anyone Stand while working?
 

The last few days I've been coming across 'reports' and news blips about the dangers of us who are sitting while working for more then 4-5 hours per day, some of the things they are claiming now are

50% higher chance of dying 'younger'

Increased heart problems, and higher heart attack risks

Poor blood circulation

poor posture and or back problems.

Now I've NEVER been one to put much into most of the 'health claims' and 'warnings' in my life BUT I've been sitting (or laying around) working for the last 10 years, 10-15 hours a day, and I can safely say I feel like shit lol.

So I'm thinking about revamping my office and building a tall counter top area where I can stand while I'm working.

Anyone else do this? do you find it is better then sitting all day?

-Loki-

This is what I do - 45 minutes work (I use an alarm clock gadget) and 15 mintues break; then AT LEAST 1 hour walk (more like 1.5 hours) every day (I stopped going to the gym).

And when I feel any discomfort in my hands, I start doing something that doesn't require me to use the mouse or type - like watching online tutorials, etc.

As for standing up while working, that's simply not possible, not to say that it probably comes with its own set of problems.

No, I sit on my fat ass all day.


Here's a cool gif by the way.
http://www.fundomain.se/wp-content/u...g-in-store.gif

interested to know why "standing up while working, that's simply not possible"

Years back I stood on my feet all day as a line cook, stock boy, and when I was a Radio DJ I ALWAYS stood and did my shows that way.

I like the whole 45 min work / 15 min break, and as for the walking, I try to do at LEAST 2 miles a day, sometimes I pull 4 or 5 miles, but that's exactly what was being talked about, people are doing similar to that and it does more harm to the body then good... so they say lol.

Before the new baby was born I used to break every few hours and shoot a few games of pool in the gameroom, now the gameroom has the day crib, swing, and bouncer and sadly 'Big Red' (my Scarface themed pool table lol) has been stored in the garage till I convert that into the 'man cave / new studio office

As for breaking every hour, sometimes that just don't work for me, especially when I'm working with affils lol... I can just see it now......

Loki: Um, I'm sorry buy my alarm gadget just went off, I'll be back in 15 mins, I have to get up and walk around

Affil: .........

:1orglaugh I dunno, I've just noticed I'm NOT in the health I should be at, and I'm not getting any younger here, and I know I'm a lifer in this biz, so I need to switch up the way I'm working each day.

-Loki-

I've actually been "laying down" sitting up on the futon actually for the last 6 months, was better on my back then ANY of my office chairs.

nice gif :thumbsup

I do very often in the kitchen with my laptop they say standing up and working is less bad for you.

how long do you normally work per day like that?

I remember over the years in "show us your workspace" threads seeing quite a few stand up work stations, never saw one like I'm going to have to mock up though lol

-Loki-

Hey, I actually think this is a great idea!! :thumbsup Even if it's only 2-3 days out of the week. Who knows, maybe it will make you even more productive..

Yea, I usually do. Everyone is always like "sit down dude"
lol
ds

I was planning on putting in a mini gym (with stands for a few of the laptops) in the upcoming mancave / studio office, I figured a laptop station on a treadmill and one on a bike, this way I could do low impact workouts as well as working at the same time.

as for more productive honestly only way that can happen is if we get more hours added to the day lol, my biggest prob is STOPPING work, I've finally started taking the weekends OFF after 10 years lol

Duke: do you find it better then when you sit and work? how long have you been doing it standing? do you switch standing / sitting etc etc etc

-Loki-

Well damn, that might be a little overboard. :1orglaugh :)

I think you could try something like, standing and working on a laptop for 3 hours. Then hitting the gym or treadmill for a nice hour workout, take an hour break. Then rotate between sitting and standing while working.

As long as you're not sitting for extended periods you should feel a lot better.

:1orglaugh it's not an overboard thing actually, I've got problems with my knees, and have always had problems standing still, makes my knees hurt, so if I'm walking or moving my legs while I'm standing, it bothers me much much less, so I figured the treadmill or bike would help me be able to stand without kicking in my knee issues, I'm not talking a brisk walk or biking, more like 1 mile per hour, kind of like shuffling your feet back and forth while standing still.

