standing desk or sitting at work?

I have a standing desk with anti-fatigue mat, which I probably spend 6-7 hours/day at. I made the switch because sitting all day was ruining the alignment in my pelvis and lower back. My legs are heavy and a little achy by the end of the day, though the mat helped a lot. I haven't trained hard since making the switch, but can't imagine standing all day on shredded legs.

If you really wanted to stand during hard training cycles, I'd recommend a mat and some compression gear. But sitting sounds awful nice, so why give it up if it's not hurting you. Your current system of walking breaks sounds perfect.

Not to hijack the thread, but curious if other people have switched to standing because of alignment problems, and how that's worked out for them. Absolute improvement for me.

stander,

I am 65, still working. I was a decent masters runner five years ago and began to face issues, largely due to sitting in my profession. I changed to a standing desk in February and have been much improved since. The issue I suffered from was very tight/short hip flexors, and soreness in the gluteus/hamstring complex. I am currently also working with a PT but I have made substantial progress with the desk and assistance of the PT. Perhaps a return to masters competition may be in the cards?

Igy

thanks, both, for your responses.

Ghost, do you stand all day long? do you find it impedes your recovery, especially after a hard workout? are you hitting your splits?

as stander says, do you find it helps with your alignment?

hey stander - did the anti-fatigue mat make any difference?BB

stander wrote:

I have a standing desk with anti-fatigue mat, which I probably spend 6-7 hours/day at. I made the switch because sitting all day was ruining the alignment in my pelvis and lower back. My legs are heavy and a little achy by the end of the day, though the mat helped a lot. I haven't trained hard since making the switch, but can't imagine standing all day on shredded legs.

If you really wanted to stand during hard training cycles, I'd recommend a mat and some compression gear. But sitting sounds awful nice, so why give it up if it's not hurting you. Your current system of walking breaks sounds perfect.

Not to hijack the thread, but curious if other people have switched to standing because of alignment problems, and how that's worked out for them. Absolute improvement for me.

workin',

The biggest difference is in the alignment. I would say the first couple of weeks the legs were a little tired when I left work. The tiredness of the legs however were more than made up by better alignment. Over the last couple of years I was feeling really "jacked-up" when I left work. All I wanted to do was go home and have a glass of wine. I don't have the anti-fatigue mat, perhaps I will do that soon.

Yesterday I did a hard workout and today I have taken a few more breaks. I would say I stand 60-70% of the time. My training has improved steadily since February when I got the desk. One of my colleagues just received his desk today and several other have made inquires.

Feel free to ask any other questions.

Igy

Not a perfect fix for leg aches, but yeah, a big difference. I'd say it cut fatigue by over half. I just got a cheapo $20 mat from home depot, so maybe a fancy mat might work even better.

Another trick I've found handy is to get a tall stool when you want sitting breaks -- and you're too poor to drop a bunch of money on an adjustable desk.

Another Masters here...68 yrs. Been working at home over the past few years after retiring early. Illustration on a computer...very intense and long hours involved in order to make deadlines. Been working standing at my Mac for about 4 years now. While I used to have very tight hammys- I guess from sitting all day, that's no longer a problem. Same deal with ITB issues. No longer a problem. Maybe it's because of standing vs sitting all day/night. Maybe not. All I can say is that I could NEVER go back to sitting at work all day. Standing just seems more natural, and it seems to allow me more flexibility in my hips, hammys, ITB, etc. Bottom line: Sitting Sucks!

Don't make a half-hearted gesture: go all out and also opt for a squat toilet. You'll take care of business faster and your legs and glutes will get stronger day-by-day.

Anyone concerned about skeletal alignment may also want to consider sleeping on a floor. I feel that sleeping on a floor has helped me muscle-skeletally.

No holding' back! wrote:

Don't make a half-hearted gesture: go all out and also opt for a squat toilet. You'll take care of business faster and your legs and glutes will get stronger day-by-day.

Anyone concerned about skeletal alignment may also want to consider sleeping on a floor. I feel that sleeping on a floor has helped me muscle-skeletally.

Spell-checkers are messing me up!

I wrote "musculo-skeletally" and signed in as "No holding' back."

I hope this won't get converted when I post.

Facepalm!

Chiming in one more time to say there have been a few masters runners noting problems with sitting, but it strikes the (relatively) young, too. I went from 100% active job to 100% sitting when I was 26 (now 34), and within 18 months was having pretty serious SI dysfunction. If you feel misalignment creeping in at any age, be proactive or you could be in for a world of hurt.

I have a fixed standing desk at work and a tell chair i can sit in. I do more sitting than standing.

I haven't noticed the anti-fatigue mat makes a difference.

I have an hour commute each way and on mornings where I did a workout before driving to work, i noticed so much tightness in my hip flexors. That was immediately resolved by standing some at work.

I don't think standing 100% would be good.

If you do stand, it's important to pay attention to your posture and alignment. Standing and sitting in bad posture is counterproductive

I converted to a standing desk last November.

It has improved my posture significantly. My hip flexors, especially, are much more mobile.

I have been doing a lot of mobility and soft tissue "work" (i.e. dynamic stretching, daily foam roller etc.) and also doing a consistent strength program. So, I can not definitively say how much of my observed improvement is due to the standing workstation.

As a point of reference my running volume is 50 to 65 mpw, and I am following a Pfitzinger program with all the various work intensities, and have been fine managing the standing workstation and recovering between workouts.

I spend a lot of time on the phone/computer headset and walk around my office as I talk, so I am not "locked in" to a static standing position.

What about lying down? Like a reclining chair with a lap desk?

I guarantee you'd get less work done at a standing desk. This is why most employers don't support the idea.

I've done enough jobs on my feet all day. Sucks.

exercise while you work wrote:

I guarantee you'd get less work done at a standing desk. This is why most employers don't support the idea.

I've done enough jobs on my feet all day. Sucks.

"Guarantee" is a strong word. I have not observed any issues for myself since November (when I changed). I am an engineer with managerial responsibilities for several groups and my work hours have always been long. I have constant deadlines that I must meet, and I never work "to the clock". I go home when the work is done. I have not noticed a change in my overall hours, so my productivity is pretty much the same.

However, as I posted before, I do spend a lot of time talking on the phone/Lync (while moving around the office) and of course I have outside meetings and other activities regularly which further breaks up the routine.

You may be correct if you are talking about a job where you are 100% of the time at your desk, but if your job is more varied, I think a standing workstation is no issue for productivity.

As a funny aside, our company's CEO, who complained of back problems, decided to try a standing desk after seeing me, and he has been very happy with the result. So, luckily for me, "management" does support it here!

Does standing at work make you noticeably faster or slower?

I understand folks say it helps with alignment/joint issues, but I just want to know if and how it affects fitness. I am currently running about 90 mpw. I dont have any alignment/joint issues and am injury free. I have been sitting all day at work for over 10 years. I am considering the switch to a standing desk, which seems to be all the rage. I can't imagine trying to stand all day, particularly after a hard workout, but I'd be willing to try if it would make me faster.

I have an Ergotron contraption that allows me to either sit or stand at my desk; the monitor and keyboard can move up or down. Overall I'm probably 50/50 on standing/sitting during the day. I also have an anti-fatigue mat which helps when I do stand. I started having issues with my hip flexors, and noticed that the problem was exacerbated by extensive sitting. I had physical therapy for a little while to help with it, but I have not had a recurrence and I feel that standing at least half the day has helped.