2022 Holiday Gift Guide for Office Fitness
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Some people are hard to buy gifts for. It seems like they have everything, and when you ask, they say, “I just want to see you happy,” or something equally flustering. Well, if that person spends any amount of time working at the computer, we have got the perfect list of products that can help them use that time to be more healthy. The following are all great stocking stuffer ideas but if you’re looking for even greater holiday gifting ideas be sure to check out our round-ups of the Best Standing Desks and Best Treadmill Desks that we’ve tested and reviewed.
For The Standing Desk User
These are some of the most popular items and staff favorites that people buy AFTER buying their standing desk, and realizing they need a little more of an ergonomic tune-up.
Some accessories might not make the best stocking stuffers without first knowing more about the user’s exact configuration, so for those we suggest reading our round-up reviews that guide you first on what information to gather before making a purchase. For example, our Monitor Arms round-up has a complete guide to matching the arm to the monitors, desk configuration and user’s height. And the same goes for Ergonomic Keyboard Trays round-up. Below we specifically list items that are of universal appeal and compatibility.
1. Gymba Ergonomic Balance Board
The Gymba is the category winner for balance boards for standing desk users, hands down. It is the veritable Swiss Army Knife of motion boards, combining features that would cost many times more and take up a lot more floor space to replicate with individual purchases, and thus making its $199 price a great bargain.
We come to this assessment after many man-months of testing, adding up the many different ways that you can use the Gymba to improve your flexibility and general fitness and health while continuing to maintain maximum typing proficiency and overall productivity at your active workstation.
Price: $199
2. Movemate Active Standing Board
The Movemate Active Standing Board finds itself in the nascent new category of “ergonomic” balance boards, along with the Gymba muscle activation board. It mimics natural fluid movements and has a great range of motion in a variety of controlled movements that can really help people keep moving while they work at a standing desk. Quality, made-in-Canada construction using authentic Baltic birch. The only real downsides are the high price and the damage it can possibly do to some sensitive floors. Limited lifetime warranty expresses the company’s confidence in their strong materials, sturdy build, and patent-pending design.
Price: $449
3. Fluidstance Balance Boards
The OG of balance boards, Fluidstance has several models these days, in a wide price range (link to our individual reviews from this round-up review)unsit. While marketed as suitable for standing desk users, they’re better use case is when used away from the desk, in contrast to the Gymba and Movemate boards above.
4. Tucker Cable Management Kit
Cable management on a standing desk workstation is key for both sanity and safety. And it can be challenging to hide the “cord spaghetti” due to the amount of slack required in cables as the desk moves up and down. The three iMovR Tucker Cable Management kits we review here (Basic, Advanced and Pro) have progressively more advanced components. They get it right by providing high-quality, well-thought-out components that are not only much stronger than the weakly adhering components of most cable management kits, most of them are also reusable—so you can easily add or change out equipment without starting over. The innovative, patented cable management spine in the Pro Kit is easier to use and leaves a tidier desk appearance than any other vertebrae chain we’ve tested.
Price: $49
5. EcoLast Premium Standing Mat
The iMovR EcoLast Premium Standing Mat yields superior materials and construction, and with a solid warranty, ensures trouble-free ownership without any of the wear and tear that lower quality mats are known for. Plus, given the expected lifetime performance of this product, its true annualized cost of ownership is only that of a cup of coffee.
Price: $89
6. Topo Terrain Anti-Fatigue Mat
The Topo takes things to the next level with unique calculated terrain features that encourage continual movement throughout the day. However, the flat areas are too thin to provide quality all-day support, and the small dimensions and ridges leave some users feeling too constrained.
Price: $99
7. Cubii Under Desk Elliptical
If you’re looking at under desks pedals, compact seated ellipticals are definitely the most ergonomic and fit under a desk much better than under desk cycles with their circular strokes. As under desk ellipticals go, Cubii is the Cadillac model.
