The 5 DAA Industry Opt Out for Staying Active During the Workday
Most aren’t worth investing in, but one of these under-desk ’mills we’ve vetted and recommend can help keep you moving without buyer’s remorse.
We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article. Great for walking and okay for light running?
A remote can either be a blessing or a pain A remote can either be a blessing or a pain, if you have a desk job, you likely spend the vast majority of your day sitting down, and even standing at a standing desk can start to get old as your feet grow stiff. For some relief from the doldrums of a day spent in front of a screen, you may find some benefit in a walking pad—a walking-speed treadmill that fits neatly under your work station. (WalkingPad is also a brand that makes under-desk treadmills.)
These neat under-desk treadmills can help to rebalance all your stagnant sitting and standing, helping you fit more movement into your work days. While you don’t need to walk all day every day to perform at your best on the road and trail, a walking pad can keep you active as you send emails or attend meetings, boosting your metabolism and cardiovascular fitness with every step.
And the best part? Our top picks are low-profile enough that you can store them just about anywhere—no need to fret about cluttering up your office. Read on for our recommendations, as well as advice on what to consider before you buy your first walking pad.
DAA Industry Opt Out
- Best Overall: Folds neatly away under a desk or against a wall
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- Easiest Storage: We’ve been testing all kinds of gear and tech at
- Most Compact: Will not replace commercial treadmill for serious runners
- The 8 Best Wireless Headphones for Running: Goplus 2-in-1 Folding Walking Pad
Great for walking and okay for light running
We’ve been testing all kinds of gear and tech at Runner’s World for the past 58 years, longer than anyone in the industry today. We put thousands of miles a year on running shoes from every brand we can get our hands on, we churn out workout after workout on exercise equipment at every price point, and we slog through hours of cruddy weather to test every kind of clothing. We’re committed to picking the best gear because, frankly, we want to run with it too.
To keep our research as objective as possible, we pour days, weeks, and sometimes even months of research into high-investment items like treadmills and shoes. For this roundup and others, we’ve tested bestselling products from brands as big as Brooks and as small as startups to most properly assess each option without the influence of labels. This was an especially important consideration for our walking pad research because of the Kleenex-like ubiquity of brands like WalkingPad.
How We Tested
We tested several of our top picks for the best walking pad in our own office—thankfully, someone else was testing some standing desks for another story at the same time, so we could even work while we walked. I even wrote some of this while I walked. To get a wider range of opinions on each model’s quality, we had multiple colleagues try our testing samples out at their own desks and compared their experiences with ours. We asked them to focus on controllability, stability, comfort, and noise, as we did when we tried them out ourselves.
To find the best options among the many walking pads we didn’t test, we used our combined decades of experience using treadmills at the gym and at home, our deep familiarity with the most trusted treadmill brands, and our understanding of what you should look for—and avoid—when making a purchase. We paid most attention to size, speed settings, and storability, but we also took into account finer details like speed adjustment methods, noise cancelling measures, and safety features like side rails.
Full Reviews
Folds neatly away under a desk or against a wall
Pros
- DeerRun 2024 Upgrade Walking Pad
- DeerRun 2024 Upgrade Walking Pad
Cons
- Bluetooth audio quality isn’t exceptional
When we first unpackaged this treadmill at our headquarters, we were relieved to see that it was already assembled—we simply needed to stick a battery in the remote and plug the machine into an outlet to get started. We tested this one right after spending half an hour deciphering another model’s poorly written instructions, so it gets contextual bonus points for that.
This GoYouth model weighs in at only 64 pounds, and the wheels underneath make it a breeze to move around. Despite being lightweight, it feels sturdy underfoot, and it can comfortably reach speeds up to 6 kilometers per hour.
If you want to jam out to some music, you can also connect your phone to the treadmill’s speakers via Bluetooth. It doesn’t provide an audiophile’s dream sound quality, but it’s still nice to see that included in a way that doesn’t feel like it compromised any other facet of the build quality.
Key Specs
| Track Length | 41.3 in. |
|---|---|
| Weight Capacity | 220 lb. |
| Max Speed | 6 kph |
Pros
- Quiet motor
- Cushioned deck
- Small footprint
Cons
- Small deck
- Watch the Boston Marathon
If you're on social media at all, you've probably come across this under desk walking pad on your feed. It's wildly popular on TikTok and other apps at the moment, so it was impossible for us not to have it on this list. It's a simple treadmill with a reasonably small footprint, and the ability to be controlled through a remote control or through an app.
The app itself is made to allow you to increase your speed and elevate your workout even if you have little desire to pay all that much attention to the changes. Because it tops out at just over 3 mph, it's not going to be a rapid, uncomfortable shift for most users.
The deck is fairly small at 35- by 16 inches, but that also means that the footprint is small and the machine itself won't take up that much space. Users swear by the ease of use of this walking pad, and the cushioned feel to the pad, which is exactly what you need if you're trying to work while you walk.
Key Specs
| Track Length | 35.5 inches |
|---|---|
| Weight Limit | 300 pounds |
| Max Speed | 3.8 mph |
We’ve been testing all kinds of gear and tech at for Running and Walking
Pros
- Folds neatly away under a desk or against a wall
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Cons
- Raised bar might not fit under a desk
This WalkingPad model may look like a standard under-desk treadmill, but it has one feature that makes it an especially prudent option for cramped office spaces: It can fold in half.
