Changing to a Standing Desk

“Sitting is the new Smoking.”  Have you heard?  The CrossFit Mobility Guru, Kelly Starrett, has talked a great bit about it and even wrote a book on the topic.  It has been been linked to chronic disease, cancer, and even diabetes.  Over the last few years, I read a couple of articles on this topic and recently started to think about how much I sit all day.  While I am at the gym, I rarely sit.  However, once I am in my legal office, my butt WAS in a chair all day.  That is, until my wife bought me a standing desk adapter this year for Christmas.  I’ve looked at full standing desks before, and they are expensive.  This adapter was much cheaper and does the trick.

So, here I am, still standing after 1 month.  Here are my short term impressions:

1.  It is taking longer to get used to than I thought.  The first couple of days were ok.  However, after that my heels started to ache by the end of the day.  I bought an anti-fatigue mat and it has helped.  Even after a month, my heels still hurt, but not as bad.  My knees and back are fine, no pain there.  I do find that I lean a lot more then I used to.  Oh, and when I am on a long phone call, I subconsciously sit on the edge of my desk.
2. I am more productive.  There is something that feels empowering about standing all day.  If I need to get a book off of the shelf, I don’t need to spin around in my desk chair and stand up.  I am already standing and simply turn around.  This seems like a really minor thing to talk about.  However, I’ve come to realize how many things I used to avoid because I was so comfortable sitting that I didn’t want to stand up if I didn’t have to.  Similarly, I get away from my desk a lot more and walk around to get the blood pumping in the brain.  That is something that helps me think and I rarely did it when I sat.
3. I am not as achy.  Have you ever sat for an entire day with sore legs?  It is the worst.  I remember days where I would have to force myself to get out of my chair and then take 5-10 steps just to get my hips open and legs moving.  Not anymore.  My legs are constantly flushing blood.  So, they don’t feel sore all the time and my hips are always open.
4. I have more energy.  I am measuring this in the number of afternoon naps I take during a week.  Getting up at 4am four to five times a week starts to wear on me after a while.  When I was sitting all day, that 2:30pm nap was a regular thing.  Now, I don’t feel nearly as fatigued in the middle of the afternoon.  That’s not to say naps have been completely eliminated, but they have dropped to one or two a week.

I have no plans to return to sitting any time soon.  I may do a couple of follow up posts about this topic if I start to notice any other changes.  As someone who works out 6-7 days a week, counts macros, doesn’t smoke, etc., standing up just seemed like such an easy change to my daily life.  I highly recommend others try it.  Here is a link to the adaptor I received for Christmas:  https://ervodesk.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders/42739  

I am not sure why all of the options say “pre-order.”  If you have any questions about my experience, let me know.