Don't Just Stand There
Sometimes, when I'm bored, I play a dark little game. I see how quickly I can locate -- via Google -- a matched set of completely contradictory health advice.
You know what I mean, right? Don't eat salt. Eat plenty of salt. Avoid alcohol. Drink alcohol. Exercise for 30 minutes a day. Don't bother exercising unless you're going to do it for 2 hours, Etc.
It usually takes me about 10 minutes. But recently, I found a great matched set in the same article. From Time.com:
Standing desks are in. Once the province of a few dynamic individuals like Winston Churchill, Ernest Hemingway and Donald Rumsfeld (O.K., two out of three ain’t bad), the stand-up desk is spreading to the world of corporate drones. And for good reason — there’s a growing body of medical evidence that hours of uninterrupted sitting can be surprisingly bad for your health.
Okay, so this we already know: sitting is bad for you. So, let's all stand more, right? Wrong:
Alan Hedge, who directs the Human Factors and Ergonomics research and teaching programs at Cornell University, told me that switching to a standup desk can be risky, especially if it’s done incorrectly:
"Standing to work has long known to be problematic, it is more tiring, it dramatically increases the risks of carotid atherosclerosis (ninefold) because of the additional load on the circulatory system, and it also increases the risks of varicose veins, so standing all day is unhealthy.
The performance of many fine motor skills also is less good when people stand rather than sit. We have tested computer use when sitting and standing in different ways. The problem with standing is that when you raise desk height for keyboard/mouse use you need to also raise screen height above the desk or you get neck flexion."
Nobody wants neck flexion, do they?
So the conclusion, after hundreds of words and expert testimony and study citations is this:
Hedge does acknowledge that sitting for hours at a time, uninterrupted, is not good for you. So he advocates a middle way — use a sitting desk with proper ergonomic posture, but make sure that about every 20 minutes you stand up and move around for a brief period of time.
In other words: sit up straight; don't be lazy; walk around every now and then.
I wonder how many trained scientists and how many research dollars went into those discoveries?
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Feb '12
Re: Don't Just Stand There
In other words: stop whining and do what your mother tells you.
(I'm certain that shooting guns and eating steak are the two healthiest activities in the world. That's what my mother always told me.)
Mar '11
Re: Don't Just Stand There
So basically, world's healthiest profession = major league catcher
Feb '10
Re: Don't Just Stand There
I've had back problems from sitting too much. An ergonomic chair and proper sitting habits has improved the situation a lot. However, I am trying alternating between standing and sitting while working. It does help a lot-- I feel more alert and active while standing, and my back hurts less.
The neck flexion issue is easily solved by bringing the monitor and keyboard higher. You should have your monitor close to eye level anyways, for better posture. For now, I just set my laptop up on a box on my desk while standing. However, I've got an adjustable mount for my monitor and keyboard/mouse on order. With these, I will be able to adjust the desktop monitor and keyboard up or down in just a few seconds.
Aug '10
Re: Don't Just Stand There
Leaving aside the sitting and standing for a moment, the thing that struck me about the article was the snarky aside, "O.K., two out of three ain't bad". I think we can assume that the one whom the author believes doesn't deserve to be grouped with the others is Rumsfeld. Because Rummy is a neocon warmonger, right?
It never fails to amaze me how liberals are able to insert insults about conservatives in the most unlikely places. James Taranto used to have a regular feature, "Wannabe Pundits", about this phenomenon.
For Pete's sake, this is a health article in a supposedly mainstream, non-partisan publication!
Jan '11
Re: Don't Just Stand There
I'd love to have one of these http://www.beyondtheofficedoor.com/vertdesk.php with one of these
http://www.salli.com/default.asp?siteid=en&id=Chairs_Salli_Classic_usa
Jun '10
Re: Don't Just Stand There
We all like simple answers to complex questions; thus bad health advice.
I want to cut spending. We can all think of some obvious ways to cut the first $200 billion. After that, it gets more complicated and requires, not experts, but thoughtful, principled people.
Edited on July 17, 2012 at 8:47pmFeb '12
Re: Don't Just Stand There
Health advice is like Chicago weather; if you don't like it right now, wait a half hour.
Jan '11
Re: Don't Just Stand There
I want a desk where I can sleep comfortably and ergonomically
Jan '11
Re: Don't Just Stand There
I want neck flexion... is it free?
Jun '10
Re: Don't Just Stand There
Correct name: "The Ron Popeil Pocket Neck Flexion." $39.99, or two convenient payments of $23.99.
May '10
Re: Don't Just Stand There
Kevin, I also noticed that snark. It is annoying to find it in so many inappropriate places. Jay Nordlinger has ongoing commentary about it.
Rob, to your original point of conflicting health advice:, I've said it before and will surely say it again: Epidemiology is junk science. And that is said from experience. So, choose the advice you like and run with it.
I'm partial to the studies that say that red wine and dark chocolate will help you live forever. The coffee-is-good-for-you data are actually very solid. The scolds have tried for a very long time to find something wrong with the stuff so many people enjoy and they have consistently failed. To a statistically significant degree. So, go fire up that espresso machine!
Mar '11
Re: Don't Just Stand There
because he squats down then stands up then squats then stands then squats....
Mar '11
Re: Don't Just Stand There
Casey
because he squats down then stands up then squats then stands then squats.... · 0 minutes ago
which is like what they are saying in the article
Aug '10
Re: Don't Just Stand There
The inability of researchers to really understand how the body works should give pause to climate scientists, Keynesians, and others who think they can model complex adaptive systems in simple ways and control them.
The body is a complex system. There are trillions of interactions constantly going on between its various parts. It adapts to changes in environment and diet. Small inputs can have large outputs, and vice versa.
As a result, thousands of researchers have spent billions of dollars studying it, and still can't come to agreement over basic issues like whether you should eat more carbs or more protein, or whether standing is better than sitting.
Imagine how much more difficult it is to predict how an economy of hundreds of millions of people will respond when their government pumps 'stimulus' money out.
Imagine how impossible a task it is to predict what the climate will be in a hundred years when the climate is affected by myriad feedback systems and forces yet to be understood.
First show me conclusively that you can predict how much weight I'll gain if I eat a bagel. Until then, maybe lay off trying to manipulate the economy or climate.
Jun '12
Re: Don't Just Stand There
"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." Alice in Wonderland
May '10
Re: Don't Just Stand There
Eat your greens. Or don't.
Oct '10
Re: Don't Just Stand There
Outside of cube dwellers, observe IT folks. Now there is a study.
Jul '10
Re: Don't Just Stand There
Rob Long: Sometimes, when I'm bored, I play a dark little game. I see how quickly I can locate -- via Google -- a matched set of completely contradictory health advice.
You know what I mean, right? Don't eat salt. Eat plenty of salt. Avoid alcohol. Drink alcohol. Exercise for 30 minutes a day. Don't bother exercising unless you're going to do it for 2 hours, Etc.
What an awesome game!
In case anyone is wondering, I've done a "lifestyle test drive" and the latter answer is correct in each instance.
Feb '10
Re: Don't Just Stand There
I thought about something like the desk you mentioned, but ended up ordering something like one of these: http://www.ergodesktop.com/content/kangaroo-0
It's a bit cheaper, can be used on an existing desk of your choice and style, and you can move it around freely on top of the desk.
Jul '10
Re: Don't Just Stand There
I stand at work 25-50% of the time. My risk isn't health its limiting future employement by being different from my tribe. Oh well I got to be me.
My cubefarm dwelling .....