Stand Up Desks (pic)
 

So, I switched to a Stand Up desk about a month ago now, (pic below) and I fucking love it!

http://i.imgur.com/ZBR5L1Y.jpg

got it from Upliftdesk and I couldn't be happier with it. I'd talked to a few people that use them and heard you had to work your way into it and stand for an hour or so at first, then move up. I don't think i sat down for the first week at all. In general, I probably stand for at least 7 hours of the day now in the office and sit at the most 1 hour. Just need a good anti fatigue mat.

I feel like my production has gone up 30+ %, I am more awake, more apt to get out and about and actually talk to people, less lethargic, my legs feel better and on and on.

Anyways, thought it was worth sharing because I think in general it is just a huge improvement and I think anyone having problems getting motivated at work, or having issues staying awake, or sore back or anything like that, should definitely try one out. There's a shit ton of options out there starting at a couple hundred bucks. This bad boy has two electric motors and can lift about 400 lb's, but there are manual ones that sit on your desk and use hydraulic assisted lifts.

Still waiting to see what the long term issues could be. Seems that no matter what, sitting or standing someone says it will create an issue.

How much was the desk? I have one that is in a fixed position and have been standing or using a treadmill desk for many years. Make sure you get a mat to stand on ASAP or you will hurt your back.

Also instead of sitting down on a chair for part of the day you can get one of these and never have to change the height of your desk.

Uncaged Ergonomics Wobble Stool Ergonomic Office and Bar Chair | Wayfair

Varier Move Stool with Cushion | Wayfair

It's already known that sitting for long periods of time is not good for you in the long term.

I got my standing desk 7 years ago and can't go back.

Isn't it bad for veins on your legs? As far as I know, varicose is a common issue for lecturers and others who work standing (not walking, not running etc - just statically standing).

Nice office, PR Phil!

A question for you: Do you ever get tired of this kind of desk? I'm getting fat and thinking of changing my office furniture too. Would love to know how you feel during the middle of the day. Share more about your experience with this setup please..!

Best,

Maybe I'll put some books under my current desks legs to try out what is it like :)

It is a much better height to fuck as well, that being really the ONLY reason to give a shit about really.

Used to set my laptop on a floor standing speaker and work (and music of course). Then eventually I started bouncing around from that, sitting at a desk, and leaning back in a chair with my laptop on my... lap, a lot of times in a lawn chair by the pool and jump on an air mattress I had in my pool when I wanted to kind of float around and zone out and brainstorm. Never really understood the need for all these multiple monitor setups people have, maybe just not necessary in what I deal with but a laptop is all I need and the mobility is something I don't think I'd want to give up.

i don't know if i'd want to stand all day but i definitely would like to get a standing desk to switch back and forth between but do you find yourself hunching over using the mouse and such? i can't see myself staying perfectly vertical for one hour let alone seven.

Put a treadmill under it

Sooo you think standing instead of sitting is going to make you less fat?

I don't know about that one. I think the best way to lose weight (maybe just for women) is a potential new sex partner. Do men try to lose weight for that too? Or do you just not give a fuck and let it hang out?

Mark's real problem is that his new EV is saving him so much money on gas that he is blowing it on fast food. Mark, go back to the gas guzzler. It will save your waist.

I have a makeshift standing desk that has my laptop on it. I switch between the two. I will work for a little while on the laptop, then site at my regular desk and work there then go back etc. I haven't yet gotten used to doing a lot of typing while standing.

I could see using it for quick shit like if ya worked at carmax or something but to stand for hours while doing some hardcore work definitely won't make it on my shopping list. :2 cents:

at first I was looking at Nextdesk: Named the Best Standing Desks | NextDesk, it was going to be about $2,000, but then I found these at Uplift: UPLIFT Desk | Height Adjustable Desks and Accessories, which was about 40% less. As far as I can tell, they are virtually identical, in fact, I think the uplift desk has a few more options. All in I paid $1,200 but I got several add on options, (grommets with built in plugs, cable management system, CPU holder, privacy screen fro the front.) The most important option I think is the cpu holder, it allows you to keep the cables all cleaned up and you don't have to use longer cables because the cpu moves with the desk, it slides in and out so you have easy access to your USP ports and shit.

