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Why I killed my standing desk

56 pointsby cormullionabout 11 years ago

25 comments

jrockwayabout 11 years ago
One problem that a lot of people have is starting some new athletic-type-thing too quickly. Standing is similar. Do an hour a day for a month. Then do two hours a day. Your body adjusts very slowly, but does adjust.<p>(I have this problem whenever I start running after a long break. My cardio system is in relatively good shape from cycling. But the muscles used by running aren&#x27;t. So I end up with shin splits after the first run. You have to start at an insanely low intensity: walk 20 minutes, run 30 seconds. For a month. Add 10% a week after that.)<p>For standing, HN recommended an anti-fatigue mat. I got one yesterday, and so far, I am noticing less fatigue while standing. Who would have guessed.
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keithpeterabout 11 years ago
<i>&quot;After two weeks, I was able to stand for about four hours a day, but I still needed to take multiple breaks.&quot;</i><p>I work as a teacher. I don&#x27;t sit down much in a typical working day, so I found that sentence strange to say the least. Then I realised that <i>I don&#x27;t stand still</i> ever in the classroom. I&#x27;m effectively walking around my patch of savannah all day like our ancestors did, occasionally sitting or squatting down to talk to students on their work.<p>Perhaps it is the lack of movement that is the problem?
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stevenweiabout 11 years ago
I switched to a treadmill desk setup in my home office about a year ago and have been pretty happy with it.<p><a href="http://imgur.com/a/zbm35" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;imgur.com&#x2F;a&#x2F;zbm35</a><p>The desk itself is electric height-adjustable which makes it easy to switch between walking&#x2F;standing and sitting with the push of a button, and the monitors are mounted on arms so I can move them to the correct height when I switch positions.<p>It took some getting used to before I could walk for extended periods of time, but now I don&#x27;t really think about it anymore, I just start walking and before I know it, an hour has gone by. That said, I have found that it&#x27;s hard to really concentrate while walking. If I find myself in the middle of a particularly difficult programming problem, I&#x27;ll often need to sit down before I can really think about it.<p>But there&#x27;s a lot of time throughout the day where I&#x27;m not doing anything that&#x27;s super mentally challenging, like reading HN :) or catching up on email or finishing light programming tasks, and I try to walk as much as possible during those times.<p>At this point I typically walk between 1-3 hours total per day, and end up alternating between walking&#x2F;standing&#x2F;sitting every hour or so. Sometimes after sitting for a while I find myself starting to feel sleepy, switching to walking at this point usually wakes me right back up and keeps me going. Not sure, why, probably a circulation thing.<p>The setup wasn&#x27;t particularly cheap to put together (though you could certainly do it for a lot cheaper than I did), but after a year I&#x27;ve concluded the cost was totally worth it considering how many hours of my life I spend (and will continue to spend) in front of a computer.
dan_bkabout 11 years ago
What you need is a standing desk that adopts to YOU, not the other way round. Here&#x27;s the one I have been using for approx. 2 years now and I can tell you I will NEVER go back to a sitting-only desk: <a href="http://www.ergotron.com/ProductsDetails/tabid/65/PRDID/320/language/en-US/Default.aspx" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ergotron.com&#x2F;ProductsDetails&#x2F;tabid&#x2F;65&#x2F;PRDID&#x2F;320&#x2F;l...</a><p>There are variations of this model available, but the main points are:<p>1. Screen (even if laptop) and keyboard&#x2F;mouse are separated so everything is exactly at the correct height (= ergonomic, won&#x27;t become a pain!)<p>2. You can pull up (and push down) the whole thing very easily, with just 1 hand&#x2F;no force: This means you can change whenever you feel the slightest issue. Changing every 10 minutes easily becomes a healthy no-brainer routine.
fallinghawksabout 11 years ago
This is what happens when people follow recipes blindly for something that isn&#x27;t cooking: doomed to fail.<p>First, I&#x27;m guessing the author&#x27;s standing desk was simply not the right height for him. The &quot;$22 Ikea&quot; is a fixed height and I suspect he never adjusted it to something comfortable, customized for his height.<p>Second, as someone said earlier, he approached it like it was some kind of marathon - he planned to stand at the thing all day, right away. You actually have to work up to using a standing desk -- alternate sitting and standing and slowly increase the amount of standing time.
raldiabout 11 years ago
I&#x27;d like to preempt the inevitable posting of the link to the Cornell article about standing desks. It&#x27;s a complete, 180-degree misrepresentation of the study it claims to be based on.<p>Details here: <a href="http://redd.it/kfjet" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;redd.it&#x2F;kfjet</a>
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rodh257about 11 years ago
2 weeks doesn&#x27;t seem like that long to persist with a major change like swapping from sitting all day to standing. Would be interesting to hear from someone who persisted with it for longer to see if they were able to adjust fully. I have a desk that is adjustable from sitting to standing and enjoy it as it lets me work longer without my back annoying me.<p>In regards to the 135 degree suggestion, I&#x27;ve found this doesn&#x27;t work well for me, my lower back hurts, and also it encourages me to stick my chin forward which puts pressure on your neck. Could be a result of body shape or specifics of my setup though.
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Derbastiabout 11 years ago
People have different bodies. For this guy, a standing desk did not work out. For others, it does.<p>Personally, I am more focused when standing. I feel more active and less likely to get bored. Also, I frequently walk a few steps when I need to think about something.<p>I used to have my brightest ideas when I stood up from my chair to go to the toilet, or while showering in the morning. Now I just walk a few steps from my desk and look out the window, or get a glass of water. This keeps my body busy while my mind is churning on something. It works for me.
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ekianjoabout 11 years ago
