back to article Shed Xmas flab and debug code with treadmill laptop contraption

No self-respecting techie would ever be seen dead in a gym. If you want to get fit, just put down the doughnut and go for a walk. However for those of you who do submit to treadmill workouts but don't want to miss a minute's coding time, this might interest you. Brainy old Reg friend Bill Softky has come up with an ingenious …

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  1. JimC

    As I watch a generation or two

    walking hunched over their phones or whatever, with a rounded back gait reminiscent of some poor soul suffering from osteoporosis, I have this vision of a combined zimmer frame and iphone (or whatever the latest fad is in ten years time) dock...

  2. A Non e-mouse Silver badge
    Unhappy

    My gym recently revamped their CV machines and got new ones with LCD screens (you can watch TV & play games) The first thing I do, is switch the dam thing off.

    I find going to the gym is a nice mental break from work/the world, and the last thing I'd want to do is to be typing away at a keyboard.

    Although, I'm not sure how practical this laptop do-dad thing is. I wouldn't want my laptop covered in sweat and drink. And how you're supposed to type when you're working out ? (unless it's for those who think that just being in a gym counts as a work-out)

  3. Tom Wood

    If you can focus on text on a laptop screen or use the keyboard

    while on a treadmill, you're using it wrong. Run faster!

    1. Sceptic Tank Silver badge
      Go

      From the picture it would appear you will only be able to do Mickey Mouse work.

  4. Ralph B
    Coat

    Read Reamde Much?

    Someone's been reading Neal Stephenson's latest novel.

    <-- Well, someone's been pickpocketing someone else ideas.

    1. Ru
      Meh

      The Reamde solution was much more interesting

      As it provided some sort of clever head-bobbing-compensated display, IIRC.

      Too hard to use a lappy on a treadmill to my mind; much too inconvenient and I note that it would cover up the 'emergency stop' button on the machines. Better off on the bikes, I reckon.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    They've had DiY instructions on these

    many times on Lifehacker. Hate to burst anyone's bubble but this isn't exactly a new idea.

    There is also a company, IIRC, that makes a treadmill to work with a cube/desk setup.

    If I can find it I'll post the link to the article someone wrote about working this way - titled "Written at 1 Mile per Hour" or something like that.

    Again, kudos to this guy on building his treadmill desk and to the Reg for sharing it. For us poor souls tied to their laptops for 10+ hours a day this is really a good way for us to get a little healthier.

  6. jai

    wrong market - should target the fat MMO players so this way you can exercise without having to logout and interrupt your quests/raids/guilds-flashmob-dancing/etc

    1. Abremms

      its been done

      Can't find it at the moment, But I remember reading an article a while back about a WoW player who dropped some 150 pounds by using one of these setups while out farming several hours every evening.

      he was also on a 1300 calory diet, but it was all about the treadmill laptop! Also, apparently sweat is a big deal on setups like this. Something about electronics not mixing well with the buckets of salty secretions us fatties are prone to produce under even the most leasurely of physical exertion.

  7. druck Silver badge
    Go

    Black mirror

    Nah, you want a video wall with gesture recognition in front of the running/cycling machine, like on Black Mirror last week (not the one with the pig).

  8. Helena Handcart
    Big Brother

    Black Mirror

    15 Million Merits.

    That is all.

  9. 27escape
    Happy

    I used to play PS2

    When I was on my cross trainer, stopped the gym boredom kicking in

  10. Rampant Spaniel

    There's something similar called the trekdesk (and probably a few clones of that). I think I'd have to try it to pass any serious judgement. I'm pretty confident I couldn't do much serious photo or video editing but day to day stuff like emails or culling images might be an option.

    I don't think you are supposed to crank the treadmill to 15mph on full incline and work whilst doing a full workout but rather in addition to a normal workout with all the associated pain you can add a few more miles walking whilst doing basic computer based tasks rather than doing them sat on your ass.

  11. Captain Scarlet
    Devil

    New revenue resource for Notebook makers

    As I would at some point trip and smash my face into the notebook rendering it broken and in a million pieces, so would need to send the hard drive off for recovery and a new notebook to replace the faceplanted one.

  12. MJI Silver badge
    Joke

    I took up motion control gaming

    to lose weight

    However I haven't lost any but I am now General 3 in Killzone 3 multiplayer so not all lost!

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I find it's never the platform that needs stabilising, it's the operative. Have you ever tried to operate any device while jogging or brisk walking, a few button stabs are possible on the treadmill itself while your carcass moves up and down in rhythm to your legs and hips, but typing on a laptop? You'd have to be walking quite slowly and with very little motion from waist down to be able to keep your hands steady enough to type.

  14. Charles Manning

    I'm fit

    If I can type and wiggle a mouse then I'm fit enough.

  15. fivebellies
    Happy

    Already done

    Already done with my old Asus netbook and cross-trainer: http://lockerz.com/s/22974684

  16. Nick Galloway

    Bike fitting

    Stick this on an exercise bike and hook the bike into a dynamo and that powers your laptop. No exercise, no computer time fat boy!

  17. david 12 Silver badge

    computer power

    As a teenager, I had a TV which required constant adjustment (vertical hold was shot). Ducking around the back to tweek the vertical hold, then back in front to see the program, required constant physical and mental activity.

    I didn't waste time with passing watching. I quickly decided if each program was worth watching or not.

    Given that experience, I have for years wanted a TV which required constant physical activity. For example, a treadmill powered TV.

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