Having co-founded a standing desk company last year I keep up to date regularly with news, reviews and products coming onto the market. It’s amazing to see the innovation and progress the office space and desk market is making and equally interesting to see how much slack standing desks get. Sitting is the new smoking, apparently, yet products aimed at benefiting the body seem to get more stick than you can shake a stick at. Our cardboard standing version gets a fair amount of abuse online, but for £30 and over 1000 happy customers, I like to think we are doing a pretty good job…
So, let me tell you the truth about standing desks and no, you ain’t get you rock hard abs.
It’s a fact. 4 hours a day on your feet makes you feet ache. You’re not used to it yet. Get some comfy shoes or even better, an anti-fatigue matt to cushion your feet.
It’s an adjustment. No longer are you the office couch potatoe you used to be, you’re a fully-fledged standing desk demi-god (or goddess). For the first few weeks, your legs are going to ache while they get used to their new found activity overload. Stretch loads, walk around, chin up.
You get yourself a standing desk and all off a sudden you’re in for the marathon, not the sprint. Most standing-desk setups come with chairs, so you can take a break when you need to. 20 minutes slots once per hour is good to start. I also recommend breaking that up into different tasks which improves productivity as well. Nifty, eh?
Great ergonomic positioning has more benefits than simply being the office boff on great working set ups. It’s also going to impact heavily on posture and your comfort whilst working. However, you are standing, maintaining a healthy posture is business critical in making sure you feel great!
There are certain parts of my workday that are easier than others. Surely you know the feeling?
I’m at the point now where it’s almost second nature for me to be standing at the desk whenever I’m doing something menial or low concentration. And when you’ve got something you need to get your teeth into, sit down, headphones in and away you go.
One benefit of standing all day–you’ll be more tired at night. 4 hours extra standing per day, you’ll get a knock on effect when you finally get your head on the pillow in the evening. Thank me later for those extra ZZZZZ’s.
Standing Desks might not change the world, but they’ll certainly help create a better one for you.
Come join the standing revolution!