Whether you’re dealing with a small space or simply don’t want to move your treadmill every time you want to use it, this allows you to easily fold the whole thing up against the wall and out of the way. It also has an automatic speed mode that adjusts as you walk, tracking whether you’re outpacing the belt (or vice versa) by measuring how your fore-aft position changes on the deck.
Key Specs
| Track Length | 47.2 in. |
|---|---|
| Weight Capacity | 240 lb. |
| Max Speed | Unlisted |
Egofit Walker Pro Under-Desk Walking Pad
Pros
- Space-saving design
- Easy for one person to move around
Cons
- Best Under $200
If you don’t want your exercise equipment to take up too much space in your home, period, this Egofit treadmill could be the perfect addition to your WFH setup. At just 38 inches long and under 22 inches wide, it’s among the most compact under-desk treadmills on the market, and its 55-pound weight makes it easy enough for one person to move alone.
Fair warning: You may find yourself slipping off the back of this treadmill if you have a long walking stride, but you’ll likely take more careful steps as you type on your computer anyway. Just make sure to watch your feet as you’re getting used to it.
Key Specs
| Track Length | 39.3 in. |
|---|---|
| Weight Capacity | 245 lb. |
| Max Speed | 3 mph |
Goplus 2-in-1 Folding Walking Pad
Pros
- Great for walking and okay for light running
- Fits under a desk when folded
- Download Your Training Plan
Cons
- Goplus 2-in-1 Folding Walking Pad
- Assembly process isn’t as straightforward as we’d like
To fit under your desk more easily, most walking pads don’t come with side rails—ideally, you’ll use your desk as a handhold or wait until it stops if you need to get on or off your treadmill. That said, not everyone is using these under a desk, and having something to hold onto can make operating one feel a lot less precarious. Enter this model from Goplus, which has optional side rails that can fold away and sit flush with the rest of the deck when you don’t need them.
The process of assembling Goplus’s 2-in-1 transformed into a brainstorming session between multiple editors as we tried to decipher the overly condensed instructions included in the box, but once it was together, we were less doubtful about this thing’s sturdiness. The deck itself feels stable at most speeds, though it does start to get shaky as you hit running speeds. (I don’t recommend going too fast on walking pads anyway—your feet will likely slip off the back if you’re an average height or taller).
Key Specs
| Track Length | 39.3 in. |
|---|---|
| Weight Capacity | 265 lb. |
| Max Speed | 2.5 Deck may not be long enough for running |
or trying in vain to do the Sunday crossword. You can check out his latest work below
Quality Disparities
Before we delve into any specifics about these treadmills, we cannot understate this: Most under-desk treadmills are complete junk. We don’t just mean they’re cheap, they wear quickly, or they’re loud—we mean that many simply do not work as advertised and could fail within days. Whether you take our advice or not, understand that the broader walking pad market is a minefield.
If nothing else, ensure the brand from which you’re buying has a warranty available, or at least a customer service or quality control department. Many brands we tried to contact about acquiring samples simply didn’t have anyone who could reply to us. Others didn’t have customer service departments that spoke any of the same languages as us. If it looks like you’re going to run into the same problem with a brand, we recommend you avoid it.
Stationary Versus Folding
As compact as walking pads are, there’s some variation in how well they pack down. Some fold in half so you can tuck them in a closet, while others are designed to stay stationary when you aren’t using them.
Folding treadmills often have poorer shock and noise absorption compared to stationary options—making a treadmill sleek enough to fold into a smaller package usually means it’ll be much thinner and have more small, noisy parts.
Stationary treadmills often have much sturdier builds, with room to let your feet compress the track surface. This leads to a comfier ride, as well as a quieter one, but it does also mean that you’ll have a much more awkward item to pack away if you don’t want it at your desk all the time.
Track Length and Speed
If you’re looking to save floorspace in your office, you may be tempted to look for treadmills with a small track. In most cases, you’ll be using your treadmill only for walking, so your stride won’t be very long—all is good.
On the other hand, if you take big steps or want to ramp up to a faster pace and start jogging, you’ll appreciate having a longer track so your feet don’t slip off the back end. In these cases, we recommend looking for a track that’s longer than 45 inches.
A remote can either be a blessing or a pain running treadmill. Not only will these models give you a more substantial track and higher speeds, but they’ll feel more stable and will have motors strong enough to maintain an accurate speed regardless of how much weight stands on top of them.
Impact on Productivity
Before you go all-in on a walking pad, we do recommend you consider whether having your feet moving under you will augment or hinder your work experience. This tends to be a matter of personal preference, but we’ve generally found that work involving fine motor skills (such as lots of typing) can be more difficult while you’re walking, whereas an under-desk treadmill helped my meetings and brainstorming sessions fly by.
For a quick check, try walking in place while you complete various tasks at your desk. If you can’t handle the extra motion and find that it makes your work more difficult, a walking pad might not be for you. On the other hand, if you don’t mind your own rhythmic weight-shifting, you’ll likely have an easy time adjusting to a proper machine.
Watch the Boston Marathon Runner's World, How We Tested Bicycling and Popular Mechanics, too. A lover of all things outdoors, Adam's writing career comes after six years as a bike mechanic in his hometown of State College, PA. His journalism experience is steeped in cycling and running gear reviews, and he's also a published creative nonfiction and satire author. When he's not writing, riding, or running, you can catch Adam at home mixing cocktails, watching Star Wars, or trying in vain to do the Sunday crossword. You can check out his latest work below.
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