Archive for the ‘Standing Desk Attachment’ Category
Collapseable Standup Desk Attachment
There has been a lot of press going on about the health benefits of stand-up desks.
Cons of sitting desks:
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
If you’re reading this, chances are you’re sitting down, which means you’re probably digging yourself an early grave.
At least, that’s the gist of a few articles that have made the rounds recently. A particularly popular article in Men’s Health cited a study in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise that will make any desk jockey wince. Examining the lifestyles of more than 17,000 men and women over 13 years, the report found those who sit for most of the day were 54% more likely to die of heart attacks. According to Men’s Health, that statistic was true even if the people in the study were nonsmokers and regular exercisers.
Another report cited in a recent New York Times Magazine story tracked 123,000 Americans and found the death rate for those who spent six or more hours a day sitting was 20% higher than for men who sat for three hours or less. For women, the difference was 40%. No one’s really sure exactly why that’s the case. You certainly burn fewer calories sitting than you do standing and moving around, but weight gain isn’t necessarily the primary reason that sitting is so bad for you.
If you’re like me, you’ve read those articles and wondered, “OK, what’s the alternative?” Aside from switching occupations (maybe it’s time to brush up on those dormant lumberjacking skills), your best bet might be a standup desk. Right now, such desks are tiny niche in the market, but, thanks to those recent articles, things are picking up.
The cult of standup desks may be small, but proponents are vocal. Donald Rumsfeld is said to be a fan as is writer Philip Roth. Rob Schwartz, chief creative officer of ad agency TBWA\Chiat\Day LA, got a standup desk seven years ago because he heard Ernest Hemingway used one. “I figured, he’s a pretty good writer, so maybe I could use one, too,” Schwartz says. Physical issues didn’t play a role in Schwartz’s decision — he doesn’t have a bad back and isn’t worried that sitting all day will cause him to have a heart attack. “You get more done when you’re standing up,” Schwartz says. “When you’re sitting, you’re naturally recessive, you’re receiving, when you’re standing, you’re ready to do something … I don’t know. I used to be a bartender, so maybe that has something to do with it.”
Despite the hype, a sit-down desk won’t kill you. “[Sitting is] not necessarily a bad thing, but doing anything for eight hours a day is bad,” he says. Paulsen, a certified ergonomist, recommends an electronic retractable desk, which can help you easily go from a sitting to a standing position. Desks with adjustable cranks provide too much of a barrier to going back and forth, he says. The important thing is to vary your routine. “It’s a great way to change your posture up,” he says. “As people get older, they find more benefits to moving around during the day.”
Related articles:
http://health.yahoo.net/experts/menshealth/most-dangerous-thing-youll-do-all-day
Stand-up Desk Attachments 