Stand-Up Desks Rise to Health Challenges
Sitting all day may be wrecking your health. Are you going to stand for that?
Trends in work, leisure and technology have conspired to turn us all into sitters. We sit at work. We sit at school. We sit while at home. And we sit in the car while conveying our expanding bodies from one sitting location to another.
All this sitting is devastating our health, creating disease and shortening lives. Sitting is the new smoking.
There's a persistent myth about ergonomics, which is that sitting pain and injury comes from bad posture. You've seen the workplace safety diagrams. The screen should be at eye level. Forearms and wrists should be horizontal. Feet should be elevated. Back should be straight.
The truth is that there is no correct sitting position. Sitting injuries are mostly "repetitive stress injuries" or caused by the atrophy of muscles needed to support the skeleton. Always sitting in the so-called "correct" posture guarantees injury, because you're always sitting in the same position, and therefore not moving.
That's why a standing desk is so good for you. Our bodies are designed to stand for long periods of time. And we automatically shift our weight and move around while standing. Standing prevents both the repetitive stress and muscle atrophy that caused by sitting.
Our own homes are part of the problem. They’re often designed around the assumption that we want to sit all the time. Comfy couches. Padded bar stools. Lounge and lawn chairs in the backyard. Porch swings. Home office and desk chairs. Vanity stools in the bedroom. You’d think our homes were furnished by a bunch of rear ends.
Conventional interior decorating makes sitting almost a necessity. If we want to eat, watch TV, work or do any number of other activities in the home, sitting down is the only reasonable way to do it.
Furniture is part of the problem. But furniture can also be the solution.
As computers and the Internet become more important, people are spending more time online and less time doing other things. By harnessing this one thing and transforming it into a standing activity, instead of a sitting one, you can reverse the trend of sitting too much.
All this sitting is devastating our health, creating disease and shortening lives. Sitting is the new smoking.
There's a persistent myth about ergonomics, which is that sitting pain and injury comes from bad posture. You've seen the workplace safety diagrams. The screen should be at eye level. Forearms and wrists should be horizontal. Feet should be elevated. Back should be straight.
The truth is that there is no correct sitting position. Sitting injuries are mostly "repetitive stress injuries" or caused by the atrophy of muscles needed to support the skeleton. Always sitting in the so-called "correct" posture guarantees injury, because you're always sitting in the same position, and therefore not moving.
That's why a standing desk is so good for you. Our bodies are designed to stand for long periods of time. And we automatically shift our weight and move around while standing. Standing prevents both the repetitive stress and muscle atrophy that caused by sitting.
Our own homes are part of the problem. They’re often designed around the assumption that we want to sit all the time. Comfy couches. Padded bar stools. Lounge and lawn chairs in the backyard. Porch swings. Home office and desk chairs. Vanity stools in the bedroom. You’d think our homes were furnished by a bunch of rear ends.
Conventional interior decorating makes sitting almost a necessity. If we want to eat, watch TV, work or do any number of other activities in the home, sitting down is the only reasonable way to do it.
Furniture is part of the problem. But furniture can also be the solution.
As computers and the Internet become more important, people are spending more time online and less time doing other things. By harnessing this one thing and transforming it into a standing activity, instead of a sitting one, you can reverse the trend of sitting too much.
Simple Pleasure Standing Desk
Standing Desks: An American Tradition
Stand-up desks are becoming trendy in Silicon Valley and elsewhere. But they’re not really a new idea. In fact, stand-up desks used to be much more common.
Earnest Hemingway preferred a stand-up desk. And though Thomas Jefferson invented a really cool swivel chair, he too often worked standing up. Even D.J. DePree, founder of Herman Miller, preferred to stand while working.
Just as the stand-up-desk idea is both modern and traditional, actual desks can be either modern or traditional. Some of the more “modern” stand-up desks — most of them, in fact — are horrible, utilitarian monstrosities you probably wouldn’t want in your home.
Many stand-up desk users have in fact build their own — not through the craft of furniture making, but by kludging together some expedient solution, such as stacking boards on top of bookshelves — that sort of thing.
But you can also find beautiful desks that honor the traditional American stand-up desk. For example, the Simple Pleasure Standing Desk by Sabbath-Day Woods Studio is both traditional and appealing, a beautiful addition to your home.
Stand-up desks are becoming trendy in Silicon Valley and elsewhere. But they’re not really a new idea. In fact, stand-up desks used to be much more common.
Earnest Hemingway preferred a stand-up desk. And though Thomas Jefferson invented a really cool swivel chair, he too often worked standing up. Even D.J. DePree, founder of Herman Miller, preferred to stand while working.
Just as the stand-up-desk idea is both modern and traditional, actual desks can be either modern or traditional. Some of the more “modern” stand-up desks — most of them, in fact — are horrible, utilitarian monstrosities you probably wouldn’t want in your home.
Many stand-up desk users have in fact build their own — not through the craft of furniture making, but by kludging together some expedient solution, such as stacking boards on top of bookshelves — that sort of thing.
