Is a Walking Pad Worth It?
My Experience With a Walking Pad as an ADHD Business Owner
Listen up friends—I’ve got some numbers that blew my mind, and I can’t wait to share them with you! Last month (February) I walked 97.7 miles. Not while running errands or hiking trails—but as part of my intentional creative routine as a copywriter with my walking pad.
Yep, you read that right! That’s approximately 3.5 miles per day, all while brainstorming copy ideas, clearing my mind, and letting my creativity flow. How? Two words: walking pad!
If you’ve never heard of a walking pad before, picture a treadmill that had a minimalist makeover. It’s basically just the walking belt without all the bulky console and handrails, designed to be moved around your space as needed. And let me tell you—it has COMPLETELY revolutionized how my ADHD brain functions throughout the day.
My Walking Pad Journey: Finding My Creative Rhythm 🎵
I use the Lichico AD-4000 model walking pad, which has been a perfect fit for my home and lifestyle. One of my favorite features? The wheels! This might seem like a small detail, but being able to roll the walking pad out when I need it and tuck it away when I want more living space has been super important for making this a sustainable habit.
Unlike a lot of other work-from-home walking pad users, I don’t actually use mine for working. Instead, I’ve created a completely different ritual: I’ve positioned my walking pad in front of my TV, creating a dedicated space for what I call my “creativity sessions”.
My walking routine has evolved into a beautifully consistent ritual that frames my day:
Morning Session (post-breakfast) 🥞
20-30 minutes at 2.0 - 2.3 mph, usually with an audiobook or podcast playing. This morning walk helps me transition from home-mode to work-mode, clearing my mind and priming it for creative thinking before I even sit down at my desk.
Midday Session (Post-Lunch) 🍔
20-30 minutes at 2.3 - 2.6 mph to combat that dreaded afternoon energy slump. Instead of reaching for another coffee, I hop on the walking pad. During this session, I often watch city walking videos on YouTube that make me feel like I’m strolling through Paris or Tokyo while my brain quietly works on client problems in the background.
Evening Session (end of the Workday) 🌇
20-30 minutes at 2.5 - 2.8 mph, accompanied by the soothing scent of incense and often a gentle gaming video (Animal Crossing is my go-to!). This ritual helps me transition from work-brain to home-brain, creating a clear boundary between my professional and personal life.
Over time, I’ve naturally increased my comfortable walking speed, starting around 2.0 mph and now easily maintaining 2.7-2.8 mph during my evening sessions. This progression happened without any conscious effort, just my body adapting to the routine.
The Magic of Movement: My Brain on the Walking Pad 👟
The transformation in my creative process has been nothing short of remarkable. There have been SO many moments when I’m walking along, listening to an audiobook or watching a cozy gaming video, when suddenly BAM! the perfect headline or copy angle for a client project pops into my head from seemingly nowhere.
These inspo moments happen so frequently now that I’ve developed a system: I immediately use voice-to-text on my phone to capture these ideas before they vanish. My notes app is filled with slightly breathless voice memos that have turned into some of my most successful client work.
But one of the most important changes I’ve noticed is how walking affects my ADHD brain. While my mind typically runs at 100 miles per minute, walking creates a relaxing effect—my body speeds up, but my mind slows waaay down. The physical movement gives all that excess mental energy somewhere to go, leaving my thoughts clearer and more focused.
As one client recently told me, “Whatever you’re doing differently these days, keep doing it—the latest round of copy was so good it made me cry happy tears 🥲”. But really, it’s just my walking pad working its magic!
The Science Behind Why the Walking Pad Works (Especially for ADHD Brains) 🧠
Here’s where things get REALLY interesting. Turns out, my newfound creativity isn’t just a placebo effect. There’s substantial research supporting the connection between movement and cognitive function, especially for those of us with ADHD and other neurodivergent brain types.
Dr. John Ratey, associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, explains in his book “Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain” that physical activity acts like “Miracle-Gro for the brain,” stimulating the production of a protein called BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) that helps with focus, learning, and cognitive function.
For ADHD brains specifically, movement helps boost dopamine and norepinephrine—the exact neurotransmitters that our brains struggle to regulate. A 2016 study published in the Journal of Attention Disorders found that just 20 minutes of moderate exercise significantly improved attention, motivation, and mood in adults with ADHD (Mehren et al., 2016).
