Should I get a stand-up desk?

Yes. Get a motorized one than can go from a low lap height to standing height. Not all the desks have a large enough range so make sure you measure. Your elbows should be at about a 90 deg angle while sitting and standing. Get yourself a cushioned standing mat as well. Get a stand for your monitor too.

There are 2 main benefits. The most important one is that your chair and desk can be at the perfect ergonomic height while sitting. Most chairs and desks do not have the ideal height. Even an inch to high or low can cause issues over time.

The other benefit is being able to stand. It's good to allow your body to spend time in a different position. And standing is a bit more active and lets your move your muscles and shift your weight around more. I try to stand for an hour or 2 a day, but your feet and hips will get tired if you overdo it. Best to just set yourself an alarm and hit the stand button when it rings, then sit when you get tired. I find it's mostly just habit.

It's not a cure for a sedentary lifestyle, but good ergonomics and a little more variety in your work hours is better than nothing.

A lot of people where I work have one and never stand up at it. I think you should try to find a way to try one for a week or so and see just how often you actually use it standing up.

You want a sit-stand desk, not just a standing desk.

I'm using one right now; as to if you should get one: The only major benefit for me is that it allows me to put my body into a different position. Sitting too long in one position causes me aches and pains.

I try to keep moving while standing (fidgeting, but on purpose). I'd guess the health benefits are marginal, but the comfort benefits exist.

I have a four-legged motorized standing desk which is expensive, but wobbling drives me absolutely nuts, and I just won't do it. It was a major deal-breaker for a long time.

No. Keep your regular desk and go live an actual life, outside, doing real exercise. For example I'll now go for a little MTB ride.

Additionally do buy a chair that's actually been engineered for long sitting hours and do not sit for too many hours in a row without doing at least some exercise.

A standing desk is not a substitute for a poor chair or for actual exercice.

If you do actually exercise and have a proper sitting chair, I kinda dispute the utility of wasting money and time moving your desk up and down "because reasons".

I tried a standing desk and found it difficult to work standing for more than ~20 minutes at a time. It got to where I had to shift my weight so often that it became a distraction. I next tried a treadmill desk, and walking slowly made it much easier to work upright for 60+ minutes at a time. Every body is different, but walking was miles better than standing for me.

The only advice I haven't seen yet that you might consider if standing is to wear shoes or some good house slippers. Standing in one place barefoot on a hard surface can really wear out the feet and knees of some people (probably depending on your arches).

A standing mat is good, but gets in the way of the chair if you're trying to sit.

The best solution I have found is simply wear something with padding and support, even if you're a no-shoes-in-the-house kind of person.

Although in my experience, a pair of slippers under the desk will quickly become the favorite sleeping spot for whatever pet you may have.

I strongly recommend a standing desk paired with an ergomat. It's not the standing that's good for you, it's the moving. An ergomat promote that healthy bloodflow, plus it's pretty comfy. Good for long VR sessions too!

Absolutely. I built my motorized one about 6 years ago (bought the motorized legs and wood top for a total of 450€ back then) and I still use it on all home office days. The key is having a rubber floor mat with some knobs you can play with to stand comfortably. I can also recommend getting a walking pad. I usually have 10k steps before lunch with a 2.5km/h speed only that lets me still type perfectly.

I primarily got my desk because I was tired of having bad posture and back pain. But since I also started working out heavily at the same time I built the table, I can't attribute the desk only to alleviating any pain I had. It definitely helps though with good posture.

I'm also happy I got a smart version that can remember 4 heights. I had another (much more expensive) table at my previous workplace that didn't have it. And it was a pain switching from a seated to standing position.

If you're tall and have the budget, I would recommend getting a 4-leg desk rather than a 2-leg one. I switched from a 2-leg Autonomous to a 4-leg model (DeskHaus Apex Pro) it's so much more stable, even when raised.

My last office had very high-quality motorized sitting/standing desks. They were beautiful. Maybe 5-10% of people used the standing functionality regularly, although to be fair, there is also value in having a sitting desk that adjusts to the exact height you want.

There are benefits to standing but it isn’t without risks. I messed up my body a bit through a lot of years of standing. So I traded standing body issues for sitting body issues, to some extent.

Like others have said, make sure to mix it up by sitting and standing. Also like sitting, standing requires proper body dynamics (standing straight, keeping your weight evenly distributed, desk at proper height). If the desk you get has a way to preset both heights, you will be more likely to get it right each time you change.

Lastly, a gel or cushion floor mat for standing can be really helpful.

Absolutely recommend a motorized sit/stand desk. However, learn from me and choose a "3-stage" one, that goes down to 24". My original desk's lowest point was too high for my chair and ultimately led to shoulder pains after prolonged usage. I'm now working on automating the desk to force myself to stand/sit for the appropriate amount of time and pattern.

