Standing Desks....

mccardey said:

Well we could. I think that I suggested six months...

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The vast majority of this data has been around for decades.

The moral of the story is that people should be more active, which is hardly surprising.

There is not and probably never will be data specifically relating to standing desks. Unless the standing desk people decide to fund it.

veinglory said:

The moral of the story is that people should be more active, which is hardly surprising.

There is not and probably never will be data specifically relating to standing desks. Unless the standing desk people decide to fund it.

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My point exactly. Thank you

The following is not intended to be a bash of the standing desk, which I see as a reasonable thing to consider. Rather this is to put some experience behind my skepticism of all of the "shiny, new health enhancer" methods of modern advertising.

If anyone remembers back in the early 1970s (those who were alive back then), the new health "must-do" craze was the Earth Shoe. It seems some Scandinavian "researchers" (why are they always Scandinavian?) observed footprints in wet sand and found the depth of the heel imprint was greater than that for the rest of the foot. (Editorial comment: DUH! That's where most of the weight of the body is transfered to the ground). Anyway, they suggested that the lower heel position was the natural position, and thus the best position for footwear, so they designed the Earth Shoe to have the heel significantly lower than the rest of the foot. I sucked all of that up because the Earth Shoe became the newest cool thing for all of the wanna-be hippies (those who liked the hippie look but didn't want to dive fully into the lifestyle). So I had my pair, along with jobs that kept me on my feet for most of the working day and into the working night (I was in grad school and working three jobs). To shorten this rant, I can trace my three-plus decades of lower back problems to the very time I donned those fu**ing Earth Shoes. Their run in the cool new health fad spotlight didn't last long, and I suspect they disappeared due to more than just a fashion shift.

Again, I'm not drawing a parallel to the stand-up desk. I'm just saying we all should be skeptical enough to do our homework instead of falling for any health-related miracle claims from marketers, particularly those who state the life-shortening risks of avoiding their product.

NOTE added in edit: I second the lutefisk comment, although I do love my lefse.

I would also tend to predict that the standing desk will cause more problems than it solves. The solution to not being in one place all the time, is to not be in one place all the time. Divide your breaks across the day and go for a jog.

Totally not interested. I worked for almost a year at a job where I spent 12 hour shifts on my feet in front of a computer terminal (I was in the shipping department). Standing and working wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Why just a standing desk when you can have a treadmill desk. Been around for a few years. Here's one you can build yourself for $39 (not including the treadmill, which you can probably find at a garage sale for $20)

http://www.treadmill-desk.com

Of course there are some expensive executive ones, too. This article talks about a financial company that has them for employees:

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/treadmill-desks-might-next-office-health-trend-221114393.html

Don't engineers and architects use standing desks?

I just saw an image of some woman at a standing desk with high heels. That would hurt standing all day like that in high heels.

juniper said:

Why just a standing desk when you can have a treadmill desk. Been around for a few years. Here's one you can build yourself for $39 (not including the treadmill, which you can probably find at a garage sale for $20)

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I thought you were kidding! I see the expensive ones are a couple thousand dollars.

I've tried standing or sitting due to back pain. Neither made much of a difference. What did get rid of the back pain was hot yoga.

As far blood circulation goes, I write in 500-word chunks. After every 500 words, I get up and stretch a bit. Get a drink, go pee etc. Rinse and repeat. Standing for hours on end will just make me grumpy.

juniper said:

Why just a standing desk when you can have a treadmill desk.

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Works for John Green (unless it's already collecting dust in his basement )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqSH9ffjmg8

TudorRose said:

Works for John Green (unless it's already collecting dust in his basement )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqSH9ffjmg8

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Awesome!

The idea behind the standing desk is to minimize a person time sitting (duh!) and increase their non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT), which is proven to promote overall health. The idea being that little things such as fidgeting, walking, stretching or even shifting your weight from foot to foot add up.

And I know that some of you have said that you'd need more incentive than a few extra calories, but I think it's worth it. The human body isn't made to sit at a desk all day... maybe standing at a desk will encourage a person to pace, or stretch or even do a squat at the computer. That's my plan. And I know it'll be a lot easier to do with a standing desk.

This is an interesting article on the subject.

It focuses on the creative benefits of standing desks, saying that Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Jefferson and Charles Dickens used standing desks. Of course, I'm not suggesting that using a standing desk will turn you into Dickens, but it's an interesting read nonetheless. Especially since it's been suggested that the standing desk is a modern phenomenon or fad.

I know AW user JRVogt has a treadmill desk, and I think he likes it. Try sending him a PM.

You don't live longer if you use a standing desk, it just seems a lot longer.

A sedentary lifestyle is not good, but unless you spend sixteen hours per day writing, you don't have to be sedentary just because you like to be comfortable when you write.

Standing, no matter how beneficial, has it's drawbacks, and is not going to compensate for a lack of true exercise. If you do get the right exercise, you don't need the standing desk, and if you don't, the standing desk will not help enough to matter.

A redesign of a faculty computer room at the university where I teach part time just installed a "standing counter" for four computers, which is solidly detested by everybody who has to use it (including me). Very bad for knees.

Then they put in some tall chairs, so a person could sit at a comfortable height, but of course now your feet won't reach the floor.

Actually, one of my colleagues does like it, but he is also 6' 10" tall.

caw

I want one of these standing desks that have slow treadmills attached to them (a mile an hour or so). I'd alternate between using that (treadmill on or off, as my energy dictated) and the sitting desk.

I considered one, because I'm kinesthetic, so I think better moving around. But I also have really flat feet, and after 12 years of pounding at them in the army, I'm not always comfortable standing up for too long either. So I ended up deciding not to get one.

But you can try one out without spending any money on a new desk and see what you think. Just get a couple of phone books, set them on your existing desk, and put your keyboard on top.

Thomas Wolfe, author of Look Homeward, Angel and other novels, was a famously tall man, about 6'7". According to what I've read he used to stand and write, longhand, on paper using a refrigerator as a desk.

He died young.

caw

I write at a standing desk. It took a while to get used to it, but now it just feels normal. There are some days I still have to sit, but most days are fine! I sit all day for my day job, so its nice not to be sitting all the time. I find I move around more (don't just stand still) and I like that. It has helped with some health issues I was having, due to bad ergonomics, so I'm really happy with it.

frankiebrown said:

I'm so excited to see this thread! I'm kind of a health nut, so sitting down for long periods of time (like while I'm writing) makes me feel like a slob.

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Same here

veinglory said:

I think it would make more sense to increase the time spent walking places. Sit still and standing still for long periods are both not great for the human body, including the brain and eyes.

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Jamesaritchie said:

If you do get the right exercise, you don't need the standing desk, and if you don't, the standing desk will not help enough to matter.

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That's just the thing, though--increasing the time spent exercising won't erase the effects of sitting. I've been reading studies and articles on this for a while now, and even after adjusting for all the usual variables, the studies seem to point to the conclusion that amount of time spent sitting is what is so unhealthy. Even if you run or bike or walk for an hour or two a day, it doesn't counterbalance sitting at a desk for eight hours. Yes, exercise is good, but the research appears to show that sitting for long periods is bad, regardless of whether you exercise or not.

juniper said:

Why just a standing desk when you can have a treadmill desk. Been around for a few years. Here's one you can build yourself for $39 (not including the treadmill, which you can probably find at a garage sale for $20)

http://www.treadmill-desk.com

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Very nice! I'll have to look into this.

...and I have just made myself a standing desk by placing a large cardboard box atop my desk and setting my laptop on it.