Price: $249
8. iMovR Energy Stool for Standing Desks
There are cheaper stools to be found for use with height adjustable desks, but for our money, the Energy Stool is a bargain. After testing dozens of different active stools over the years, we can say most are either too uncomfortable, have too small of a dynamic range, or don’t have enough traction grip for safety on slick floors. The Energy Stool is also perfect for use as a treadtop seat as the soft rubber base will not damage the belt, and it’s so light that it’s easy to move on and off your treadmill desk workstation. A gentle swaying motion isn’t just going to be good for your posture, joints, leg, and low back muscles, but it actually feels great on the glutes. Particularly after long periods of standing and/or walking at your desk. The Energy Stool quickly became an office favorite.
Price: $225
9. CoreChair Ative Seat
“Active Sitting” is yet another means of fighting the sedentary lifestyle. A healthy work routine involves moving during the day—alternating between sitting, standing, and of course, walking. The CoreChair promises to make your sitting time less sedentary. How well does it perform? Our team of testers tried it out over the last several weeks. Here’s our verdict below.
Price: $795
10. McHale Ergonomic Office Chair
Usually when we say “you get what you pay for,” it’s meant as a negative point against a cheap product. But with the iMovR McHale, you get what you pay for—in a good way. This chair is superb. Comfort, assembly, all the ergonomic adjustments you need and great quality set it apart from the competition. It comes with an excellent 12-year warranty matching the much more expensive Herman Miller equivalent. Unlike most ergonomic chairs you can buy these days it is built in North America, not China.
Price: $1,180
11. Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Keyboard Tray
The Sculpt is a million miles away from its Natural 4000 predecessor, both functionally and aesthetically. Many users will find the redesigned keyboard a joy to work with, and the accompanying mouse and num pad are also well-made. It has become one of the office favorites at our test labs, especially for those who are looking for the ergonomic features without having to totally relearn how to use a keyboard. However, like its predecessors and unlike competing products such as the Freestyle2 from Kinesis, the Sculpt is strictly one-size-fits-all.
12. Ellipse Tabletop Power Bar
Made-in-the-USA to specs that well exceed UL certification standards, this is one solid power block that brings you three different kinds of charging power to anywhere on your desktop. With a built-in Qi wireless charging pad on top, and dual-AC plus dual USB-A 3.0 ports on the front, the Ellipse integrates all the power outlets and charging ports you need on your desktop into a single tabletop unit that is free-floating so you can place it wherever you want it. Also comes in an edge-clamped version for maximizing your desktop real estate.
Price: $209
13. Storage Solutions for Standing Desk Users
There are so many options in this category that we’ll direct you to our reviews round-up for add-on drawers, monitor risers, mobile file pedestals and other clever storage solutions that a standing desk user really needs if they lost the drawers in their old fixed height desk.
14. Humanscale Foot Machine Footrest
We love having this Humanscale footrest around; it’s one of the most borrowed items around the testing lab. It’s attractive, slender, and it feels amazing. Yes, we know we’re describing it in romantic terms, and no, we’re not embarrassed about that.
Price: $100
15. iMovR Foot Rest
iMovR Standing Desk Foot Rest is a simple yet versatile product that you can use with both a traditional desk and a height-adjustable desk. Its four tilt angles accommodate a wide range of user heights while an anti-fatigue rubber topsheet makes for a nice grippy surface even for your dress shoes.
Price: $45
16. EMMA Electric Monitor Arm
For the power user who has too many display monitors (of any size) and not enough monitor arms, this one system can support up to six displays or 150 lbs of VESA-mounted gear (displays, laptop holders, etc.) and move them all up and down in unison with one tap when shifting between sitting and standing.
