I saw a while back on news that secretaries who used to sit at their desks all day switched to a stand up desk (w/ no chair) stopped weight gain and some lost weight.

i spend a lot of my time (especially recreational time) sitting in a chair in front of a computer. people say this also makes your belly bigger, and i think so. i have been thinking about getting one of those stand-up desks/workstations. it may also stop me from spending so much time in front of the computer as it won't be as comfortable as before.

any opinions on this? it does make sense that standing up will require more effort than sitting thus perhaps end up burning some calories?

I saw a while back on news that secretaries who used to sit at their desks all day switched to a stand up desk (w/ no chair) stopped weight gain and some lost weight.

i spend a lot of my time (especially recreational time) sitting in a chair in front of a computer. people say this also makes your belly bigger, and i think so. i have been thinking about getting one of those stand-up desks/workstations. it may also stop me from spending so much time in front of the computer as it won't be as comfortable as before.

any opinions on this? it does make sense that standing up will require more effort than sitting thus perhaps end up burning some calories?

Heck, give it a try! It might work in two ways: 1) you'd probably spend less recreational time in front of the computer, and 2) you'd be a bit more active in the sense that you are standing and not sitting.

I wouldn't want to do that at work though...because if I were forced to stand at a computer for 8-12 hours, I think my feet would start to hurt and I'd get fatigued...but, for just recreational use, you might give it a shot and see what happens.

yeah, you know if i think about it, i used to play at the arcades w/o a chair and it wasn't that bad. playing on the PC should be similar. i used to spend the whole day after school (street fighter days) standing around the arcade machine but it was very tolerable.

the sitting in front of the computer just makes me feel getting fatter. i feel my belly bulging out and i also feel the folds. maybe some of it has to do with my posture.

eventually it will make the recreational computing fell more like doing "kiosk" computing and help pry me off the computer.

a former employer of mine had two mechanical desks. you could raise and lower them between standing and sitting heights. they were awesome. i wouldn't want to have to commit to standing all day, but the option was very cool.

a former employer of mine had two mechanical desks. you could raise and lower them between standing and sitting heights. they were awesome. i wouldn't want to have to commit to standing all day, but the option was very cool.

that's a great idea about adjustable height ones. i've seen ones that adjust standing height, but not standing and sitting height. i bet those are more expensive. i'll try looking for them. thanks.

FattyT:

I work standing up most days -- all day. I work from home so the following may be a bit unconventional for y'alls' office:

- I raised the height of my monitors to eye level when seated (via monitor stand).
- when I first tested working standing up, I put a box on my desk, then a 3 ft board (from wall shelf) across the top of box. Keyboard & mouse sat atop. Monitors tilted up for viewing .
- Unsightly, but worked great.
- Now, I have a heavy-duty tripod in front of my desk with same shelf/board attached to top and mousepad/keyboard sit there. Tripod is a bit easier to move up/down/about or stow away when I want to switch to seated work, or when company's coming over.

Overall, I find:

- much more awake during the day
- I wear a pedometer. Mucho mas steps vs. old seated workday
- I do periods of walking in place while working. Not really to get heart rate up, but burn a bit while I'm standing about.

Might upgrade to this in future...

http://www.squidoo.com/walkingwhileworking

and some anecdotes about working standing up:

http://www.grahampeterson.com/whystandup.html

Best,

- Angus

thanks for sharing that angus, i can't wait till i get a standing desk. i just need to figure out how to make place for one...thanks!