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Featuring a fresh design for 2016, the LifeSpan Fitness TR5000-DT7 treadmill desk is an upgrade of the TR5000-DT5, and now features an electronic desk height adjustment system.
As part of LifeSpan’s TR5000 collection, you can now enjoy up to 10 hours of continuous use, compared to 6 hours with the TR1200, and 3 hours with the TR800.
But is the upgrade from manual to electric height adjustment enough to justify what’s usually a $200 price increase from the TR5000-DT5?
In this review we’ll be comparing the TR5000-DT7 against the full collection of LifeSpan Fitness treadmill desks, to help you decide if it’s the most cost effective option for your home or office.
Design and safety features
The LifeSpan TR5000-DT7 is designed to offer the best of both worlds. Not only does it include their most powerful TR5000 desk treadmill base, but it also provides you with a fully height adjustable workstation, with electronic height adjustment.
So instead of having to loosen a set of hand wheels, raise the desk, and lock it in place again like you do with the DT5, you can now just press a button on the console. The height of the desk will then raise or lower at a speed of 25mm/second, with the option to store up to 2 desk height settings in memory.
In total you can adjust the height of the desk surface through a range of between 40″ and 53″ from the floor, which is enough to support a user height of between 4’10” and 6’8″.
Despite being LifeSpan’s top-of-the-line treadmill desk, you’re still getting the same TR5000 base as on the TR5000-DT3 and TR5000-DT5. This means you have the same 3.0 HP continuous duty motor, 20″W x 50″L walking area, and 0.4-4.0 mph belt speed.
This also means you have the running deck has the same 4.6″ step-up height, 400 lb weight capacity, anodized aluminum side rails, and a suspension system that uses 6 independent compression shocks to limit the impact on your joints.
If you find the higher belt speeds too distracting while you’re working, you can always limit the top speed to 2.0 mph via the settings menu on the console. This is also where you can disable the Intelli-Step™ feature if you don’t want the belt to pause after stepping off the treadmill.
Intelli-Step™ and Intelli-Guard™
LifeSpan have added two unique features to most of their light commercial treadmills, which have also been included in their under-desk treadmills. These are Intelli-Step™ and Intelli-Guard™.
Intelli-Step™ actively tracks when your foot strikes the belt, then relays the information back to the console so that it can be displayed as one of the feedback metrics on the screen. It’s essentially a more accurate version of a pedometer, where it monitors your step count.
Intelli-Guard™ is more of a safety feature, which will automatically pause the belt if you step off for 20 seconds or more. As mentioned above, this is a feature that can be disabled if needed.
Safety features
In addition to Intelli-Guard™, the console also includes the classic safety key feature.
If you haven’t used a safety key before, it’s a short length of cord with a clip at each end. One clip then attaches to an item of your clothing, while the other is attached to the console. This way if you were to fall, the clip would detach from the console and the treadmill belt would quickly be brought to a stop.
LifeSpan Fitness TR5000-DT7 – Features Summary
- Bluetooth connectivity to LifeSpan fitness apps.
- 20″W x 50″L walking surface
- 0.4 to 4.0 mph belt speed range
- 3.0 HP continuous duty motor
- Up to 10 hours of continuous use
- 400 lb capacity
- 40″ to 53″ desk height range
- High Mileage, Maintenance-Free Habasit® Belt
- 4.6″ step-up height
- Electric Desktop Height Adjustment
Display console features
The main goal of a treadmill desk is to enable you to work while you walk. This counts towards increasing your activity level and reducing the amount of time spent sitting.
By moving away from a sedentary lifestyle of sitting in front of a screen, you’re lowering your risk of type 2 diabetes, dementia, and even some forms of cancer.
Numerous research articles have been posted online, documenting how sitting for long periods of time can lead to weight gain, obesity, and lower back pain as a result of poor posture. But with an increasing number of people working longer hours in the office, it’s often an easy habit to fall into.
That’s why LifeSpan have designed the TR5000-DT7 to be as quiet as possible, by using high quality components in the motor and treadmill deck, and keeping the workstation separate to the treadmill to reduce vibration.
This is also why the console has such a simplified design, with no entertainment functions such as MP3 connectivity or HDTV screens for viewing sports and movies while you walk.
Instead you have a very simple button layout, with many of the same features that we saw on the entry level DT800-DT3 console.
Because you only have a single display screen, workout feedback includes only the most important metrics, such as distance, speed, time, step count, and number of calories burned.
Syncing your workout data to a LifeSpan Club account
But the LifeSpan TR5000-DT7 does have one more advanced feature, which is the Bluetooth connectivity for wireless data sync of your workout performance.
This is a feature that’s been added to all of the LifeSpan treadmill desks, as well as their under-desk treadmills, and allows your workout results to be synced straight to the Active Trac fitness app.
From there you’re able to aggregate the data with other activities via your LifeSpan Club online profile. Between your online profile and the Active Trac app you’re able to build up a clear picture of how active you are and how much your fitness level is improving.
