WOULD YOU USE A STANDING DESK?

By Katie of Coco and Tea

I do…..and I highly recommend getting one!

I was completely inspired to get one, after my CFO raved about his standing desk for weeks.  After I was given approval by my company to order one, I started Googling instantly (I have a unique desk space, thus I needed a “standing desktop” )!  A few searches later…and I found The Kangaroo.  It’s only been a couple days, but I absolutely love it.

I will admit, upon receiving it, I dove in and did exactly what my co-workers told me not to: “do not stand all day; you need to build up the muscles for that.”  Naturally I stood all day the first two days and by the third day, was incredibly sore.  I felt as if I ran a marathon even though I had not worked out!

Since then, I have been going back and forth between standing and sitting; standing for roughly six hours of the day and sitting the rest.  I sit for lunch, meetings….and whenever I get tired (the desk easily raises and lowers). I stand on a foot pad, which makes standing easy on your back….and also means that it is acceptable to NOT wear shoes in the office :)

The best perk is that I feel great at the end of the day!  When I get home in the evening, I don’t feel lazy or guilty for sitting on the couch the rest of the evening.  I have still been attempting to get workouts in first thing in the morning, but I am sure to make them ‘light,’ as I don’t want to tire my legs out until they are strong enough to do both.

The only concern I have is that the Cherry Blossom 10-miler is coming up in four weeks and I really need to get training!  I am planning to run five miles tomorrow, so fingers-crossed my legs can withstand it!

None-the-less, I highly recommend a standing a desk; I couldn’t say more positive things about it! So rather than me going on-and-on, below is a list, from Yahoo Health, of what sitting all day does to you:

1. Screws up your posture. The fascia, the tissue that connects individual muscles into a full-body network, begins to set when you stay in one position for too long, says Men’s Health advisor Bill Hartman, P.T., C.S.C.S., a physical therapist in Indianapolis. If you’re hunched over a keyboard all day, this eventually becomes your normal posture.

2. Makes you fatter. This happens for two reasons. First, you burn 60 more calories an hour when standing versus sitting. But more importantly, says Hartman, when you spend too much time sitting, your largest muscle group—the glutes (a.k.a. your butt)—become lazy and quit firing. This is called gluteal amnesia. And it means you burn fewer calories.

3. Causes lower back pain. Weak glutes push your pelvis forward, putting stress on the spine, says Hartman. Here’s the other unseemly thing that happens when your pelvis tilts forward: Your belly protrudes, making you look 5 months pregnant.

Do you have a standing desk?  Do you want a standing desk now?