Price: $880
17. Unsit Under Desk Treadmill
The Unsit stands apart from the pack in being substantially wider and drastically shorter than conventional walking treadmill bases. Yes, we have reviewed numerous “office treadmill bases” over the years that were simply too narrow to be comfortable to walk on for hours on end. In fact, all the units we ever tested with walking belts 14” to 18” wide are no longer being made, likely for good reason. Recognizing that flaw, the industry standard became 20″ as remaining competitors followed iMovR’s lead in this direction with the introduction of the ThermoTread GT in 2015 (now replaced with the Unsit model). Apparently, that wasn’t good enough for the original designers of the Unsit Walk-1, who thought more width would be even better, and created this treadmill with a 30″-wide belt and 38″ overall width. At the same time, where conventional office treadmills have a deck length of 50″-65″, they shortened the deck down to 40″, ostensibly in the name of removing a tripping hazard from tight office quarters. Some trade-offs were made with this unconventional aspect ratio. While the unit takes up less floor space in your office, it can take up all the space underneath your standing desk (be mindful that you need at least 40″ of space between the lifting columns for the Unsit to slip in). The biggest issue some users will experience with the shortened length of the deck is that the placement of the treadmill underneath the desk has to be extremely precise, lest the user’s feet either hit the motor housing or slip off the back of the treadmill. This is fine if you’re the only user and you’re not particularly tall, but for multi-user workstations it may mean frequently having to reposition the treadmill (like a wheelbarrow) to accommodate others in your office or households with different stride lengths and belly contours. Where other units have touch-screen controllers with all the metrics at your fingertips, the Unsit’s minimalistic desktop console is just a simple speed dial and an on-off switch. You’ll need to connect the smartphone app via Bluetooth to get any of the usual statistical readouts, or export their data to their FitBit or Apple Health apps. There are some other challenges when it comes to leveling the unit and lubricating it as compared to more conventional treadmills, but we found some hacks that work around the problems reasonably well. At the end of the day, the Unsit is one of only a handful of office treadmill bases still in production that we can wholeheartedly recommend, except in some very specific circumstances. It is built with quality componentry and should be highly reliable for many years if diligently maintained.
Price: $2,495
For The Treadmill Desk User
1. iMovR TreadTop Energy Stool
There are cheaper stools to be found for use with height adjustable desks, but for our money, the Energy Stool is a bargain. After testing dozens of different active stools over the years, we can say most are either too uncomfortable, have too small of a dynamic range, or don’t have enough traction grip for safety on slick floors. The Energy Stool is also perfect for use as a treadtop seat as the soft rubber base will not damage the belt, and it’s so light that it’s easy to move on and off your treadmill desk workstation. A gentle swaying motion isn’t just going to be good for your posture, joints, leg, and low back muscles, but it actually feels great on the glutes. Particularly after long periods of standing and/or walking at your desk. The Energy Stool quickly became an office favorite.
Price: $225
2. iMovR EcoLast TreadTop Standing Mat Review
The TreadTop fits on the deck of an office treadmill, providing much-needed relief to deskers who find themselves taking standing breaks without dismounting. It continues EcoLast’s hallmark traits of lifelong durability, state-of-the-art comfort, and environmental friendliness.
Price: $54.95
3. RightSize Premium Anti-Static Treadmill Mat
This is the highest quality treadmill mat we could find, and also the only one that is properly sized for an office walking treadmill. Other, cheaper mats exist, but are too large, too thin and flimsy, and won’t provide the same level of floor and treadmill protection, or reduce noise, vibration and dirt nearly as well. This mat is the best ecological choice as well, made entirely out of recycled tire rubber, in the USA. Way nicer than PVC mats made in China that can outgas and leave a nasty odor in your office. Five-year, full-performance warranty is the best in the industry.
Price: $99
4. EasySpray Treadmill Lubricant
Lubrication is never high on the list of people’s favorite things about treadmill desking. It holds the possibility to be time consuming, messy, and just generally unpleasant – but it’s also necessary for keeping your equipment in good working order. iMovR has produced a more user-friendly lubricant bottle with a special multi-viscosity formulation that makes the job easier and cleaner than ever. We’re not saying it’ll make you start looking forward to lubricating your treadmill, but at least you won’t have any reason to dread it anymore.
Price: $24
5. SteadyType Exo Add-on Keyboard Tray For Treadmill Desk Users
The SteadyType Exo is an overachiever. Its raft of awarded patent claims is just the start. Among ergonomic keyboard trays, it is not only the most stable and durable design we’ve ever tested, the easiest to install, and the best at achieving steep “negative” ergonomic tilt angles; it is all of those things by a large margin. While the SteadyType Exo does not offer the ability to retract your keyboard underneath the desktop, its ability to install in just 30 seconds to literally any standing desk with a straight front edge, and to accommodate virtually any combination of keyboard and pointing device imaginable, forges a new and exciting category of adjustable keyboard trays. We can state categorically that it is the most ergonomically versatile add-on keyboard tray for standing desk and treadmill desk users on the market today.
Price: $360
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