Working from home has been my life since Emmy was a toddler, way before lockdown and it suits me perfectly. It fits around the school runs, after school clubs and the sheer amount of school holidays, not to mention the times the kids are off school poorly. Quite honestly, if I weren’t self-employed, I would have sacked me in an employed environment. Only 2 weeks ago both kids had Novovirus and had to have a whole week off school, straight after the Easter Holidays.
While it’s great for fitting in with the kid’s activities etc, it does mean I find myself sitting in front of the TV in the front room motionless for hours and hours at a time. I don’t have a desk set up for working at home so sit on the sofa or at the kitchen island.
I do try to hit my 10k daily steps doing the school runs and food shopping etc but too many days are spent on my backside with the laptop on my lap.
The Yo-Yo desk bike from Yo-Yodesk.co.uk is a brilliant solution for those of us who work from home. It probably wouldn’t replace your actual desk if you had one but means you are able to incorporate some exercise into your day while you work.
The Yo-Yo desk bike comes very well packaged in a large box and set up is very simple indeed as all you actually have to do is extend out the legs, push on the rubber grips onto the pedals and attached the desk onto the pole frame, tightening into place with an alan key. It probably took me longer to wrestle it out of the box than it took to set up – and that is only because it is so well packaged in polystyrene to protect the bike.
This desk bike is height adjustable from 5ft to 6 ft 3 so can be used by a range of family members by just adjusting the height of the desk and the height of the seat. The desk itself can be lowered and heightened by the press of a lever and you can also move it closer to you or further away to ensure a comfortable working position. The desk part itself measures 58cm wide x 51cm deep and has a soft ergonomic ledge to support your wrists while typing/writing etc.
It can be used as a sitting desk, a standing desk or desk bike – I was a little unsure how productive I would be able to be while using this as a bike but I have been very pleasantly surprised at just how easy it was for me to type and pedal at the same time. There are tasks which are harder than others – speed typing I can’t seem to do just as well but editing photos, doing blog admin tasks and answering emails are easy to do while multi-tasking and it’s very surprising just how much cycling you actually do while focusing on other things, and when I feel I have been a little too inactive during the day it is good to just jump on and cycle for a little while watching TV or reading a book.
There are 8 resistance levels so you can transition between light activity to a more robust workout depending on how you feel – I tend to lower the resistance if working so I can concentrate on typing but if I am watching TV or in between work I up the resistance to get a better work out. The seat is cushioned so it isn’t uncomfortable to sit on while working but I definitely wouldn’t be able to sit here all day long using it as a desk but as it is rather compact it can be tucked away in the corner of the room until I want to use it again. You can fold in the legs to make it even more compact and the legs are on 4 caster wheels with a 360-degree swivel meaning you can easily move this from room to room if you like.
Pedalling while working isn’t at all noisy as it has silent motion technology so it won’t disturb your video calls, work calls or even the TV.
There is also a small LCD display on the base; this needs 2 AA batteries. It shows the time, speed, distance, RPM and calories burned. These really do mount up, even if you only pedal for small periods of time during your working day. There’s also a cup holder just above.
I have certainly been far more active during my working day since I received this Yo-Yo desk bike, as have the kids too – Emmy has used to sit at while doing homework occasionally and Harry seems to think it is his and whenever I turn my back he has hopped on again and is happily peddling away while playing Minecraft or Roblox after school.
Priced at just under £500 this is perfect for those of you who want to ensure you are getting a little more active while working from home. These are available in Black or White.
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Clare
Hi, I'm Clare (Emmy's Mummy). A former Nanny and Mother of 2 - Emmy (born February 2010) and Harry (born October 2012). We are Essex based and share our adventures and misadventures of a busy crazy life.
