Ask a sample of office workers which type of sit stand desk might have the best speed of adjustability, chances are they would go for electrically controlled. This would be a perfectly logical response, after all what could be easier than pressing a button to move the top to where you want it?

For a moment though, imagine you’re searching the web for more information on a topic. Google throws up what looks like the answer you need, you click on what looks like the best answer and then the page takes an age to load. How long are you going to wait before clicking away and going to the next result?

Probably 5 to 7 seconds, because as soon as a page starts to load slowly it all becomes different. All of a sudden speed becomes important.

So, let’s look at speed and convenience and then how the different types of adjustability options on sit stand desks are affected.

Will speed affect the way you use a desk?
The quicker it is to adjust the height of a moving top workstation the more likely users are to alternate between sitting and standing, especially if it’s easy as well.

And providing it’s simple to change height some delay in speed will be acceptable for most users.

How fast do different desk mechanisms adjust?
We’ll begin with electrically controlled tops. Normally these move at around an inch per second so covering the full range will take about 15 seconds.

It’s not a huge amount of time and it couldn’t be easier to do, press a button and it’s on the move. However it isn’t as rapid as some of the alternatives.

Another plus is electric tops are available in larger sizes and have good weight capacity. This makes them more flexible than other solutions. A number offer memory presets allowing you to save preferred positions.

Crank operated desks adjust at a similar speed to their electric equivalents. It just requires the added effort of some rapid turns of the handle to make the required adjustments. Size and weight capacities are also good on these manually operated desks.

Although electric and crank are the most well known types there are workstations which are mechanically operated in other ways.

These include gas lift, counterbalanced, cable controlled and add on workstations for use with an existing desk. Most of these are rapidly adjustable going through the full height range in a few seconds.

In terms of speed and convenience these sorts of desks are very easy to use. Inevitably there are some drawbacks and there are two common limitations.

First, the top size is often a lot smaller than a conventional desk, so they don’t have space for much equipment.

Second, the weight carrying capacity is typically low, restricting use to maybe a monitor and keyboard.

Nonetheless when you don’t need loads of gear on your desk top they are certainly a sound alternative.

Let’s recap on what we’ve covered here:
Speed and ease of use will likely affect how often you alter your working height
Electric push button control is undoubtedly easy to use, adjustment speed can be a little slow
Crank operated tops move at a similar speed to electric, requiring more user involvement
Both electric and crank offer good work surface size and carrying capacity
Alternative controllers allow rapid height changes however surface area and weight capacity can be limited

Related topics
Here’s where you find more information about the desks discussed in this article.

• Electrically operated workstations
• Crank adjusted desks
• Other mechanical adjusting desks

Enthusiasm for working at a standing desk continues to gain momentum as more and more people seek to escape the harmful effects of excessive sitting.

And yet for some this eagerness to stand will end with more discomfort than when they were sitting all day. For them it quickly becomes a pain in the anterior as underused muscles suddenly get placed under stress.

So what’s this problem all about? In this 3 part article we’re going to look at:

• What causes the problem
• How you can correct it
• Why you need to pay attention to your posture

Lets get started shall we?

What’s this problem about?
Medically the term for the condition is known as anterior pelvic tilt. Don’t worry it’s not an illness, it’s more of a bad habit resulting in placing your body in a poor posture.

Poor Posture Caused By Tilted Pelvis

If you study the diagram you will see that people with this problem have the front of their pelvis lowered and the back of their pelvis raised. This unnatural posture places a group of muscles known as the hip flexors in a shortened and pressured situation.

And when you stand at a desk for any length of time the affected muscles soon become painful. All this isn’t helped by the fact that another group of muscles, the hip extensors become lengthened due to the shortening of the flexors. So your hip muscles end up being out of balance as the flexors are reduced and tight, whilst extensor muscles like the hamstrings become stretched and weak.

What can be done to correct the problem?