The concept of “embodied cognition”—the idea that our cognitive processes are shaped by physical experiences—also plays a role with my walking pad experiences. Research from Stanford University found that walking increased creative ideation by an average of 60% compared to sitting (Oppezzo & Schwartz, 2014). SIXTY PERCENT, people!
For neurodivergent entrepreneurs who rely on creative thinking (hello, fellow copywriters!), this isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s a game-changer!
Before vs. After the Walking Pad: My Creative Transformation 🎨
Let me paint you a picture of a typical pre-walking pad day:
9:00 AM: Start work with good intentions
9:20 AM: Already distracted, mind racing with random thoughts
9:45 AM: Try to brainstorm ideas for client, but nothing flows
10:30 AM: Feel restless and unfocused, struggling to generate fresh concepts
12:00 PM: Lunch break, feeling frustrated with minimal creative output
1:00 PM: Afternoon slump hits early, creativity at rock bottom
2:30 PM: Finally get a decent idea or two, but it feels forced
4:00 PM: Energy crashes completely
5:00 PM: End day feeling drained and questioning my creative abilities
Now, a typical day with my walking pad ritual:
7:30 AM: Morning walking session while enjoying an audiobook
8:30 AM: Start work with a clear, energized mind
9:15 AM: Ideas flowing naturally for client projects
11:00 AM: Capture several strong concepts without the usual struggle
12:30 PM: Midday walking session to refresh my thinking
1:30 PM: Return to work with renewed focus and energy
3:30 PM: Continue steady creative output without the usual afternoon crash
5:00 PM: Evening walking session with incense to transition out of work mode
6:00 PM: Enjoy evening feeling accomplished and mentally balanced
The difference is night and day. My clients have noticed too—they're "overjoyed" (their words!) with the creative concepts I'm bringing to the table. There's a freshness and originality to my work that wasn't consistently there before.
What's particularly interesting is how the walking pad has helped me create distinct transitions between different parts of my day. With ADHD, task switching can be incredibly difficult, but my walking sessions now serve as clear boundaries that help my brain understand when it's time to shift gears.
Making it Work: Practical Walking Pad Tips for Fellow ADHD Entrepreneurs
Ready to join the super fun ADHD entrepreneur walking club with me? Here’s how to make it sustainable:
1. Create a ritual, not just a routine
I’ve found that adding sensory elements to my walking sessions makes them more effective and enjoyable. The incense during my evening walk, the specific YouTube channels I watch, the iced coffee I drink, even the time of day—all these elements combine to create a multi-sensory experience that my brain now associates with creative flow.
2. Start with transitions
If you’re not sure how to incorporate walking into your day, begin by using it as a transition tool between different activities. The three natural transition points in my day (morning, midday, evening) were the perfect places to insert walking sessions.
3. Capture inspiration in the moment
Keep your phone handy for voice notes, or have a small voice recorder nearby. Some of my best ideas come within the first 10 minutes of walking, almost as if the movement immediately shakes loose creative thoughts that were stuck.
4. Find your entertainment sweet spot
Through trial and error, I’ve discovered that audiobook and gentle visual content (like city walking videos or cozy gaming streams) provide just enough mental engagement without drowning out my creative thinking. Podcasts sometimes work too when I’m in the right mood, but I never listen to music because it doesn’t provide enough stimulation for me (but might work for you!).
5. Don’t force productivity
Unlike many other walking pad users, I don’t try to actively work while walking. Instead, I let my mind wander and process in the background. This pressure-free approach has actually resulted in more creative breakthroughs than trying to actively work while walking.
The Bottom Line: Movement as a Creativity Catalyst 🏃♀️
Here’s what I want to emphasize: for ADHD entrepreneurs, especially those in creative fields, a walking pad isn’t just a fitness tool, it’s a creativity catalyst. Mine has quite literally transformed how I approach copy and content writing, bringing a freshness and originality to my work that clients immediately notice.
I’m shooting for 100+ miles in March, and I definitely think I can reach that goal (actually, I KNOW I’m gonna reach it!).
If your ADHD brain has been struggling with the traditional sit-at-desk-and-think creative process, know that there are alternatives that might work better for your unique brain. Our ADHD minds aren’t designed to sit still for hours, so why are we forcing them to?
I’d love to hear if you’ve tried a walking pad or have questions about getting started! Feel free to shoot me a message and let’s talk walking pads + creativity!
