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Standing desk might be as bad as sitting all day

sciencealert.com

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Re: Standing desk might be as bad as sitting all day

#151
post #3

I find the healthiest thing to do is to work remote and move around your house doing errands while occasionally returning to your computer to type some thoughts on your mind and then return back to errands.

"work" remote:)

Everybody knows “real” work is having useless catch up and alignment meetings and chatting away for hours in the office.

Re: Standing desk might be as bad as sitting all day

#152
post #63

Here's an article [1] from a few years ago from Cornell ergonomics researchers that is still relevant the discusses the pluses and minuses of both sitting and standing desks. Here is their recommendation: > Sit to do computer work. Sit using a height-adjustable, downward titling keyboard tray for the best work posture, then every 20 minutes stand for 8 minutes AND MOVE for 2 minutes. The absolute time isn’t critical…

That essentially reads to me as "you can't both be focused on computer work and be active enough to be healthy" Break my concentration EVERY 20-30 minutes to move around for at least 2 minutes? That's at least halving my productivity. It's a total non-starter. It's the sort of advice that everyone pays lip service to, but almost no one is actually able to follow.

Some 30 years ago we integrated that by simply putting the laser printer in the opposite corner of the room. Nowadays it's fan or A/C remote, coffee machine, fridge, charger, 2nd mobile phone, etc., placed across the room or office...

Re: Standing desk might be as bad as sitting all day

#153
post #56

It's best to do 10 squats every 45 minutes regardless of sitting or standing. https://x.com/foundmyfitness/status/1788991915633045809

I wonder if after the standing desk fad now we'll have a squatting desk fad.

I want the return of the yoga workstation. Once again Doug was ahead of his time.

https://mprove.de/script/02/mucexpo/poster2.html

Re: Standing desk might be as bad as sitting all day

#154
post #63

Here's an article [1] from a few years ago from Cornell ergonomics researchers that is still relevant the discusses the pluses and minuses of both sitting and standing desks. Here is their recommendation: > Sit to do computer work. Sit using a height-adjustable, downward titling keyboard tray for the best work posture, then every 20 minutes stand for 8 minutes AND MOVE for 2 minutes. The absolute time isn’t critical…

That essentially reads to me as "you can't both be focused on computer work and be active enough to be healthy" Break my concentration EVERY 20-30 minutes to move around for at least 2 minutes? That's at least halving my productivity. It's a total non-starter. It's the sort of advice that everyone pays lip service to, but almost no one is actually able to follow.

I do this by drinking a lot. That way nature takes care of the pauses, I _need_ to get up unless I wear a diaper :D

Re: Standing desk might be as bad as sitting all day

#156
Yeah, staying static all the time isn’t ideal. I decided to get an under-desk treadmill a few years ago, and after a bit of adjustment, it’s definitely manageable. Walking for 4 hours during the workday means 4 hours less spent sitting or standing still. The book Death by Sitting by Eric Soehngen also points out that simply standing doesn’t solve the issue, as it’s still a static posture.

Re: Standing desk might be as bad as sitting all day

#157

Study argues that movement is better than a static position (standing or sitting). Shocker. What they're obviously missing is that when you're at a standing desk, the friction to engaging in some kind of movement is drastically decreased (unless you're talking about spinning). While I stand at my desk, I frequently find myself pacing, jogging in place, stretching, etc. I don't have to first GET UP OUT OF A CHAIR .

Also who spends the entire day standing at a standing desk? I think that's pretty rare.

Re: Standing desk might be as bad as sitting all day

#158
Standing all the time is bad, sitting all the time is bad.

The best thing is to switch positions every now and then, put your standing desk in sitting mode and vice versa.

If you're a proper hacker, automate it. Make your desk swap stances every 30 minutes whether you like it or not :D

Re: Standing desk might be as bad as sitting all day

#159
post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My math is a bit different. Assuming a 20 Cal/hr difference, a 40 hr working week, 52 weeks/year, 7700 Cal per kg of weight loss: 20*40*52/7700=5.4 kg/year Surprisingly large. Did I mess something up?

Nit: 1 Calorie (capital C) == 1000 calories (lowercase c) == 1 kcal. 1 kCal == 1,000,000 calories, which probably isn't what you meant.

Oh yeah, that old chestnut. Thanks for pointing out. Fixed.

Re: Standing desk might be as bad as sitting all day

#160
post #63

Here's an article [1] from a few years ago from Cornell ergonomics researchers that is still relevant the discusses the pluses and minuses of both sitting and standing desks. Here is their recommendation: > Sit to do computer work. Sit using a height-adjustable, downward titling keyboard tray for the best work posture, then every 20 minutes stand for 8 minutes AND MOVE for 2 minutes. The absolute time isn’t critical…

That essentially reads to me as "you can't both be focused on computer work and be active enough to be healthy" Break my concentration EVERY 20-30 minutes to move around for at least 2 minutes? That's at least halving my productivity. It's a total non-starter. It's the sort of advice that everyone pays lip service to, but almost no one is actually able to follow.

> Break my concentration EVERY 20-30 minutes to move around for at least 2 minutes?

It will be a break just because it needs a conscious effort. But presumably if you build a routine, a habit, it will work by itself. You will be able to continue thinking your deep thoughts, while your body will transpose itself to a treadmill, do some movements there and then transpose itself back.

The tricky part is how to build an automatic routine and how to trigger it every 20 minutes without breaking the concentration.

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