One of the benefits of the console being so compact is that it leaves more space for the padded arm rests, which can help reduce the risk of developing R.S.I. or carpal tunnel when typing. You can even choose from 2 variations of desk width when you buy – either 38″ or 48″.
Workout programs and user profiles
As with every LifeSpan Fitness treadmill desk, the TR5000-DT7 doesn’t include any preset workout programs, and user profiles are limited to the 2 desk height settings you can store in memory.
Although we’ve seen a couple of treadmill desks with incline settings (NordicTrack and Exerpeutic 2000), we’re yet to see any that offer a selection of preset workout programs.
We believe the main reason is they detract from a person’s ability to focus on work tasks and maintain their productivity. If the incline range and belt speed is frequently changing, it’s going to be harder to focus on typing, talking on the phone, or simply writing something down.
Also, treadmill desks aren’t exactly designed for a fitness workout. They’re more of a healthy alternative to sedentary work life where you’re sitting in front of a screen for the majority of your day. The fact that you’re walking and can burn calories at the same time as working is a clear advantage.
Ease of assembly and maintenance
LifeSpan Fitness do an excellent job of making sure the setup is as simple as possible straight out of the box. This includes the complete pre-assembly of the TR5000 treadmill base and much of the workstation frame.
The assembly for the DT7 desk is much the same as for the DT5, with 4 main parts needing to be put together. These are the base feet, lift frame, extension tube, and desktop.
Once you have all the parts in your room of choice, it’s relatively straightforward to follow the concise set of instructions listed in the user manual. These come complete with exploded drawings, parts references, written explanations and useful notes to ensure the process is as quick and painless as possible.
But if you would rather not have to worry about carrying and setting up 220 lbs+ of treadmill desk, you can always choose from one of the professional home assembly services.
Exercise equipment assembly
Amazon has recently started listing a range of useful household services on their website, in addition to the products you find listed through their online marketplace.
Depending on your location, these can range from household cleaning through to furniture assembly and even setting up your new treadmill desk.
However, this isn’t a service that’s available with all models, and at the time of writing this review it was an optional extra for the LifeSpan TR5000-DT5 but not for the TR5000-DT7. If it’s something you’ll definitely need, it’s worth checking the product listing page on Amazon to see if this service is now available.
Because Amazon’s home assembly allows you to search through a selection of local companies and read reviews from other customers, it allows you to find a more affordable option. But if this service isn’t available with the TR5000-DT7 when you want to buy, LifeSpan do offer their own version.
LifeSpan Fitness have 4 different types of home delivery, which are only available when purchased directly via their website. Prices below are correct at time of writing, but it’s worth double checking on the LifeSpan website if you’re buying one of these services.
- Standard Delivery – Free curbside delivery.
- Inside Delivery – $49. Boxes will be placed in the garage of the first available ground level door.
- Room of Choice – $99. Two delivery professionals place the treadmill desk boxes in your room of choice, with an additional charge if this requires walking up or down more than 2 flights of stairs.
- White Glove – $199. This includes delivery to your home, placement in your room of choice, assembly, and disposing of packaging materials.
Maintenance
With every piece of fitness equipment you have to expect a certain level of maintenance to ensure the machine operates at peak performance for as long as possible.
Fortunately LifeSpan use a maintenance-free Habasit belt on their TR5000 collection, which includes the TR5000-DT7. This means that you only need to lubricate the treadmill belt once per year, instead of once every 3 months like you would with a TR1200 model.
This isn’t an expensive task and it’s something you can easily do at home yourself, without calling out a technician. All you need is a bottle of LifeSpan’s 100% silicone spray, which you can pick up for around $15 and lasts for 4 applications.
The only other maintenance needed is fairly standard for any treadmill. This includes wiping down the machine after each use, and checking the wear on parts every few weeks.
What’s covered by the warranty?
- Frame: Lifetime
- Motor: 3 years
- Parts: 2 years
- Labor: 1 year
Review Overview
Overall Review Rating
5 / 5
The LifeSpan Fitness TR5000-DT7 treadmill desk is clearly designed for multi-user workspaces where you need a motor capable of supporting a 10-hour continuous run time. But is it the best option for home offices?
In our opinion, no. If it's only going to be yourself using the desk then you probably won't see much benefit from the electric desk height adjustment, as you'll always have it on the same setting. Likewise the 2 height settings that you can store in memory probably wouldn't be needed.
If you're looking for a treadmill desk to use in a family environment then perhaps it's a feature worth paying for, but you have to weigh up whether it's worth the extra $200 over the TR5000-DT5.
TR1200-DT5 is also an option worth considering if the TR5000-DT7 is out of your price range. But although the TR1200 is a more affordable machine, you're going to be compromising on motor power and the continuous run time (6 hours instead of 10).
Overall we can't find any fault with the TR5000-DT7. It's one of the best treadmill desks available for the home or office, and with the 48" desk option you're getting enough space for a dual monitor setup. But if you don't need the electric desk height adjustment we would recommend saving some money and buying the TR5000-DT5 instead.
Product dimensions: 68.5"L x 38"W or 48"W Product weight: Treadmill: 119 lbs. Desk: 108 lbs. Weight capacity: 400 lbs
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