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Last post Author Topic: Anyone here using a standing desk?  (Read 77825 times)

Stoic Joker

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Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?
« Reply #25 on: April 21, 2011, 11:42 AM »
Also bought one of those "kneeling chairs" that used to be in vogue.


I had a friend that wanted me to try one of those...Because I'd "Probably like it". I told him if I stuck two fingers up my ass I could probably whistle, but I wasn't about to try that either...So go get me a proper friggin chair.

Side Note: I haven't been in vogue since 1973. :)

40hz

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Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?
« Reply #26 on: April 21, 2011, 12:11 PM »
Also bought one of those "kneeling chairs" that used to be in vogue.


I had a friend that wanted me to try one of those...Because I'd "Probably like it". I told him if I stuck two fingers up my ass I could probably whistle, but I wasn't about to try that either...So go get me a proper friggin chair.

Suggest he buy it - and you pay him back if you decide to keep it.

Side Note: I haven't been in vogue since 1973. :)

If it's any comfort, I've personally never been "in vogue" a single day in my entire life.

Doesn't seem to be an issue. I've still got friends. ;D


f0dder

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Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?
« Reply #27 on: April 21, 2011, 12:12 PM »
I told him if I stuck two fingers up my ass I could probably whistle, but I wasn't about to try that either...
Don't diss prostate massaging 'til you've tried it! :P
- carpe noctem

40hz

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Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?
« Reply #28 on: April 21, 2011, 12:50 PM »
I told him if I stuck two fingers up my ass I could probably whistle, but I wasn't about to try that either

That's a shame. You never know when some band is looking to hire. ;)

40hz

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Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?
« Reply #29 on: April 21, 2011, 12:59 PM »
On a more "on topic" note, plans for a stand-up desk can be found here and here.

The link at Instructables.com has a bunch of other standing desk projects over on the right hand side of the page.


Stoic Joker

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Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?
« Reply #30 on: April 21, 2011, 03:57 PM »
I told him if I stuck two fingers up my ass I could probably whistle, but I wasn't about to try that either...
Don't diss prostate massaging 'til you've tried it! :P

LOL Now that's the funniest damn thing I've heard in long time!

cranioscopical

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Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?
« Reply #31 on: April 21, 2011, 05:01 PM »
I would slide forwards - but my trousers would stay in the same place

Thank goodness you didn't go in reverse!

40hz

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Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?
« Reply #32 on: April 21, 2011, 05:56 PM »
I would slide forwards - but my trousers would stay in the same place

Thank goodness you didn't go in reverse!
-cranioscopical (April 21, 2011, 05:01 PM)

Chris is a no "ands" "ifs" or "butts" kind of guy about that sort of thing.  ;)

mwb1100

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Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?
« Reply #33 on: April 21, 2011, 06:07 PM »
I would slide forwards - but my trousers would stay in the same place

Thank goodness you didn't go in reverse!
-cranioscopical (April 21, 2011, 05:01 PM)

I think the fix for both those problems is to stick two fingers up yer...

app103

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Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?
« Reply #34 on: April 21, 2011, 07:18 PM »
I used to use a standing desk at a job that had them to save space. I only worked there 3 days a week, on weekends (Fri-Sat-Sun) answering phones and writing down orders. Halfway through the day (often sooner) my feet would start killing me. I would end up having to grab a chair and adjust the height so I could rest one knee on it, in order to keep one foot off the floor, alternating feet, for the rest of the day.

My employer wasn't too crazy about this, as it created an issue because my desk was located in a high traffic area and the presence of the chair and my foot sticking out created a bit of an obstruction problem. (she kept walking into my foot)

Even with doing this, Monday morning I'd start my day off with my feet still killing me and the pain wouldn't go away enough for me to be fully functional till about Wednesday.

You don't really move around as much as you would think with a standing desk, and that was the problem for me. I can walk for hours without any pain, but standing in one place too long will bother me.

I used to think it was my shoes that were to blame, but after years of experience and plenty of different shoe types, I have learned otherwise. It's the lack of motion.

When I am at a sit down desk, my feet are almost always in motion, flexing and bending, all day. At a stand up desk, they are not.

