This is your body on chairs: Electrical activity in the muscles drops — “the muscles go as silent as those of a dead horse,†Hamilton says — leading to a cascade of harmful metabolic effects. Your calorie-burning rate immediately plunges to about one per minute, a third of what it would be if you got up and walked. Insulin effectiveness drops within a single day, and the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes rises. So does the risk of being obese. The enzymes responsible for breaking down lipids and triglycerides — for “vacuuming up fat out of the bloodstream,†as Hamilton puts it — plunge, which in turn causes the levels of good (HDL) cholesterol to fall.
Like Elton John, I’m still standing—at my desk, that is—and I love it. If I had an extra five grand laying around, I’d buy one of these swanky 2MPH “sit-to-walkstation” treadmill desks, too.
6 Comments
Brandon Amand
Thanks for the posts Gina! I’m moving into a new office, and have decided to buy a Geek Desk adjustable desk because of your advice!
Zach Copley
The computer lifestyle will kill ya.
Aaron Crowder
Holy crap, I totally wish I had a standing desk at my office now. Guess it’s time to make sure I take those 5 minute breaks every so often to get up and move around.
Ivan Horvat
Too bad those chairs are so expensive. I’ll get mine when prices drop to a reasonable number 🙁
techpops
Good to see you returning to this subject again. Last time, or a previous time that you did, I decided to make the change to a standing desk and now I’ve done it.
The difference is huge. Where I felt lethargic and would often tune out of working into many other kinds of time wasters. I now seem to work much better. I’m moving all the time. I often walk around just thinking something through then I’m at the desk again, attacking it like I just could not do if I was sat there.
Big thanks for bringing this to my attention and I’m loving the side effect that it’s making me healthier.
danaj
I was inspired by your first post about the stand up desk and made an inexpensive, recycled treadmill desk in our office for everyone to use. Great to use when taking webinars! See how we made it here
Treadmill Desk