I built a lay-down desk • Hacker News Board

Re: I built a lay-down desk

#251

Post by dkersten » Mon, Oct 05, 2020, 9:37 PM UTC

andreareina wrote: post #25

zoba wrote: post #5

A friend once said “There’s all these studies about how bad sitting is for you. Now there are even studies about how bad standing desks are for you. Nobody ever says anything bad about laying down so I just try to do that as much as possible.” I still laugh. Perhaps true in part though.

IME it's not sitting or standing or lying down that's injurious, it's not moving . My pain to a large extent went away when I stopped staying so still. Now I change my posture on the regular, from leaning against the backrest to sitting away from it to taking little breaks to pace around a bit. Similarly, I used to get eye strain from all the screen time. Until I moved to an office with a view and I found myself star…

A physiotherapist once said to me that sitting with bad posture isn't even bad for you... as long as you don't stay in the same position too long. So the problem isn't sitting, standing or lying down, its doing those for too long. I suppose probably due to not moving, as you said.

Re: I built a lay-down desk

#252

Post by temikus » Mon, Oct 05, 2020, 9:39 PM UTC

timwaagh wrote: post #250

the thing is, why should it professionals be constructing their own ergo desks out of poverty. most professions that have physiological risks have the employer provide the safety gear... still stuff like this is getting expensive. im buying my sitting/standing desk second hand. still about 400E.

I think it depends on the employer - mine has no issues getting ergonomics like a standing desk or a wrist saving mouse/keyboard. They even upgraded my home office setup when COVID happened. Though I would admit that 11k lying desk with actuators will probably be a no :D

Re: I built a lay-down desk

#253

Post by hinkley » Mon, Oct 05, 2020, 9:39 PM UTC

I stopped hanging out in /r/DIY before /r/DIWHY became a thing, because it was turning into a roast of people risking life, limb, and property by doing something structurally unsound. There's educating people on building standards, and then there's just bagging on people.

In an attempt to be more of the former than the latter, if the string or especially that strut sheer off of their mounts, that whole contraption is slamming down. Your groin is pretty well protected, but you can still catch that upper bit in the teeth. Figure out how far stuff should move and add stops to keep it from going a hair farther. Replace most of the nails with bolts (beware of end grain, which can split, in which case nail/bolt makes little difference).

Aside: My personal favorite trick that doesn't get used enough is eddy currents. If something has to move easily but not too quickly, a piece of aluminum, copper (or I think non-ferrous steel?) and a rare earth magnet will decrease the terminal velocity of the moving bit. You still take a hit, but you might walk away from it.

Re: I built a lay-down desk

#254

Post by buzzerbetrayed » Mon, Oct 05, 2020, 9:49 PM UTC

esaym wrote: post #247

I thought about this same idea for a long time like 5 years ago. From hanging a monitor from the ceiling with string, to complicated wood framework such as the author. I finally realized that you can get about 90% of the way with a simple "medical table" ($50 on amazon) and a normal la-z-boy recliner.

Wow, brilliant. I'm tempted to try this now.

https://www.amazon.com/Medical-Tiltable-One-Touch-Adjustment...

Re: I built a lay-down desk

#255

Post by mtalantikite » Mon, Oct 05, 2020, 9:54 PM UTC

nafey wrote: post #216

mtalantikite wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Locust pose from yoga is phenomenal for back strength. Edit: You probably also should focus on core work too. Try some forearm planks to start.

Did you mean Lotus position?

Nope, Padmasana isn’t a back strengthening pose, although a strong core is necessary to maintain it for a typical meditation session. Salabhasana (locust pose) is great for the entire back side of the body.

Re: I built a lay-down desk

#256

Post by gremlinsinc » Mon, Oct 05, 2020, 9:54 PM UTC

I'm lazy enough, w/ this I may never be vertical again, lol.

