Google / Facebook Workers Choosing To Stand At Work

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I suppose (if my desk was tall enough) I wouldn't mind trying something like this out. What do you think? Sit or stand at work?

A growing number of workers at Google Inc., Facebook Inc. and other employers are trading in their sit-down desks for standing ones, saying they feel more comfortable and energized. They also are motivated by medical reports saying that sitting for too long leads to increased health risks.
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I do this at my job too, not every day, but I have to take steps to improve my health if I am stuck at a desk for 8 hours a day.
 
I think I'll go down and bug the ergo people to set me up. My other idea was (If I can't get them to give me a standing desk) is to get one of those large balancing balls to sit on. In my experience if you don't use muscles to balance on those things, you fall right over.
 
I would expect something like this to come out of Google/Facebook.

 
I did the same thing at work. I herniated a disk in my back last year and I stand/sit during the day. I have my computer next to a high desk I can move my monitor back and forth on.
 
I cannot do standing, it does not work for me. I could do something that involves moving, but standing straight all day doesn't work for me partially because I screwed up my foot and had to have surgery on it in high school.
 
I really wish I could do this at work. I work in a cleanroom and they have these big, marshmallowy-type chairs to sit in. Not comfortable at all (to me)
 
I have a work table height desk (36") at my job and switch between sitting and standing all day and have been for the last 20 years. I can't imagine any other way of working now.
 
This is not a new thing, and I am jealous that my desk isn't like this.

Sitting all day sucks ass.
 
I don't really have a desk as I am on construction sites most of the day, but when in the field office, I stand when at the computer. Been doing it for years. I hate sitting down all day long.
 
I work at a counter height as well. I have a tall chair that I can sit in. I used to just have a stool. That was killing my back. I work 10 to 12 hour days. Most of my work is at this counter but I do get away and work on the occasional vehicle.
 
This is fairly common at my office too. The (tech) company I work for puts a ton of effort and money into workplace ergonomic safety...
 
This really has nothing to do with Google or Facebook...people have been doing this for years.
 
My lower back hurts if I stand in one spot too long. I'll pass. I get enough exercise with my cardio-kickboxing sessions 3 days a week anyways.
 
They have motorized sit to stand desks depending upon your mood and budget. I worked for a place where their customer service dept had them for all the agents.
 
I've researched the hell out of this. It's different for everyone, some people like to stand 25% of the day, some people 100%. In any case its healthier to stand part of the day.

Most health advisers actually suggest to sit for at least 10 minutes every hour. There are potential health problems, however its different for everyone.

I do 75% standing, 25% sitting. I bought a drafting chair that puts me to the sitting height of my standing desk. I love it. Yes i do most of my gaming standing, research shows people think better while standing.
 
I stand to do some (cough) tedious and repetitive task at one of my jobs..... it really sucks to sit in one spot for long periods sometimes, so I just avoid the future pain by standing :) .
 
jandar said:
They have motorized sit to stand desks depending upon your mood and budget. I worked for a place where their customer service dept had them for all the agents.
Click to expand...

This comment needs a video/link please. :D seriously
 
Company I'm at bought everyone desks with a crank on the bottom to raise / lower the desk. It goes from about 30" all the way to about 70" or so to allow for sitting / standing whenever you want. Pretty cool I suppose, but most people still choose to sit.
 
i wish i could have a standing desk, or better yet the ones with a treadmill attached.
 
I can't imagine standing still is much better than sitting still. Maybe if a treadmill was involved...
 
I sit most of the day generally, but also do lab work so I can be up and about a lot as well; it depends on the day.

It would be nice to have a standing desk option, but my company is too small to offer any ergonomic benefits. Standing all day would probably take some time to get used to, but it is my understanding that it is healthier- less force/stress on the lower back. And something about us humans being designed to be up and moving and chasing our food. Not sitting on our arse all day typing and eating twinkies. :D
 
Personally I'd rather have a wet bar in my cube.

Seriously though I never sit usually at work for more than 30 minutes at a time before I stand for at least 5.
 
I think I work for the last company in California that makes us wear pleated slacks with a dress shirt and dress shoes everyday.

I'd like to try standing but only if I could leave the dress shoes at home and wear some sneakers.
 
Dude, that is pretty badass. Thanks man!

Too bad it says call for a quote... but that is pretty groundbreaking if you ask me.
 
I was assisting with an office relocation last year. The new offices had these desks Called the Float desks from Human Scale.

They were desks that could be raised or lowered with a touch of a button. They were really nice and I hope to work in a office with movable desk like these because I too like to stand up part of the day mostly in the afternoon. Had to be careful about cable management tho.;)
 
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standing in one spot tends to crush your feet after hours.. especially on concrete floors that some businesses have. I don't have much problem if I can move around, but in one spot it can make for some sore feet when I get home. That might depend on or be aggravated more by your build and body weight though, and whether you have perfect spine alignment to equally distribute your weight. Body types differ a lot. Some people are muscularly heavy or fat, and some women might have big breasts that would hurt their back standing too long.. others with any spine curvature would make it bad after awhile, ankle strength, foot arches,knee, hip, and neck problems etc. Then the task you are doing might by nature of the task make you twist , bend, and torque your body for hours, one shoulder lower than the other, neck angled, head up/down, etc vs your base. Being able to switch it up any time you wanted quickly and easily would be good though.
 
Yup, standing in the same spot all day has quite a few negatives to it, too. I usually end up just doing a bunch of pelvic thrusts at my monitor all day at work to make up for all the sitting.
 
The work I do I think has a good balance, some days I'm out and about fixing comptuer issues, moving computers, unboxing crap, and other days I'm sitting more than moving, but either way I have to walk a block and a half to get to the main building. With that said I'de rather have my sit down desk as an FST :p.
 
The science behind this is so overwhelming that I would expect most larger companies will trend towards this. Forget the productivity aspect of it, the health ramifications alone make monetary sense for a company that provides health benefits.
 
I work for a company that after a strike they removed all the chairs on the production floor.
We work 12 hour shifts. We now have a bunch a people being treated for knee/leg problems. After 16 months we have chairs back. Short story, don't make standing at your job a required facet of work. Standing is good, but when you are tired you still need to rest.
 
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