We tested several different chairs at our office, one with a exercise ball on wheels, one where you are basically on your knees with your butt just resting on a seat, but I just prefer standing up.

no idea, but at this point in my life, (after having the same job for 15 years) I am motivated by wanting to stay productive, or by wanting to get more productive, I don't have the energy I used to and I find I am getting a lot more done standing up and I am probably drinking less coffee because of it as well.

hard to get tired of this desk. If you see the little panel on the right of it, there are 4 preset buttons there, so you can choose your four favorite heights and it will go to them at the push of a button, it moves quickly and is fairly quiet. I only need two settings, but I think it has 4 in case you have it in a open setting where multiple people can use it. I put it down when I have people in my office and I put it down when I am reading contracts and things like that, but I actually prefer typing standing up. The only thing I get tired of, is moving the anti fatigue mat when I put it up and down, I have to slide it forward so I can roll my chair back in, but really it is no big deal.

it can easily handle the weight of two people, and still goo up and down, so I am sure it would be ideal as you could set it at the exact right height (moves in 0.1" increments) but I generally don't let my wife visit the office, so I can't back that up with experience.

we use slack for communicating at out office, it's really good for keeping in touch with everyone and keeping on top of projects, we also use Basecamp for organizing our projects. So my right monitor is exclusively for 1) Slack 2) Basecamp, 3) Google fincance 4) Skype 5) XE.com 6) GFY (sometimes) it's basically my messaging window so I see things right away without having to pay attention to notifications. I do almost all my work on my left monitor. Unless I am copying from one thing to another, or comparing two things, then I use both.

After all this time, there is an infinate amount of things I am unsure about, but one thing I am absolutely 100% sure about, is that 2 monitors brings about a huge increase in productivity, Every single person in our office has 2 monitors, our accounting department, even our HR department. Several of our employees who have to monitor things constantly, like Sys Admins, have 3 monitors.

I noticed that as time has gone on, I have increased the standing height twice. what I was comfortable with at first, in retrospect, was somewhat a hunched position, but I had to get used to it. where I am at now, my arms basically bend 90% at the elbow and are at the exact right height for my keyboard.

PR Dave's got a good buddy who is a chiropractor, he spent a day at the office last week and was showing me some passive exercises you can do while just standing there, he had a fancy name for them but I can't remember it, anyways, I find that they help keep you upright even better and after a while you just start doing them without thinking. (simple stuff like putting one foot a few inches forward from the other and simply applying inward or outward pressure on your calves and quads).

I plan on it. like dieting and exercising in the past, I find my failure comes about when I dive too far into something all at once.

Men do loose weight for many of the same reasons, in my younger years I was smallest when single and gained weight when attached. But standing all day will 100% help take the weight off and help keep the weight off. Sure you are not killing a whole lot of calories, but it is a part of a change in your attitude, a change in your lifestyle. We all come up with different reasons why we should try to be better at something, it's all about when we decide the reasons outweigh the general enjoyment of eating whatever you want. For me it was at Christmas when I realized my 6 year old girl could run as fast as me. I am an active guy, I play baseball and volleyball and I have a large piece of property I maintain, when I realized I couldn't outrun a 6 year old, it made me want to puke. I had probably lost 30 lb's before I bought the desk, but I had hit a plateau, the desk definitely helped me get over that, when I leave the office at 5 I am wide awake and ready to go, not half asleep and ready for a nap.

