A Standup Desk is Lean, Literally

Many of my Lean colleagues have talked about their standup desks. They have shared examples like that of Jamie Flinchbaugh, Kevin Meyer, Ankit Patel, and Jon Miller.

A recent article from Men’s Health brings to light the dangers of sitting.

Scientists at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana analyzed the lifestyles of more than 17,000 men and women over about 13 years, and found that people who sit for most of the day are 54 percent more likely to die of heart attacks.

Similar research actually dates back to 1953, when British researchers found that (sitting) bus drivers were twice as likely to die of heart attacks as (standing) trolley operators.

It doesn’t matter what your lifestyle is. Sitting is an independent risk factor.

In other words, it doesn’t matter how much you exercise or how well you eat. If you sit most of the day, your risk of leaving this world clutching your chest—whether you’re a man or women—as much as doubles.

Sitting in your office chair also has other dangers. It screws up your posture, makes you fatter, and can cause lower back pain.

What can you do? Make your own standup desk like this one.

Photo from Unclutterer Work Space of the Week.

If you can’t standup then these strategies will work in your office.

    1. Take frequent breaks from sitting. Stand up talk a walk twice per hour.
    2. Standup during phone calls.
    3. Hold standup meetings instead of typical conference room.
    4. Don’t write long emails. Get up and talk to the person.

There is also a new calculator to help you understand how many calories you burn by switching to a standup desk.

Provided by ergonomic product company Ergotron, the calculator requires just your weight and the amount of time you spend working (i.e., sitting). The difference in calorie-burn from using a standing desk can really add up (and when you're trying to keep the calories off, every bit counts).

So what are you waiting for? Standup is could quite possibly save your life and it is Lean.


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