Yes. Beside whatever advantages it has for ergonomics or activity, my own experience is that I do better work when standing - I find it easier to focus and get less confused when I hit difficulties. If it’s the same for you (and I guess you won’t know unless you try - I didn’t) then it’s worth it for that reason alone. Nowadays I work standing most of the day and lower the desk for video calls.

I live by a simple axiom: buy the cheapest of a thing you can get away with. If it breaks, you were using it enough, buy the best you can. If it doesn't break, you either weren't using it enough or it's good enough, so stick with it. Obviously this doesn't apply to all things but this is probably a good place to start. Stack a few boxes on your desk and try that for a week.

When I had a job with lots of meetings I would raise my desk up to standing height a lot, but I find it uncomfortable for focus/flow work like coding. So I would raise/lower the desk depending on the task.

I'd say if you do a fair amount of meetings give it a try.

Ikea makes a powered model that's decent and cheap. The power bricks sometimes fail (they are essentially laptop bricks) but they are warrantied for something like 10 years.

Next to getting an (electronic) sit/standing desk, consider getting a treadmill that you can shove under your desk, if you have the space. I don't use it every day, not even every week, but some weeks I'm walking all day. I got mine from a 2nd hand market place and it was quite affordable.

Start with a 100 USD standing desk converter and use it for a while.

Upgrade to a full electrical standing desk later if needed.

IMO it does not hurt (pun intended) to get a standing desk. I used one at work for a while. Lifting weights now and then got rid of any posture aches in my case. IME it is not needed, but it does no harm.

And you need to tell everyone, like Peter Griffin did: https://youtu.be/Dh9wyy0S3dg?feature=shared

[delayed]

The cheaper option is a desk riser. This can work just as well with a decent model, it just has less aesthetic appeal.

Don't expect wonders. You'll also do fine without one. I'v witnessed that most people don't use the stand-up desk anymore after the novelty wears off so 50/50 you're just throwing out money.

Bought a hand crank one but improvised with a drill to do the cranking, works like a charm!

Brief mention, a huge number of these desks have a big bar under the bottom.

Personally it frustrates me a lot; I try to slide under my desk & bump into the bar. Or just sitting there, there's this bar. I'd try to make sure my desk has free clearance underneath.

I have a nice 4 post one. The alarm was annoying and I eventually turned it off to remind me to stand. I didn’t always hear it with headphones on anyways. I would and still may get a multi position setting controller as I use about 3 modes. Sitting properly, standing, and higher than normal sitting to change things up. Get a foot rest and don’t use the metal bar because your legs or feet will hurt from it.

The stand part, I have thick slippers and use a square of exercise floor matting to stand on.

After a month, I started drinking more water and walking around the house using pomodoro timers rather than standing.

Now several months later I sit less and less because my chair isn’t terribly comfortable over long periods of time especially in summer.

I spoke to a physical therapist with 30 years experience who said posture doesn’t matter and you will always adjust or get comfortable anyways.

Being able to push my entire chair under the desk is nice.

I like adjustable height desks to fine tune them for sitting ergonomics. Just have a manual one.

I never stand and work a keyboard.

The chair is where I put all my money.

Two unexpected extra use cases for stand-up desk:

1. If you like recording vocals/singing while standing, you can have your microphone on the desk, but bring the desk up. (Thanks to memory you can have multiple heights for i.e. spouse).

2. If you do physical activity (gym, running, etc) and come home sweaty, but don't want to shower right away: now you can use the computer without putting your sweaty butt down on your chair.

A nice side benefit: if you have a large chair in a small room, being able to raise the desk high enough to push the chair entirely underneath the desk can free up a lot of space. eg, make room to do some yoga, room to set up an art easel, whatever. It can help turn an office space into a multi-use room.

Try it first, it can be exhausting and uncomfortable on your feet. If you are not a light framed person it might not be for you.

For the first twenty years of code monkeying I was not concerned about my sitting posture. And eventually I started developing lower back pain. 10+ years ago I used to joke about people using standing desks. But a standing desk was a cure for my back problems big time. I'm probably developing neck issues now because of my new standing posture though.

I just wanted to toss out one quick idea that worked for me.

First, my experience with the standing desk: 1) If standing still, my inclination is to lock one knee, cock my hip and lean in. This gets pretty uncomfortable and is probably not much better than sitting for short-term pain issues. 2) I also bought a treadmill to do the walking desk thing. Works well for some tasks, but if I'm deep in complex coding, I can't be walking at the same time. It just doesn't work for me. There's a bit of extra context switching that happens for me when I need to turn off or turn on the treadmill.

What did work for me was a bicycle desk. I bought Garmin Tacx smart trainer and hooked up a cheap bike that I got for free from a friend. I slid the front of the bike under the desk. I can then pedal while working. I found I can pedal even when in moderately deep thought, and if I need to stop pedaling for something complex, you simply stop, rather than having to turn off a device. There have been many days where I've gotten in 50 miles of pedaling while working. I usually output 80-100 watts while working, so very low power. However, after doing that for hours, it's a non-trivial amount of calorie burn. So, you do get a lot of muscular activity.