Richard - Thank you for publishing your experience and being a resource for us. I've been dealing with pfp for 2 years and it's when I'm sitting at my desk that it's worst. Recently I fashioned a DIY cycling desk at my apartment, which has been effective but nothing helps as much as walking. Curious if you, or others, have invested in a walking desk?Anyone want to share their experience with a "walking desk"?
I was curious about walking desks -- no, I've never used one -- so I did a quick Google search. They look like a treadmill married to a small, simple table at the proper height. See here for an example.
Hmm. Looks interesting. Prolonged sitting is poison after all, right? I really do believe that.
So here are a couple of quick thoughts from me about "walking desks," and I warn you again: this is coming from someone who has never tried one:
* They look like an interesting idea for people who are already fit. I noticed that in the images that Google brought up, most everyone pictured looked like they could go out and run about 5 miles, no problem.
* For people with bad knees, I'm not so sure, but I guess it depends on how bad your knees are. They remind me too much of my early failed experiment with walking constantly, after I realized that the key to rehabbing bad knees was motion. But I overdid the walking. In a big way.
* So with a walking desk, what happens when you need to take a break? After a while you will get tired. Your muscles will be tired. Your feet will be tired. Maybe your knees will be tired too. Do you shift over to your non-walking desk nearby? Or are you supposed to be walking for an entire eight-hour day? Not sure I'd be keen about that.
Who out there has tried a walking desk, or a similar setup? Want to share what you learned?
I'm still in the chronic phase so stop, start, stop, start. For me, I have settied on a combination of using my laptop at the height of the kitchen worksurface which makes a perfect standing desk for me, sitting at my desk and resting my knees, resting in bed and on chairs and pottering about the house until it hurts. I wouldn't be ready to walk all day yet and so the desk would probably just be a huge piece of unused machinery.
ReplyDeleteI have the opinion that standing was better than sitting and walking is better than standing, but only if my knees can cope.
I wonder if anyone would benefit from a powered mini pedal device in a similar vein to the walking treadmill theory, but for those with slightly less ability/strength and maybe more able to tolerate cyclical motion rather than walking. Something like this: shorturl.at/bhuy7
ReplyDeleteI am also currently looking into getting hold of a continuous passive motion device (e.g. shorturl.at/frSY3) to keep my knee moving whilst I am lying on the couch. Has anyone tried this or thought about getting one too? I sort of feel like this would be a great idea, especially for those unable to tolerate walking or cycling like me.
not sure if those links worked so here's the full links for reference: pedal bike https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aidapt-Deluxe-Motorised-Exerciser-Eligible/dp/B00GOYWNFG
Deleteand CPM machine eg. https://www.btlnet.com/products-physiotherapy-cpmotion
on the CPM machine I cannot find any resources talking of it's use for chronic knee pain or similar (it's always after surgery and usually total knee replacement) so I'd welcome any opinions or knowledge on this. My thoughts are it fits nicely in line with Doug Kelsey and Richard's strategies and for example the rabbit cartilage study referenced in Richard's book.