Standing desks sounded something of a novelty – futuristic, even – when they first made the news, but workers in homes and offices around the country are embracing them, keen to get away from the backache and neck strain anyone who works 9-5 has experienced after sitting on their derrière all day. The physical benefits of standing, rather than sitting, may seem obvious, but some believe standing desks have further-reaching health benefits.
Dr. Friedman, the director of the psychopharmacology clinic at the Weill Cornell Medical College, recently wrote in The New York Times that standing desks could make us sharper and smarter. The article cited a study, conducted at the University of California at Los Angeles, which found that "sedentary behaviour is associated with reduced thickness of the medial temporal lobe, which contains the hippocampus, a brain region that is critical to learning and memory."
Could standing up at work make our brains work more efficiently, as well as getting us off our butts? Will Williams is the founder of UK standing desk company, Furna. He kindly lent us one of their most popular models, the Furna E2 electric, which costs £420, for a week.
Williams didn't promise any health benefits; in fact, he's reticent about the brain-boosting claims: "I think the research is still too thin for any major health claims but the added comfort of the ability to always be at a desk the correct height for you, as well as stretch out and work while standing (just like a walking break to get the blood flowing) are huge advantages. So, for us, comfort and productivity improvements are the important and clearly identifiable things while long-term health benefits a potential bonus."
Here's what we thought...
I completely forgot it was my turn to do the standing-desk challenge when I rocked up to the office at 9.30am, leading me to immediately regret my early-morning Barry's Bootcamp class. Would my legs be able to withstand the strain? It turned out that no, they would not. By 10am I was slumped over the desk like the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Things only went south from then on, with me counting down the hours until I could enjoy the "treat" of sitting down to eat my lunch. I normally relish the chance to get out of the office at lunchtime for a brief stroll, but it suddenly seemed like a chore and my creaky knees were also beginning to fight back.
Upon returning to the desk at about 3pm I'd also developed an unexplained stomach ache and took one look at the desk and just thought 'nah'. There were three whole hours of the working day left to go, and I'd given up. But my appreciation for my office chair had never been higher.
10am: I love this thing. The novelty is fun, I feel fresh and awake, albeit a little separate from the rest of the editorial team who are sat at their desks. I have that feeling when you work from home and get so much done because you’re uninterrupted and totally switched on.
10.30am: My back is the straightest it’s been for ages – I’m usually in full simian mode when replying to emails, so standing is making me aware of my awful posture.
11am: I’m definitely pulling a Tory power stance to keep myself upright while concentrating on writing.
12.30pm: My feet are a little achey but my mind is still as fresh as this morning – by this point when sat down I’m usually hangry and foggy-headed.
1pm: I ate lunch sitting down, is this cheating? I’ve heard it’s bad for you to eat standing up. Either way, while I enjoyed the break, I was excited to get back to my standing desk – I often eat lunch at my desk and the switch-up broke up the afternoon.
3pm: My feet are starting to ache a bit, but it's not unbearable.
6pm: I don’t feel the usual end-of-day exhaustion. Impressive.
7.30pm: My back isn’t in good shape and usually it gets achey around the evening. It doesn’t hurt and I weirdly have more energy to go out tonight. I’m 100% a convert of the standing desk. My dad’s friend, who is a GP, has one and says it’s worked wonders for his back too. If the doctor approves...
When I tell the team we are getting to borrow a standing desk for a few days, I am inundated with responses. Everyone wants to try it, but it's trickier to get those who signed up off their asses to take their turn. I guess we're all very much creatures of habit, especially in work.
I like the desk; you can adjust the height electronically, which is cool, and when I get it to the right height for me, it feels very good. I still slump occasionally, but I'm quick to notice when I do and I correct myself and stand up straighter.
What I like the most is that my legs are freeeeeeee. I like being able to move them about a lot – when I return to my desk it feels odd to have them stuffed in under a desk. (I make it sound like I have legs like Eva Herzigová here; I don't, but it feels cramped after the standing desk, like being on a Ryanair flight.)
My legs get a little tired at one stage, but that might be lack of practice. I sit for an hour for a meeting and then I’m happy to go back to standing again. Overall I think I slouched less, moved more and I’d really like a standing desk as a permanent feature.
I’ve been dropping standing desks into office improvement conversations for, oh, maybe two years and no one has taken me seriously. So when I heard we were getting one to try for a week, I stood up and gave my gangly legs a little shake of joy. I’m 5’11, which isn’t enormous, but I struggle to find the right chair height/desk height/computer height combo that doesn’t leave me with an achey back and hips at the end of the day. Unfortunately, the day the standing desk was free for me to try, I was in and out of meetings. I managed a couple of blissful hours at the desk with social team member no.2 Sadhbh and really enjoyed it.
I felt more focussed, and managed to whizz through an inbox of unread emails without getting distracted. I didn’t find myself leaning over the desk, which I thought I might. My legs felt strong and my posture was good. My muscles feel like they are slowly wasting away when I’m at my regular desk for hours but at the standing desk I felt energised, like I’d gone for a brisk walk. The only downside was, because of the temporary standing desk set-up, I didn’t have my full-size monitor with me to work from. I’ve seen standing desk extenders that can be added to a normal desk, so you can switch as you please. I’m going to leave that thought here for my bosses.
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