The Truth Behind Standing Desks (2016)

FFS why are we posting stuff from 2016

My favorite thing about a standing desk is that I can actually sit and the desk be at the correct height.

I'll admit, I spend most of my time sitting at that desk. I do like standing in the morning as I think it helps me wake up a bit more, but the absolute biggest difference it has made for me is actually being able to sit at my desk with a good posture. *Mix that with a good chair and a vesa monitor mount* and you'll have a lost less back pain. But you'll still want to move around and do some minimal time in the gym or something. A standing desk isn't magic, but let's also be honest, we have adjustable chairs because everyone is sized differently, so why would we not think this is also important for our desks? The chair can't do everything.

The setup that I adopted 15 years ago and still use today is the "bar desk". It's a standup desk that's positioned in such a way that my elbows rest naturally when I'm standing.

But instead of a fancy mechanism to make the desk go up and down, I have a saddle stool. When sitting on it, my head is at the same level as standing, and my spine is straight. (Key point is monitor position.)

What I like about that is I can swap between sitting to standing in a few seconds without even thinking about it and without waiting for the desk motor to go up or down. This was originally a poor man's standup desk because I didn't have the budget for a motorized desk; now it's a choice.

Standing desks are not good for the legs. Blood won't climb unless pumped - that's done by walking. Just standing with no walking damages the veins.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeletal_muscle_pump

In environments like home where it's acceptable, I prefer to use my laptop sitting on the floor.

I find it stimulates repositioning often, preventing staying in one configuration for too long. It also compels me to get up and walk around occasionally, which is a hell of a lot more work than just standing still - sitting on the floor and getting up from floor level, multiple times. Go do some burpees then tell me about your standing desk afterwards.

It also helps retain a child-like level of flexibility.

The truth behind standing desks (2016)

I purchased my standing desk just over a year ago to help with my back issues and admittedly haven’t been coding with it at a standing level. That said, I’ve found it to be invaluable as my cats can’t jump onto it at it’s maximum height so my deskpad and electronics are safe from them.

I really don’t like typing on it while it’s standing since I’m not used to it. That said, I have multiple hour long zoom calls per week for my job where all I do is talk, so I should really try standing for those…

I have tried standing desks, but not for burning calories like the article suggests. It was more for fixing my posture. But standing and working made my lean and support myself with my hands.

The best solution I like now is a knee stool. It fixes my posture without I having to try too hard.

Everything about cals is starting to get very boring - Standing walking etc makes for decent blood flow and so much more for your body - Stop focusing on cals and just bring some movement in your life.

Harvard’s health blog sort of always gets it wrong which diminishes their brand IMO. This is also the publication that said something to the effect of “[…] other than reducing stress, there are no health benefits of using the sauna.” Nobody is claiming that standing desks will help you lose a massive amount of weight. People are using them for maintaining proper posture, and to be more generally active during the day. If you use a standing desk, you’re more likely to go from standing to sitting and vise versa, you’re more likely to move around a bit as you complete your work—as opposed to sitting in a chair which makes it easy to be sedentary for hours.