But you can also find beautiful desks that honor the traditional American stand-up desk. For example, the Simple Pleasure Standing Desk by Sabbath-Day Woods Studio is both traditional and appealing, a beautiful addition to your home.
Nathan Rose Standing Desk
Stand-Up Desk Tips
There has in recent years been a broad trend away from "desktop" PCs toward laptops and other mobile computers. But buying a laptop for a stand-up desk isn't ideal, because the goal is to incentivize standing. If family members can simply grab a laptop and plunk themselves down on the sofa in front of the TV, all fails.
Also, a laptop used without a stand-alone keyboard places the screen very low, just above your hands, which is uncomfortable to use.
So it’s a good idea to buy a desktop PC for a stand-up desk.
All-in-one computers, such as the Apple iMac line or the Dell XPS One 27, are very good choices for stand-up computers. The reason is that USB ports, DVD drives and other features are more accessible, as they're built into the monitor. It also solves the problem of where to put the CPU — that big box that everything plugs into on a regular PC — because there isn't one!
It's easy for PCs of any kind to bring ugly visual clutter into your home, especially wires and cables all over the place. You can avoid some of this by choosing a PC with a wireless (Bluetooth) keyboard and mouse or trackpad.
Stand-up desks can be incredible space-saving devices compared with a regular desk and chair. Although the desks are taller, they can be smaller. And the elimination of the chair saves a lot of space, too. Hemingway’s stand-up desk was usually just the top of a bookshelf.
Another option is just a wall-mounted shelf, with the monitor mounted on the wall.
And if you do choose a real desk, you can do just fine with the most minimal of surfaces. One beautiful option, the Nathan Rose Standing Desk, is incredibly rustic, with rough cherry tree branches as legs. The surface of the desk is very small, but there's plenty of room for a keyboard and a monitor.
There has in recent years been a broad trend away from "desktop" PCs toward laptops and other mobile computers. But buying a laptop for a stand-up desk isn't ideal, because the goal is to incentivize standing. If family members can simply grab a laptop and plunk themselves down on the sofa in front of the TV, all fails.
Also, a laptop used without a stand-alone keyboard places the screen very low, just above your hands, which is uncomfortable to use.
So it’s a good idea to buy a desktop PC for a stand-up desk.
All-in-one computers, such as the Apple iMac line or the Dell XPS One 27, are very good choices for stand-up computers. The reason is that USB ports, DVD drives and other features are more accessible, as they're built into the monitor. It also solves the problem of where to put the CPU — that big box that everything plugs into on a regular PC — because there isn't one!
It's easy for PCs of any kind to bring ugly visual clutter into your home, especially wires and cables all over the place. You can avoid some of this by choosing a PC with a wireless (Bluetooth) keyboard and mouse or trackpad.
Stand-up desks can be incredible space-saving devices compared with a regular desk and chair. Although the desks are taller, they can be smaller. And the elimination of the chair saves a lot of space, too. Hemingway’s stand-up desk was usually just the top of a bookshelf.
Another option is just a wall-mounted shelf, with the monitor mounted on the wall.
And if you do choose a real desk, you can do just fine with the most minimal of surfaces. One beautiful option, the Nathan Rose Standing Desk, is incredibly rustic, with rough cherry tree branches as legs. The surface of the desk is very small, but there's plenty of room for a keyboard and a monitor.
Stilvoll Crescendo C2 Maximus
The Perfect Stand-Up Desk?
The Stilvoll Crescendo C2 Maximus is a wonderfully versatile stand-up desk made in Germany of American walnut. The desk has two sides and slides apart in the middle. On one side is an optional tilt-up writing desk. The other is flat.
When you slide them apart, there’s a storage compartment. A gap between the two sides, plus the storage compartment, combine to give you a great place to stash cables, external hard drives, a power strip and other unsightly accessories. It comes with cigar-box-size wood compartments for storing miscellaneous items above the computer stuff. All this storage is very high in the table, so it appears like the compartment isn't even there.
This is a great table for use in the middle of a room, or by two people at once.
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The Stilvoll Crescendo C2 Maximus is a wonderfully versatile stand-up desk made in Germany of American walnut. The desk has two sides and slides apart in the middle. On one side is an optional tilt-up writing desk. The other is flat.
When you slide them apart, there’s a storage compartment. A gap between the two sides, plus the storage compartment, combine to give you a great place to stash cables, external hard drives, a power strip and other unsightly accessories. It comes with cigar-box-size wood compartments for storing miscellaneous items above the computer stuff. All this storage is very high in the table, so it appears like the compartment isn't even there.
This is a great table for use in the middle of a room, or by two people at once.
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If standing for hours on end sounds like a pain in the ... well, in the feet, then consider a compromise. Some desks are designed to put more weight onto your feet — but not all of it.
For example, the Focal Locus chair and desk setup puts you in a position that’s more standing than sitting, with a forward-leaning chair. You still get many of the benefits of a standing desk without having to stand all day.
You can also opt for a real standing desk, but add a Wilkhahn chair called the Stitz. The chair provides support, but it’s deliberately unstable, forcing you to move and flex during your workday.