Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Have You Tried a Standing Desk?
An anonymous reader writes: Evidence is piling up that sitting down all day is really bad for you. I work primarily from home, and as I grow older, I'm starting to worry about long term consequences to riding a desk full-time. We talked about this a few years ago, but the science has come a long way since then, and so have the options for standing desks. My questions: do you use a standing desk? What kind of setup do you have? There are a lot of options, and a lot of manufacturers. Further studies have questioned the wisdom of standing all day, so I've been thinking about a standing/sitting combo, and just switching every so often. If you do this, do you have time limits or a particular frequency with which you change from sitting to standing?
I'm also curious about under-desk treadmills — I could manage slowly walking during parts of my work, and the health benefits are easy to measure. Also, any ergonomic tips? A lot of places seem to recommend: forearms parallel to the ground, top of monitor at eye level, and a pad for under your feet. Has your experience been the same? Those of you who have gone all-out on a motorized setup, was it worth the cost? The desks are dropping in price, but I can still see myself dropping upward of $1k on this, easily.
I'm also curious about under-desk treadmills — I could manage slowly walking during parts of my work, and the health benefits are easy to measure. Also, any ergonomic tips? A lot of places seem to recommend: forearms parallel to the ground, top of monitor at eye level, and a pad for under your feet. Has your experience been the same? Those of you who have gone all-out on a motorized setup, was it worth the cost? The desks are dropping in price, but I can still see myself dropping upward of $1k on this, easily.
My company also sells sit/stand adjustable desks. They run around 1k, but we only pay around $250 for the cheapest models. The markup on office furniture is insane, especially at the contract level. That being said, I have one at home. I also own a Steelcase Leap ergo chair. While I do occasionally use the desk in standing position, I find myself shifting my constantly. It feels better for me to have my desk adjusted to the proper height while sitting in my ergo chair than standing. Also note that my monitors are on fully adjustable monitor arms so they are at the perfect height for my neck. In my opinion an adjustable height desk is good, but not necessarily for use whole standing. Before dropping 1k+ I would suggest seeing if a local office furniture company would give you a loaner to try for a few weeks before purchasing.