Not to belittle your desk, or derail this thread by any means, but what does your diet look like? I know many people that swear by the standing desks, and have thought about one myself for over a year now. I don't have any issues with productivity, nor do I have any energy issues. I do attribute the majority of this to a few factors:

1) I don't have, nor will I ever have any children sucking the life out of me.
2) We eat super clean (Paleo) 70% of the time, pretty clean (no dairy, soy, gluten) 20%, whatever the fuck we want the last 10% of the time. I actually find that when I havev a cheat meal, I regret it.
3) I exercise an hour a day 6 days a week. Incorporating everything from interval training, light weight circuit training, stretching, and core work.

Couple years ago I was having some major back pain start to creep up on me too. I adjusted my desk and that helped a ton, but gettting a Teeter Hangup was an amazing investment as well. 5 minutes a day 3-4 days a week on that thing has done wonders.

I like your office great taste!

Before & after pics coming?

I've been eating clean, (paleo) since January 1st, 100% that's been the biggest change of my life, I sleep two less hours a day, I have more energy and I am more motivated in almost everything. I didn't cheat for the first 75 days, now I pretty much cheat once a week and I also generally regret it, but I had hit a wall and was told by a few people that I needed to cheat once and a while. I don't eat anything that comes in a bag or a box, just meat, vegetables, nuts and cheese and spices. I am sure some carbs creep in there, I don't try that hard, but I don't touch bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, corn or anything with more than one ingredient unless I make it myself. When I cheat, it is usually with fruit, when you have little kids, there is generally a lot of fruit around.

I didn't weigh myself for the first 75 days either and even then it was just because I happened to be at someones house who had a scale sitting on the bathroom floor. When I did, I was floored, I had lost 30 lb's in 2 and a half months. That immediately motivated me to get out the old treadmill and start jogging. I do push ups a few times a day and I do squats a few times a day (just body weight). I will not join a gym, I feel like that has been a key to my failure in the past, way too easy to make excuses not to go. But I can do push ups and squats and I can jog all while the ball game is on at home.

for clarification, I was not trying to say I am loosing weight because I have a stand up desk, I am saying it is one of the changes I have made, part of a change in lifestyle and I think it was an important one.

thanks!

I'll post an after pick of the office once the disco ball gets installed!

It would be nice if you can adapt table by your wish... :) Few hours sitting and few hours standing... :)

I know sitting is bad for you but i think id rather go the other way and have my office in my bed. I cant imagine standing in one spot all day.

Looks nice and comfortable office at all !

That couch...haha ;)

that's the whole point, it goes up and down at the touch of a button.

Casting couch! :winkwink:

It's adjustable. If you want to switch to sitting for a while you press a button and the desk is lowered to standard desk height. Mixing those two modes is a good way of mitigating the risks of extended sitting and standing.

I bought The Elliptical Machine Office Desk a few years ago: The Elliptical Machine Office Desk - Hammacher Schlemmer

I threw the Elliptical away. I hated it. Now I just alternate between using the desk in the standing mode and sitting mode throughout the day.

Amazing how flushing all those toxins and general garbage that is put into everyday foods can make you feel so much better.

Keep it up man, we have been doing this for over 3 years, and I will never go back!

As humans we were designed to be moving all the time, we were hunter gathers. So sitting or standing isnt best. I can see being more productive standing, its like you are in go mode.

I started Paleo as a temporary thing, I don't think I will ever go back either, it's tough for a few weeks trying to figure out what you CAN'T eat, then when you realize it's about what you CAN eat, it gets so much easier, there is so much out there that is good for you, shit you just didn't try because you are used to eating from a box or a can. Realistically, healthy food is easier as well, I can whip together a fucking Sweat Curry Chicken in half the time it takes to boil pasta or bake a potato!

Yeah, I think I read somewhere that "sitting" is not a natural thing for humans.
Our bodies were designed to stand up. Or lie down. And to "squat".
But the act of "sitting" is unnatural.

Anybody know if that is true? If so, then perhaps a standing desk would be the way to go.
I have a real expensive, fancy chair that is supposed to support the lumbar and all that crap. But when you're sitting in it all freakin' day working...you're back still feels like shit.

But when I stand up? The pain starts to go away.

stand half and sit half works well 4 me