Setting Up a Walking Desk: How to Properly Combine a Standing Desk + Walking Pad

• What is a walking desk?
• What height should you set the walking desk to?
• Setting up a Walking Desk: the 6 steps
• What pace should you use, and for how long?
• How loud is it in a rented apartment?
• How much does a walking-desk setup cost?
• The most common setup mistakes
• FAQ
• Conclusion

Eight hours of sitting, followed by an evening on the sofa: Your body remembers it. A walking desk turns that equation around without costing you a minute of working time. You walk while the emails come in. It sounds simple, but there are a few variables where most people fail. We will go through them one by one, using real figures from our own Zurich office.

What is a walking desk?

A walking desk combines a height-adjustable standing desk with a walking pad underneath. You work standing up and walk slowly at the same time, instead of standing still or sitting. The device does not replace exercise; it replaces inactivity. Anyone who sits in a home office all day can accumulate several thousand steps this way without having to schedule a walk.

Important: A walking pad is not a treadmill for interval training. It is flatter, quieter and designed for walking pace. If you want to know exactly what the difference is, we have covered it in detail in our walking pad vs. treadmill comparison. And whether standing movement actually offers any benefits is explained in the article on whether a walking pad is healthy.

What height should you set the walking desk to?

The desk surface should be at your standing elbow height, plus the setup height of the walking pad. This is where a walking desk differs from a normal standing desk: You are not standing on the floor, but around 12 cm higher on the walking surface. You need to add these centimetres on top; otherwise, you will work with raised shoulders.

Think of it like the rear-view mirror in a car: A few centimetres off, and your neck will hurt after two hours. As a starting point, this rule of thumb helps for the pure standing working height (forearms horizontal, elbows at about 90 degrees):

These figures are starting points, not hard rules. It is better to measure for yourself once: stand upright on the Pad, let your upper arms hang loosely, keep your forearms horizontal—that is where the desktop should be. Our height-adjustable standing desk moves continuously from 75 to 120 cm, covering the reference values above up to around 180 cm body height, including the Pad height. Convenient for everyday use: The desk has four memory presets, one for sitting and one for walking. Press a button and switch between them.

Setting up a Walking Desk: the 6 steps

Setting it up takes less time than you might think. The two of us managed it in a little over half an hour; it took a bit longer alone. Here is how to do it:

1. Check the space. The Walking Pad needs its footprint plus some clearance at the back. Make sure there is enough open space in front of the desk so that the desk legs do not obstruct the walking area.
2. Set up and roughly adjust the standing desk. Raise the desk to approximately standing height before placing the Pad underneath.
3. Position the Walking Pad. Slide it centrally under the desktop so that you are centred in front of the monitor and keyboard.
4. Fine-tune the height. Stand on the Pad, check your elbows, adjust the desk to the millimetre at the touch of a button, then save it as a preset.
5. Cables and monitor. Set the screen at eye level (with the top line just below your eyes), and route the cables so they do not hang into the walking area.
6. Trial run without working. First, walk for two or three minutes, test the pace, then add the keyboard.

An active workstation is more than just a Pad and a desk. Anyone who switches frequently between walking and sitting should not skimp on the chair either: Find out what matters in the guide to the ergonomic office chair for working from home.

What pace should you use, and for how long?

For typing, the ideal pace is 2 to 3 km/h, no faster. That is the most important takeaway from four weeks of continuous use: At a height of 178 cm, our comfortable working height with the Pad was around 116 cm, and anything above 2.5 km/h made our hands bounce on the keyboard. For calls and reading, you can go a little faster because your fingers are resting.

The question we get most often about the Walking Pad is still: How fast does this thing go? For a Walking Desk, the honest answer is slowly. Our Pad adjusts in 0.1 km/h increments and reaches up to 6 or up to 12 km/h, depending on the model, but the higher speeds are for training without a keyboard, not for working.

To get started, two or three 20- to 30-minute blocks spread throughout the day are enough. That quickly adds up to one or two hours of movement that were previously missing entirely. The key is to alternate: walk, sit, stand—not march continuously for six hours.

