This infographic created by http://MedicalBillingandCoding.org is a nice reminder of why sitting all day is potentially bad for one's health:



There are also articles that report on the dangers of sitting too much.

I have certainly noticed that I feel better when I do not sit behind my computer all day. Most importantly I am not as stiff and have fewer aches and pains. I have been using Workave software for a while to remind me to stand up and take a break from sitting.

Taking this idea to the next level, I now have a standing workstation at my work cube. Our particular office furniture is somewhat modular and it was not too difficult to raise a portion of the work surface. There are other folks around here who have raised the entire work surface but I kind of like the terraced approach. With the new standing workstation, I can now sit down when it is time to take a break. Imagine that.

This is a photo of version 1.0 of my standing workstation, still in progress:




At this point I am trying out the pivoted vertical orientation of my LCDs. It's kind of nice to be able to read an entire web page without scrolling (which means fewer mousing motions). The dark cardboard behind the monitors blocks some of the back light from the windows. It wouldn't be a problem except for the sunlight reflecting upward from all of the parked cars in the parking lot. I prefer to keep the blinds up so I can focus on distant trees every so often to rest my eyes. I'm still thinking about low-cost solutions to this issue.

The change to standing has definitely done something for my core support muscles... my glutes were pretty sore after the first full day of standing. This is a good thing and I think it will help my running. My feet were also a little bit sore but I think this will improve over time as my feet continue to get stronger.

If you are contemplating a standing workstation, get yourself a nice pair of zero drop shoes or take off your shoes part of the time (if corporate culture allows). I would think that standing all day in raised-heel shoes would be counter-productive in some ways since the tipped posture would be a source of back pain. My work shoes are generally either Sanuk sandals or Soft Star moccasins which keep my hips and posture in reasonable alignment.

Before raising my desk surface I was tempted by the new Ergotron WorkFit sit-stand adjustable workstations. Ergotron came up with some funny marketing videos: