I tested a standing desk so you don’t have to.
It’s the New Year. New fitness goals abound. For the next month, we will starve, run, lift, and cross fit ourselves to lower weight and slimmer waistbands. Unfortunately, in the middle of February, we will cease all progress towards our fatness (fitness…Freudian slip) goals. Yes, that’s right. The day in which more Americans visit fast food restaurants than any other day is on the second Friday of February every month. Four square published a study in 2016 showing that February 5, 2016 showed the second Friday in February is the day where we all tend to fall off the wagon. With this in mind, my next two posts will focus on long term lifestyle changes that are difficult to give up on. First, I conquer the standing desk.
Sitters turn back now. The revolution is nigh! Not really…but I did try a standing/sitting desk hybrid.
Here are the facts. I bought the varidesk pro plus 36 black. I waited until amazon had a sale and purchased the whole thing for $165. The desk came pre-assembled and was fairly difficult to remove from the packaging. First big red flag. The desk is heavy. Like heavy heavy. You need to have a sturdy base for this sucker. Raising an lowering also takes strength and caution. If you plan on placing expensive monitors on your desk, be really careful or you may be in the market for new monitors too. With my current setup, I can set the desk at its lowest setting and use my normal chair setup comfortably. I have a dual monitor setup and the varidesk works easy with two 22” monitors. I generally try and stand for 15 minutes an hour depending on what I’m doing. You might want to cut sitting cold turkey, but you’ll need comfy shoes. Next big thing…make sure you rise the desk to the correct level for your standing height. I’m 6’1 and I needed the desk all the way up on my usual desk. Any less than maximum height and my neck started hurting within 10 minutes. Research the science behind monitor height before you start this. Neck and back pain is no joke.
Ok so you have everything setup. Now what. Start a routine of standing vs sitting. I like 45 minutes of sitting with 15 minutes of standing to being with. I’ve been using the desk for about three months and I’m up to thirty minutes of standing without being uncomfortable. If you hate your flooring, get an anti-fatigue mat. You’ll thank yourself, it’s no Rick and Morty mat, but it’ll do the trick. Standing vs sitting is huge. The science works. Sitting is killing you. If you are really adventurous, try walking or biking while you work. I’m not suggesting you turn yourself into a sweaty mess at work. Just saying…if you are walking while you review documents or biking while you watch Netflix, you’ll be good to go on next year’s resolution.
Stay rational
-B&T