-Loki-

all jokes aside, here is the treadmill desk that gave me the idea:

http://store2.steelcase.com/Controls...t&bw=600&w=600
Treadmill

* Integrated treadmill and desk to keep you moving while you work
* Display console shows speed, calories burned, time and distance
* Display console may be visible or stored
* 2.0 mph maximum motor
* Motor designed to withstand the rigors of slow speeds and possible higher weights for long periods of use
* Whisper-quiet for the home or office environment
* Uses 3-8 amps depending on walking speed
* Sit, stand or walk and work with the Sit-to-Walkstation


thing is that fucker is $5k lol

-Loki-

You think you can type AND run at the same time?

:1orglaugh I would not dream of that, I'm talking about walking... slow, about 1mph (which is the normal average speed you walk around your room, house, whatever.

I'm not looking to switch to this method my entire work day lol, I'm crazy NOT fucking insane ;) but at some point when I get my new office done I'll look into that as an added option.

-Loki-

I have a standing desk to work on as well as a normal desk. I mostly use the standing desk now. I decided to try this after getting really bad back and neck pain from sitting at my desk all day and night and it solved the problem quickly believe it or not. I also just feel better and more alert when working at my standing desk. I highly recommend it.

Got any pics of it?

I read someplace a good while ago that the creator of the cubicle envisioned a work space where people could alternate between sitting and standing. Obviously, that isn't how it ended up being used.

I would *love* to have an area where I could and work part of the day. I get so tired of sitting, even with taking breaks.

Haha, nice one :thumbsup

do you seriously think you are going to be as productive while working standing up?
and what does cooking have to do with working on a computer?

and if you happen to be on ICQ when the alarm goes off, you know what you should probably do?????




wait, this is seriously fucking brilliant





here it comes






you can probably remain seated for a few more minutes!!! <---- genius

:1orglaugh, I know what you're saying I was just pointing out that with my day to day stuff working with affils, trying to take ANY sort of 'scheduled' break is about as rare as _____________

as for how productive I'd be, that would remain to be seen, as I've never actually worked standing with this stuff, but I bet at first after the initial adjustment time I'd be do just as well as I do sitting, or lounging now, especially if the back and neck pain are lessened, cause THAT fucks up my productivity now.

and as for my mentioning of cooking, it had nothing to do with computers, it was about the 'standing for 8 hours a day' because you're initial comment was along the lines of

"As for standing up while working, that's simply not possible"

I know you most likely had diff meanings behind that but I was just bringing up that I used to work standing up and had little issues.

for what I do in my day to day, I don't see standing being much of a hindrance, the only things I'd have to adjust is working with my 3D software and Photoshop, but I can always sit during those actions.

but writing, support, messaging and the boards could be done standing pretty easy I'd think.

We'll find out here shortly I guess I'm going to build a shelf desk this afternoon and replace my current desk with it, after that we'll just have to see how things go.

-Loki-

The one I have now I had someone custom build for me. I plan on replacing it with this desk soon...

http://i25.tinypic.com/2em21xj.jpg

http://www.milk.dk/

About 5 months ago I raised my desk(L shaped, built into wall) to chest height and got an office stool. I would never go back to exclusively sitting -- my butt and back are thanking me.

I have some nice Merrell moccasins for standing, but I still sit down for a couple hours per day. Another benefit is the extra calories burned from standing.

I talked with a guy on ICQ last night, just some basic b2b bs and he said when he is on the phone he is always on his feet. Said that you actually sell better while standing... thats a cool little tip right there so maybe I should stand up more often while working

Standing has just as many detrimental affects as sitting does.. I used to work in a machine shop working a drill press all day and people i worked with had serious back issues, foot problems shoulder problems and if you were standing and typing that would make it practically impossible to get a correct ergonomic posture for your hands so that would be carpal tunnel syndrome soon enough i'm sure of it. Basically, you shouldn't be in ANY position for large chunks of time so get up, take a break, move around, get some fresh air, make a snack, get some water all these things will help your circulation and help you avoid problems like these.

