. I avoided them because:

• sometimes I want to jog, not just walk, and
• my current standing desk setup wouldn’t work over a walking pad.

Finding the Perfect Folding Treadmill

I researched foldable treadmills that had a little more power and could go up to around a 7 or 8 treadmill speed (outright run).

For a long time, I thought I needed a 3-horsepower (HP) motor, but I later learned that a 2.5 HP would work fine considering my size. (The more you weigh and the faster you want to go, the more power you want.)

After weeks of researching, I went with the THERUN 2 in 1 under desk treadmill, which they also call a “walking/running pad.” (I have no affiliate relationship with the company.)

This machine had the right combination of power, speed, reliability (according to the reviews), and weight (it’s about 72 pounds) to suit my needs.

I considered getting one that had a foldable desk option on it—I looked seriously at this one from Urevo—but it was quite a bit heavier and more expensive, and the reviews mentioned that the desk was too low to work on comfortably.

That meant that I’d have to use something on top of the built-in desk to boost my laptop up to a suitable height. That sounded like a stack of dominoes ready to fall!

I decided to go with the lighter treadmill and look around afterward for a desk solution.

Stay Healthy While Writing: Isn’t This a Treadmill Desk?

A couple of years ago, I wrote about treadmill desks. I called them an “imperfect” solution for writers.

I still think that’s true mainly because most of the products advertised as “treadmill desks” will run you $1,400 or more. It’s difficult to do focused, concentrated writing while doing a fast walk or run, so why pay that much for something you will use only to walk?

The desks also take up a lot of space—most are at least 48 inches wide, which was much bigger than I wanted for my work area.

I think investing in a foldable treadmill is a much better alternative for writers who want to get in more movement overall during the day.

When I’m posting to social media, creating graphics, editing my stories, or even researching, I’d rather be moving than sitting, and I was doing far too much sitting.

These machines are light enough and compact enough that you can place them somewhere close for convenience, then use them whenever you have a few minutes to move. Rather than have to block off 30 minutes for a workout, you can hop on for 10 minutes and burn some calories in between projects or while editing or reading.

Best of all, you’re not dropping a lot of money on something that could turn into a clothes hangar in a year. You’re making a small investment in your health.

Stay Healthy While Writing: My Thoughts on My Folding Treadmill

I’ve had the treadmill for a couple of months now and I can say without hesitation that I’m thrilled with it!

I’ve placed it in the corner near my writing nook, which means anytime I print something out to edit it I can hop on and move while I’m editing. I can get in an extra 1-5 miles a day this way.

Which saves me a lot of leg and back pain.

Plus, the treadmill is upstairs where it’s warm, which means it’s a lot easier to get on first thing in the morning and walk or jog a mile or two before starting my day. It takes 30 minutes or less but it makes such a huge difference in how I feel!

This thing is light but sturdy. The buttons are touch-sensitive, very responsive, and easy to use. The readout is on the front of the walking pad, and there’s a handy remote control that also works great.

If you’re not planning on going faster than 4 miles per hour, you can lower the arms and walk on just the walking pad, or put a standing desk over the top. (I got this folding one and love it! I use it when walking, then move it when jogging.)

Folding the arms down also makes the treadmill less conspicuous if you don’t want to move it, or if you want to store it under a couch.

If you want to go faster, you do have to lift the arms, but I like them. You can’t write while jogging or running anyway, so you might as well have the arms there. You can adjust your speed on the readout and set your phone or tablet on the attached tray.

Finally, I’m surprised with the quality of the walking pad so far. It does have a cushioning element to it, and I find it more comfortable to walk and jog on than my full-sized treadmill. (Likely because my full-sized one is over 10 years old and technology has improved since then.)

Stay Healthy While Writing—Find Something that Works for You!

Overall, I think this is one of the best investments I’ve made in my health in a long time. I wanted to share my experience in case you might benefit from a machine like this.

I would encourage you to do your research first. It will increase your odds of getting what you want.

We have to take care of our health. Without it, we can’t do what we want to do in life, which includes writing.

And sometimes taking care of our health means investing in a new tool that makes it just a little easier.

You have a lot of other challenges to overcome. Make daily exercise less of one today!

How do you stay healthy while writing?