If my recent endeavors to start running again weren't a big enough shock on my system, I've thrown another monkeywrench in my legs' lazy intentions: I've given up the chair and committed to full-time standing at my work desk.
I've been sitting in the same office-style chair since I got my first office on High Street in 2004. It wasn't a bad chair, but it was definitely cheap. Something in the $80 range at the local Staples office supply store. Â I tend to be very fidgety when I'm working, alternatingly sitting on each leg, which put a toll not only on my circulation but also on the arms of the chair as I pushed myself up to rearrange my position. Â After five years of watching my chair fall apart, January kindly offered to buy me a fancy office chair! She gave me an extremely generous budget and told me to do some research and see what was going to be the best option.
While the budget was certainly generous, it wasn't Herman Miller generous. While asking around for recommendations, there were two main suggestions that really stood out. The first was what is known as a "kneeling chair," and generally looks something like this:
Weird, huh? From what I've read, it takes a while to get used to but it's significantly better on your back and posture once you do. The downsides are a) You looks kind of silling sitting in one; and b) The concensus seems to be that it puts excessive pressure on the knees if you're at all overweight. And I am.
The other suggestion that caught my attention sounded pretty radical at first: not sitting down at all. The most informative article I read on the subject was written by Jamis Buck at 37signals, a fairly well-known software company that specializes in web-based productivity applications. Â He's a developer who, like me, spends lots of time in front of the computer writing code, so I figured it was something worth considering. Â I checked up with him via Twitter to see if he was still standing today, and he enthusiastically confirmed that he's still primarily standing during the work day.
So late last week I dove in; My IKEA desk is now raised up to a couple of inches below the elbows -- to discourage leaning -- and the chair has been shuttled to the corner where the cats can fight over it. Â I did have to position the entire desk on top of a few 4x4 posts set on the ground to get it to the proper height, but the process was easy enough.
For the past week, I have been spending my work day standing in front of the computer and let me tell you: It kind of sucked. Just at first, though. Â My legs were already tired from running, and I have also been going on some fairly length bike rides as well, so by the end of the work day I was definitely ready to crash in front of the TV for at least a little bit. Â I've also found that I'm wearing my Croc sandles much more often, in order to give my feet a little cushion, and I do sit on a stool intermitantly -- usually when I'm on the phone or eating while working.
But a full week later, I think I like it. Â My productivity has certainly improved, and I don't find myself surfing the Internet mindlessly as much. If I feel like I need a break, it's much easier to just walk downstairs instead of checking my Google Reader or Facebook account; January likes it because it means that I step away from the computer to visit her downstairs more often.
My legs -- especially my knees -- are still hurting but I think that's mostly due to my running and my poor discipline in stretching beforehand. Â I also need to pick up an anti-fatigue mat to stand on during the day. I'm going to stick with both the standing and the running for a while and see how things go.
And maybe I can just get January to give me that chair money in Best Buy giftcards, instead.