I suppose if my desk had been attached to a treadmill, I wouldn't have had the foot problems that I had with the standing desk, but then it would have taken up much more space that we really didn't have.

paulobrabo

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Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?
« Reply #35 on: April 22, 2011, 04:30 AM »
There was another article recently (can't locate it) about how sitting all day is worse for you that they previously thought -- and more articles recently about standing desks.

Some of those articles, for reference. I'm in the process of trying a standing table, btw. Pictures and impressions soon.

http://www.businessw...9/b4177071221162.htm

Hamilton, like many sitting researchers, doesn't own an office chair.
"If you're standing around and puttering, you recruit specialized
muscles designed for postural support that never tire," he says.
"They're unique in that the nervous system recruits them for
low-intensity activity and they're very rich in enzymes." One enzyme,
lipoprotein lipase, grabs fat and cholesterol from the blood, burning
the fat into energy while shifting the cholesterol from LDL (the bad
kind) to HDL (the healthy kind). When you sit, the muscles are
relaxed, and enzyme activity drops by 90% to 95%, leaving fat to camp
out in the bloodstream. Within a couple hours of sitting, healthy
cholesterol plummets by 20%.

http://opinionator.b...while-you-read-this/

But it looks as though there’s a more sinister aspect to sitting, too.
Several strands of evidence suggest that there’s a “physiology of
inactivity”: that when you spend long periods sitting, your body
actually does things that are bad for you.

http://www.nytimes.c...=me&ref=homepage

Sitting, it would seem, is an independent pathology. Being sedentary
for nine hours a day at the office is bad for your health whether you
go home and watch television afterward or hit the gym. It is bad
whether you are morbidly obese or marathon-runner thin. “Excessive
sitting,” Dr. Levine says, “is a lethal activity.”

http://www.scientifi...-kill-you-2011-01-06

Western society is built around sitting. We sit at work, we sit at
school, we sit at home, and we sit in our cars as we commute back and
forth. In fact, a recent survey reports that the average American
accumulates more than 8 hours of sedentary behavior every day—roughly
half of their waking hours.

http://fittipdaily.c...ss-of-exercise-5805/

New research suggests that your daily bout at the gym may not be the
only thing you need to stay alive if you spend your life behind a
desk.
English will never be my first language, it doesn't meter how hard I try.

JennyB

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Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?
« Reply #36 on: April 22, 2011, 06:13 AM »
I used to use a standing desk at a job that had them to save space. I only worked there 3 days a week, on weekends (Fri-Sat-Sun) answering phones and writing down orders. Halfway through the day (often sooner) my feet would start killing me. I would end up having to grab a chair and adjust the height so I could rest one knee on it, in order to keep one foot off the floor, alternating feet, for the rest of the day.

I've been using a standing desk for about six months, and had the same problem, until I got a little step-up stool and put that under the desk. One foot up on that every so often gives me a rest. I work at home, so it's easy for me to walk away if I get stuck with what I want to write next. Sometimes I'll bring my wireless keyboard with me, lying down on a couch, and type away without looking at the monitor. Then I go back and edit.  :P
If you don't see how it can fail -
you haven't understood it properly.

40hz

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Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?
« Reply #37 on: April 22, 2011, 06:43 AM »
...

I've been using a standing desk for about six months, and had the same problem, until I got a little step-up stool and put that under the desk. One foot up on that every so often gives me a rest.

Almost the same posture you'd use standing at the bar of your favorite pub with a glass of fresh ale in front of you!

Hmm...maybe I'll pack up my work and drop by The Horseshoe and see if I'm more comfortable and productive standing and...working. They've got a few new things on tap I've been meaning to sample anyway. Two birds, one stone, so there's efficiencies gained right there!

Worth a try at any rate.

@Jen - Thx for the inspiration! ;D
« Last Edit: April 22, 2011, 06:45 AM by 40hz »

mouser

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Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?
« Reply #38 on: April 22, 2011, 06:51 AM »
Thanks for the collection of excerpts paulo, you found the one recent article (the NY Times one from April 17, 2011) that i was having trouble recalling earlier.

ewemoa

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Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?
« Reply #39 on: April 22, 2011, 05:47 PM »
There was a Wikipedia page related this subject:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_desk

Perhaps all of the articles mentioned at its end have already been posted, but FWIW :)

paulobrabo

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Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?
« Reply #40 on: April 29, 2011, 08:59 AM »
It's finally here! I made a small table and used it to turn my digital illustration desk into a standing desk.