How loud is a walking desk in a rented apartment?

In a rented apartment, it is not the motor that determines whether you stay on good terms with the neighbors, but the impact noise traveling downward. A good walking pad runs pleasantly quietly at walking pace; the actual noise comes from the footsteps transmitted through the floor. That is exactly what our cushioned running surface is designed to address: It absorbs impact and is gentler on your joints and your neighbor’s ceiling.

Three things make a concrete difference in a Swiss apartment building:

• Place an underlay mat under the pad. It absorbs vibrations and also provides additional floor protection.
• Keep the pace low. Relaxed walking causes far fewer vibrations than brisk marching.
• Avoid quiet hours. Don’t walk over the sleeping neighbors at 6 a.m. or late at night.

Solid oak has an added benefit here: The heavy, stable frame vibrates less than a lightweight plastic model. Less vibration from the frame means less transmission.

How much does a walking-desk setup cost?

A complete setup consisting of a walking pad and height-adjustable standing desk costs between around CHF 728 and CHF 828 at TWHEELS, depending on the pad variant. If you already have a standing desk, you can get by with the pad alone from CHF 399. Here are the three sensible options at a glance:

One detail that is easily overlooked when buying separately: the pad and desk are also available as a ready-made ergonomics bundle for CHF 655, around CHF 70 less than buying both parts separately.

Why the mid-range option? You don’t need a 12 km/h pad for work because you’ll be typing at walking pace anyway. The model that goes up to 6 km/h is perfectly adequate for everyday use at a walking desk, and the additional CHF 100 is only worth it if you also want to use the pad as a small treadmill without a desk.

The most common setup mistakes

Most problems are not equipment faults but setup mistakes. These are the four we see most often:

• Forgot to account for the pad’s height. The desk was set to normal standing height, but the pad’s 12 cm were not added. Result: shoulder tension.
• Started too fast. Started at 4 km/h and gave up after five minutes. Start at 2 km/h.
• Monitor too low. When walking, your gaze drops; a screen that is too low pulls your neck downward.
• No switching. Walking all day is tiring. The trick is to alternate between sitting, standing, and walking.

Frequently asked questions about walking desks

Can I type normally at a walking desk?
Yes, typing works perfectly well at 2 to 3 km/h. Your fingers retain their fine motor control at a calm walking pace. For highly precise work, such as detailed graphics or photo editing, briefly stop or switch to sitting mode.

Do I absolutely need a height-adjustable desk?
Yes, a fixed-height desk almost never works because the pad adds height. Only a height-adjustable standing desk can be set precisely to your elbow height plus the running surface and lets you switch back to sitting.

How many steps can I get in during a workday?
Walking for two hours at around 2.5 km/h amounts to roughly 6,000 to 7,000 steps without taking a single walk. This is the range in which many people reach their daily goal for the first time.

Is a walking desk allowed in a rented apartment?
Generally, yes; the usual quiet hours apply, just as they do with any device. The key factor is impact noise: With a cushioned running surface, a protective mat, and a moderate pace, you’ll stay well below the level at which it disturbs the neighbors.

Can the walking pad be stored away when I don’t need it?
Yes. Our pad has transport wheels and can be slid flat under a sofa or bed. This means the standing desk remains a workspace during the day and isn’t permanently blocked.

Conclusion

Our conclusion: A walking desk depends on the right height and speed. Set the desktop at elbow height plus around 12 cm for the pad, walk at 2 to 3 km/h, and alternate between sitting, standing, and walking throughout the day. That gives you one to two hours of movement without losing working time. For most people working from home, the combination of a walking pad that reaches 6 km/h and a height-adjustable standing desk is the right starting point, and it’s quiet enough even for an apartment rental.

If you want to get started right away: the oak walking pad and the matching height-adjustable standing desk are in stock at our location in Weesen, with a 120-day exchange policy and a 2-year warranty. Questions about the height or setup? Email us at info@twheels.ch or call +41 43 508 20 26—we’ll walk you through the setup.