&gt; One community in Okinawa, Japan has one fifth the risk of colon and breast cancer and lives seven years longer than the average American.<p>I like it when sources are not cited, and when you compare a community to a country (sample size significance problem??) and when you forget completely about the recent scandal in Japan of having people dead for long (like people at 130-140 years old...) still registered as living (these points in the data make the average move very sensitively).<p>Japan&#x27;s data for life expectancy is a joke, seriously.
vittoreabout 11 years ago
I had similar experience but with much easier solution to my troubles. I&#x27;ve bought bar-stool, in fact i have 2 of them - one actual bar stool and another one more like adjustable bar chair with nice leather finish. So I have 3 options to switch between - staying in front of my standing table, sit on hard stool or better to say lean on it a little bit, sitting on the edge, or sitting on comfy leather chair. This way if I am in a flow I can work however long I need, switchig chairs.
gojomoabout 11 years ago
The &quot;$22 of ikea parts&quot; approach looks like a torture device to me.<p>The tiniest tweak to standing desk height can make a big difference in resulting posture and comfort. (My exact height preference even changes from day to day, perhaps due to varying shoes or recent levels of other activity.)
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nmknabout 11 years ago
I haven&#x27;t experimented with a standing desk, but it seems like you can develop a tolerance overtime, so that eventually, you&#x27;ll stop thinking about the discomfort when you&#x27;re trying to concentrate. I can see where the author is coming from though. I tried to read a book when I was cycling in the gym, but it didn&#x27;t go so well because I ended up spliting my concentration with the book and exercise. No gains in either activity unless I sacrificed the other. However, standing is a low-intensity physical activity, more similar to walking, so I think that overtime you&#x27;d just get used to it. It becomes a healthy active habit like taking the stairs everyday.
etfbabout 11 years ago
I built myself a standing desk and used it for a couple of months. It was my feet, not my back, that convinced me to go back to sitting down. I suppose if I&#x27;d invested in some kind of special flooring or even more comfortable shoes, I might still be using the standing desk, but I don&#x27;t know.<p>What I&#x27;d really like is some way to sit on an exercise bike (I believe they&#x27;re called &quot;stationary bikes&quot; in some places) and still be able to use a keyboard and mouse. Not sure how that would work, but if I could figure it out I&#x27;d be rich and skinny before you know it!
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mark_l_watsonabout 11 years ago
There was a walking desk near my desk at Google. I found the walking desk, with a large monitor for my laptop to be ideal when I had to catch up on email and reading. Typing while walking was not as good.<p>Since I normally work from a home office my wife has been trying to talk me into buying one. I probably would not use it enough because I have four different working locations at home.<p>One more thing: a &quot;get up and walk timer&quot; is a good idea. On days when I don&#x27;t use a timer, I don&#x27;t feel as physically comfortable at the end of a long work day.
reedlawabout 11 years ago
Substitute &quot;walking&quot; for &quot;standing&quot; and all these troubles go away. I have walked many 8 hour shifts with only a lunch break in between. A walking desk is not much more difficult to make. Get a treadmill from Craigslist and then find a bookshelf to put the monitor on. Or stack some boxes on a desk and put the monitor on top at eye level. Or you could even attach the monitor to the wall with an inexpensive wall mount.
kevingaddabout 11 years ago
I used to be able to stand for 6-8 hours a day back when I worked at a coffee shop, but I can&#x27;t do it anymore. Maybe it&#x27;s just because I got out of the habit, or because I got older, but standing in place in the same position for more than a couple hours is exhausting.<p>On the other hand, walking around for hours isn&#x27;t bad at all, so maybe there&#x27;s something specific about standing still that creates more exertion?
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upofadownabout 11 years ago
I thought the hotness was the treadmill desk. Why would someone want to stand around all day?<p>The fix for this (and most things that office people think they have discovered) is well known in the working world. You just need a tall stool to slouch on from time to time. There is a place between sitting and standing.
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conradfrabout 11 years ago
135 degrees would never work with me, I battle all day to not stay in that position because it makes me sleepy.<p>When I see his photo I think I can watch a movie in that position but working I doubt it, I need to feel more &quot;engaged&quot; with the keyboard, the mouse, the screen, if that makes sense.
X4about 11 years ago
The OMNI solves the issue with monotonic muscle use, that arises with classical Treadmills:<p><a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1944625487/omni-move-naturally-in-your-favorite-game" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.kickstarter.com&#x2F;projects&#x2F;1944625487&#x2F;omni-move-na...</a>
DontBeADickabout 11 years ago
The author never thought to get a drafting chair so he could continue working while sitting?<p>Mind boggling...
fexlabout 11 years ago
I&#x27;ve been doing the 135-degree thing for many years, much like the picture there, but without the foot rest. I make sure to squirm around on occasion, and I get up and stretch and walk with the dog regularly. So far so good.
jedanbikabout 11 years ago
Are those Markus chairs from IKEA really comparable to the ilk of Herman Miller et al.? I&#x27;m wondering if the road trip to try one out is worthwhile. Please share your experiences if you own one.
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ronyehabout 11 years ago
For an alternative to standing, check out the FitDesk: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00CM9CBZY" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;gp&#x2F;aw&#x2F;d&#x2F;B00CM9CBZY</a><p>I use it every day.
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Void_about 11 years ago
It worked for me very well until spring came, and I started doing sports. It&#x27;s really hard to stand if you&#x27;ve just spent two hours working out.
kjjwabout 11 years ago
Step 1: Move to a house or flat about 1.5 miles from the office you work in. Step 2: Walk to work.<p>What&#x27;s that? The accommodation near your workplace is much more expensive and so you wouldn&#x27;t be able to afford your massive suburban American home?<p>Then sell all your cheap crap and then move, you fat American.
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