They say one should use an ergonomic stepping pad, or something, but I walk barefoot all the time and I this isn't my only working desk (I'll let the other one remain a sitting desk, at least for the time being), so maybe it won't be a problem. We'll see.


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English will never be my first language, it doesn't meter how hard I try.

mouser

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Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?
« Reply #41 on: April 29, 2011, 09:05 AM »
That actually looks pretty awesome.

wraith808

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Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?
« Reply #42 on: April 29, 2011, 09:11 AM »
Nice idea!  And nice work!

mouser

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Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?
« Reply #43 on: April 29, 2011, 09:47 AM »
Do people with standing desks ever use anti-fatigue mats? I have one in my kitchen and it makes a world of difference in terms of easing pain on feet from standing for a long time.

wraith808

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Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?
« Reply #44 on: April 29, 2011, 09:53 AM »
Do people with standing desks ever use anti-fatigue mats? I have one in my kitchen and it makes a world of difference in terms of easing pain on feet from standing for a long time.

Do you know how they work?

paulobrabo

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Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?
« Reply #45 on: April 29, 2011, 10:02 AM »
Do people with standing desks ever use anti-fatigue mats? I have one in my kitchen and it makes a world of difference in terms of easing pain on feet from standing for a long time.

I heard most people use some kind of mat, though there seems to be no agreement about what is the best solution. Almost everyone I heard of uses some kind of stool to shift the weight from one foot to the other.
English will never be my first language, it doesn't meter how hard I try.
« Last Edit: April 29, 2011, 11:23 AM by paulobrabo »

paulobrabo

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Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?
« Reply #46 on: April 29, 2011, 10:09 AM »
By the way, this is the setup I used during my Beta period. Absolutely don't forget the glass of wine.

   <img src="http://www.23hq.com/...ac47c6f_standard.jpg">
English will never be my first language, it doesn't meter how hard I try.

mathiasree

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Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?
« Reply #47 on: May 06, 2011, 03:53 PM »
I stopped thinking and went to action a couple of moths ago; it was a pretty straightforward job, took 4 wooden bars and lifted my desktop to about 106 cm. If you like to do it yourself, measure to achieve a height where your elbows would be exactly at keyboard level. I can stand  and type with my arms in a natural relaxed position. As I don´t *always* want to stand, I use a fancy barstool, so I can sit when I like.
I´m an old-scool designer (55 years old) and started my job on drawing tables like engineers used to have them, the board tilt to almost horizontal. I worked on final art ant typesetting montages on Schoellershammer Cardboard with rubber cement, that kind of stuff. I still can bite my ass for having sold the table 15 years ago... worst error ever. When i started working sitting down, my physical condition degraded rapidly. 
All day standing, however,  isn´t all to healthy... but you will be very much more mobile, step  back from your monitor, walk around and come back, it´s an outright more physical approach to desktop working and on long hauls you will sit and stand, both as long as you like. Don´t think a lot about it- give it a try.

phitsc

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Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?
« Reply #48 on: May 06, 2011, 04:56 PM »
It's finally here! I made a small table and used it to turn my digital illustration desk into a standing desk.

They say one should use an ergonomic stepping pad, or something, but I walk barefoot all the time and I this isn't my only working desk (I'll let the other one remain a sitting desk, at least for the time being), so maybe it won't be a problem. We'll see.


<img src="http://www.23hq.com/...fecb528e15_large.jpg">

<img src="http://www.23hq.com/...6707116_standard.jpg">

Yeah, looks really cool  :Thmbsup:. Don't know why, but it reminds me of the Bremer Stadtmusikanten. The TFT would be the rooster ;)

paulobrabo

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Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?
« Reply #49 on: May 07, 2011, 07:55 AM »
Yeah, looks really cool  :Thmbsup:. Don't know why, but it reminds me of the Bremer Stadtmusikanten. The TFT would be the rooster ;)

Lol. A friend who saw the photo told me that to complete the setup I should make a low chair and put my old chair on top of it.
English will never be my first language, it doesn't meter how hard I try.