Death to the desk chair03 Nov 2010 07:34 am
How will I ever go back to sitting in a desk chair?
I hit the seven-day mark with my standing desk and I’m already dreading my return to a sitting desk in one week.
I decided to test out a standing desk for two weeks because of growing evidence that sitting more than six hours a day is killing us.
Here’s a video update of how the experiment is going. Hope you like Elton John.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:30 am
I think it’s great that you’re doing this “unscientific” study! I too have read the reports about standing vs. sitting and how sitting for too long can harm your body. About six months ago I switched from an active job (where I was constantly running up and down stairs and around a 20+ floor building) to a desk job. When I made the change, I noticed an increase in back pain, hip pain, and tightness in my body overall. Since I read these studies, I’ve been making an effort to stand at my desk, run a flight of stairs during breaks, and get out and walk at lunch.
I hope your study gets more people moving during the work day, and also more companies building standing desks!
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:57 am
Eve,
This is awesome! Glad to see you tweeting and blogging about you experience with standing. My only concern was that you said that moving was enough of a balance for the moderation of standing too much. I hate to tell you that it actually needs to still be a trade-off between sitting and standing, not standing and moving.
I am lucky enough to work for a company that helped start the causal campaign called “Just Stand.” http://www.juststand.org. We are taking all the research about sitting disease, and informing the world to stand as much as possible - especially those that are chained to a desk all day. I think you would be a perfect candidate to join, and there are tools and other information to educate exactly what you are already doing!
You can find me on twitter too @ergoheat
Thanks for spreading the word!
November 3rd, 2010 at 3:13 pm
I looked around for the just the right materials to elevate my laptop, phone and a writing area to experiment with standing right along with you. Yesterday was my second full day and my legs were not happy at the end of the day. Oh, my back is overjoyed, but my legs are not. Today I am alternating between standing and sitting on my nice big yoga ball chair. No more than 2 hours at at time for each and I this is working out much better overall.
This is a great experiment! I’m not sure where I’ll end up with it - but I’m going to keep standing/sitting until I find the perfect mix.
November 3rd, 2010 at 3:21 pm
I am so excited Donlyn!
You should video yourself and send it to me so I can post it on the site, or at least send a photo.
The leg pain will get better. Give it a chance.
November 3rd, 2010 at 6:42 pm
Hey - - great to see the word is getting out - especially for women - how important it is to stand more, and alternate between sitting and standing during the work day - - especially for all the computer bound knowledge workers out there.
NBC affiliate KARE11 just interviewed our company - and it aired today.http://www.kare11.com/takekare/career/career_article.aspx?storyid=880138
We’d love to have you try another way to #JustStand while you’re working, once you’re through your first set of research with the standing desk. Ergotron’s “sit or stand, on demand product” is called a WorkFit-S - you can check it out here. (www.ergotron.com/WorkFit/tabid/640/language/en-US/default.aspx)
Would love to see how you think the experience compares. And thanks so much for helping get the word out!
My best,
jrp
November 5th, 2010 at 4:28 am
This is awesome! Glad to see you tweeting and blogging about you experience with standing. My only concern was that you said that moving was enough of a balance for the moderation of standing too much.
November 5th, 2010 at 6:24 pm
It’s not Stevewckrt?
November 10th, 2010 at 6:32 pm
I’ve been working standing up for over 25 years, since a back problem put my into physical therapy and I was told to avoid sitting for work.
I recently renovated my office and splurged for a Steelcase AirTouch Desk:
http://www.steelcase.com/en/products/category/tables/adjustable/airtouch/pages/overview.aspx
It adjusts from just about any standing to any sitting height, with a touch of a lever. No cranking [as many adjustable desks have, no electric]. And it looks so cool.
Standing without interruption isn’t the best — I sit for meetings, TV and meals etc. So I alternate. Also, I’m not glued to one spot when I stand, although I’m not as agile and graceful as CareerDiva. Some of the adjustable height solutions like the JustStand wouldn’t work as well for me, since I usually work surrounded by papers, and my “progressive” vision [meaning no-line trifocals or monovision contact lens won’t adjust for that variation in table height vs. monitor/keyboard. I don’t recall having any leg problems since I began standing.
November 15th, 2010 at 5:48 pm
I love how much people are getting into this series on CareerDiva. I still haven’t tried it, but every update I read and the other readers jumping on the bandwagon wants me to give it a go. I have to figure out what I am going to put my laptop on (don’t want to buy a floating desk just yet).
June 4th, 2012 at 5:16 pm
I totally agree and thank you for your great post. Standing for several hours at a standing desk does take some getting used to but I believe it is the direction we need to go in for better health! Not to mention, its great for losing a few pounds from that office lunch without much effort. Keep us posted on your continued discoveries in this area. Thanks