Re: I built a lay-down desk

#257

Post by renewiltord » Mon, Oct 05, 2020, 9:54 PM UTC

birdyrooster wrote: post #210

Wistar wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

BMW's new i3 "Urban Suite" interior shown at CES this past January supposedly takes comforts to a new level, albeit just for the one passenger. https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/304393-ces-2020-limo-for...

What an incredibly awkward position to be in for both the driver and passenger. Be sure not to wear a skirt in the Urban Suite

Checking local laws where the car was demonstrated, it appears that it is not actually mandatory that skirt wearers put their legs up on the ottoman. While local police may harass you anyway, there is sufficient leg room to place your legs in the space between the edge of the seat and the ottoman.

I could hardly believe it myself, but it is true.

Re: I built a lay-down desk

#258

Post by refurb » Mon, Oct 05, 2020, 9:56 PM UTC

hombre_fatal wrote: post #223

amelius wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_atrophy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pressure_ulcer

While sitting or laying at a desk all day, you'd have to try very very hard to get a bed sore from doing it, wincing through quite a bit of pain and itching and discomfort to remain seated. There's a reason the guy in the image is like 90+ years old and either suffers from immobility and/or nerve issues. Anyone more healthy than that would feel the need to squirm and get up long before one would form. Also, the way w…

Why is this downvoted? It’s accurate - healthy, mobile-able individuals don’t get pressure ulcers. You’ll shift your weight and move around enough to avoid any damage.

It’s folks who are bedridden and don’t have the ability to move themselves around that get pressure ulcers. Combine that with poor circulation and potential nerve damage (diabetes) and it’s not hard to do.

A health 35 year old? You’d have to force yourself to get a pressure ulcer.

Re: I built a lay-down desk

#259

Post by plutonic » Mon, Oct 05, 2020, 9:59 PM UTC

zwayhowder wrote: post #228

bduerst wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We used to joke that smokers have great eyes because they take regular screen breaks to go outside and stare at the horizon.

Anecdotaly I didn't get proscribed reading glasses until a year or two after I quite smoking... Seriously though, one thing I did find was when I quit smoking my ability to solve complex problems at work went down for a while. I was no longer taking a forced 10 minute break every 60-90 minutes that let my brain reset. (Or explaining my problem out loud to another filthy smoker skulking around the back of the building…

Nicotine is also an acetylcholinergic stimulant, meaning it aids in the quickness of thought [0]. By removing this from your stack you probably depressed your acetylcholine for a while, making you less able to think clearly.

It might also be the lack of breaks too, but who knows.

[0]: https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/nty134

Re: I built a lay-down desk

#260

Post by wolrah » Mon, Oct 05, 2020, 10:05 PM UTC

AnotherGoodName wrote: post #184

cardiffspaceman wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have often thought about how driving for hours in a bucket seat, at least in the cars I've owned, has never been a struggle. The only thing that comes out wrong is I don't always hydrate, and that makes me a zombie (which is now a solved problem for me). So that leads to the thought that maybe, have the water supply for the hydroflask at a distance from the desk, so you have to get out of the chair to refill.

I'm not sure it's the chair so much as the movement that changes things. You're shifting around a lot when driving. Legs moving on pedals, arms and hands wheel turning, head+shoulders turning to look left and right. It'd be nice if being comfortable at a computer all day was as easy as changing the seat but i don't believe that's true.

> You're shifting around a lot when driving. Legs moving on pedals, arms and hands wheel turning, head+shoulders turning to look left and right.

As someone who lives in the midwest, I have to disagree. Pick pretty much any random 100 mile stretch of I-70 or I-80 between the Appalachians and the Rockies and the majority of it will be straight enough that you could set the cruise and only have to turn the wheel a few degrees at most as long as traffic doesn't do anything stupid.

When I was younger and dumber I once drove from I-71 near Cleveland almost to Chicago with just my knee on the wheel. There's a kink about half way across Indiana that was the only real challenge.