I can't sit 15 minutes without my back hurting, I get up and walk around and in 15 minutes I have to sit again. Laying down seems to be the only thing that works. Only then I still have to get into a comfortable position. Needless to say I go through lots of Ibuprofen, Flexoril, and now physical therapy next week.

Not sure if sitting while working the last 6-7 years has anything to do with it or not.

There are several stand up options that i have seen.. But most are so expensive that they are not worth the price.

no just when i wipe my ass.

That's EXACTLY why I'm going to just build my own station for right now, I looked around the last few days and most of the standing workstations I've found start at $300 and go up to $5k lol

What I have planned,

shelf about 50 - 52 inches tall total (with slots for cords to drop into) The station would hold the main 4 laptops I work with daily

We'll see how that works and go from there I guess

-Loki-

When I built mine, I finalized the height with the surface of the desk midway between my belly button and my nipples. This allows for my arm to rest perfectly on the desk and keep my wrist level when using the mouse. I occasionally put a pad under my elbow.

I highly recommend building into a corner. This way, you have open space in front of you, and an arm rest on your mouse side. I used 2 solid core doors, finished and plexiglassed on the surface -- there's only 2 main supports, with a rim attached the to the wall studs to hold up the edges.

http://i.imagehost.org/0529/2010-07-29_10_49_53_1.jpg

Helpful tip from me; I only use my right hand when working. I use my left/weak hand for surfing, reading gfy etc. Very easy way to reduce carpal-tunnel.


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Yup pretty much what I do. Also every time I am on a phone call I stand up and walk around.

That's what I did about 5am this morning actually, I used my current desk and adjusted the shelf until it was at a height that I could stand and extend my arms out so they rested on the shelf and it's just a bit closer to my belly button then the middle for me

I'm leaving the corner open for now in case I end up extending it to my towers, but I'll have plenty of arm space no matter which laptop I'm working on

-Loki-

I mix up the day by standing while working for part of it. My monitors are on swivel heads and my hand falls naturally at the keyboard at my workstation height.

It wasn't recent news reports, it was watching Dick Cheney at work:
He doesn't even have a chair at his desk...

Standing is just as bad for you. It's not that either are specifically "bad" for you. If you begin standing at work all day, you'll run into back problems, joint issues in the legs, ankle stress. It doesn't matter what you do.

Our bodies weren't designed for either. Evolution millions of years ago wasn't thinking "I think I'll plan on this species becoming a work force and being in an office for eight hours of their day". That's not how it works.

I think workstations that can lift up and down, will be something we see much more of soon. This way you can mix standing and sitting throughout the day.

This is true. While I love my standing desk, I can't do it all day. My feet start to hurt even with the most supportive shoes. You've got to mix it up.

Yep, I used to move my laptop to the top of one of my big floor speakers, but at the moment I only have a sitting desk. Although I do hang out in the kitchen at the counter some days.

I like working standing up a lot more because you can easily walk away and take a break at any time. If you sit down and work all day it's hard to get yourself up and away.

lol I never knew Dick had no chair, I actually heard Robin on the stern show reading a report about it the other day, then last night Scott Ferrel did a similar report, also not too long ago Good Morning America had a 20 min segment about companies switching to standing stations, they also had a doctor on that said you burn 20 calories an hour JUST STANDING, I don't know what sitting per hour does, other then make me sore lol

-Loki-

not arguing with you at all here but oddly enough the good morning America thing I just mentioned had the guy who invented the treadmill desk I posted in this thread, and he said the opposite about evolution, his claim was along the lines of...

We evolved to be a species 'on the move' or bodies were never meant to be sitting for hours and hours a day, we were meant to be on or feet

-Loki-

Yes, I have a stand station.