Corrective exercises help restore good posture
By doing regular exercises specifically targeted at the problem muscles you lengthen the short muscles and strengthen the weakened extended muscles.

Here’s where you can find an interesting article that not only discusses the problems of pelvic tilt but also has several short videos of exercises specifically aimed at correcting it.

Performing the right exercises should remedy things, however it’s still important to keep an eye on your body so you don’t end up slipping back into your old ways.

Why you need to watch your posture
Even after doing the suggested exercises you’ll want to keep a close watch on how you work with your standing workstation.

To get your standing setup right begin by making sure you have soft knees. This means having a little give at your knee joint, one of the side effects of anterior pelvic tilt is a tendency to have rigid knee joints. When your knees are locked like this it actually makes it harder to set your pelvis in the neutral position you need it in.

So, relax your knees a little first and then using your hands by your sides adjust the angle of your pelvis to correct the tilt to its natural angle.

It can be helpful to practice doing this facing side on to a full length mirror. This way you can see how your standing posture looks before and after correction. Once you have done this a few times you should be able to adjust your body for good standing desk posture.

Related information
Here are some resources and articles on related topics.

Here are some resources and articles on related topics.

• Correcting pelvic tilt
• Wikipedia
• Differences between a standing desk and a height adjustable desk

There is a huge amount of interest these days from office bound people in switching from sitting all day to a sit stand desk. This is understandable as not only is sitting for hours at a time unhealthy, it’s also energy draining too.

It’s easy to understand why so many are keen to make the change, until they hit the brick wall – cost.

What makes these sorts of desk so costly?
When you introduce a moving top to a desk, you add an element of complication. Unlike a fixed height workstation where it’s simply welded or bolted together, making it easy to manufacture.

With an adjustable desk something has to be added to move the top up and down. The most cost effective method is to have sliding legs pre punched with holes with removable pins for changing the height. Unfortunately this isn’t very practical in use.

Consequently some mechanical means of adjustment is needed and as soon as you add this into the mix, the cost of producing it quickly ratchets up the price.

However, people using portable computing do have a better chance of keeping costs down.

How some people can benefit from a low cost solution
With the move away from traditional desk computers to a more mobile way of working, it is possible for some users to gain the advantage of sit stand working without spending a fortune.

Where your main computer is a laptop or a tablet it’s far easier to find an affordable workstation. Whereas you might need to invest $500+ for a full size moving top table, adjustable tables for use with portable devices can be had for less than half this amount.

The reason this is possible is because they need a much smaller top as well as a lower weight carrying capacity. This helps to keep costs in check as it requires less sophisticated equipment for moving the top.

Nonetheless, caution is needed.

What are the limitations with these cheaper products?
It’s important to realize that there is usually a compromise with these sorts of products which shouldn’t be ignored.

First, they generally have a much smaller work surface maybe 24 inches wide by 18 inches deep. This isn’t necessarily an issue where you only need maybe your laptop or tablet. However when you have other items you will rapidly run out of space.

Second, they are only designed for relatively light weights, so the top may only support 30lbs in total. Again, not a problem until you start adding extra equipment.

One other thing to watch out for is when you come across very low cost products. Before rushing in to buy, take the time to check out some existing customer feedback. Some we’ve seen have very low customer satisfaction and ignoring this could prove costly.

In conclusion
Let’s quickly recap on the main points we’ve covered here:
Adjustable desks cost more because they often require expensive mechanisms
Portable computer users can often find a lower priced solution
It’s important to recognize the limitation of top size and carrying capacity of smaller desks
Always check the feedback on very low cost products, it will save you any nasty shocks

Further reading
Here’s where you can read about the different sorts of sit stand desk as well as ideas on alternative products to be aware of when weighing up your options.

Have you had any good or bad experiences with sit to stand desks? Let us know what you’ve found.

Phoenix based MultiTable has recently extended the range of crank adjustable tables with a new addition, the MiniMod.

MiniMod Table – Black Top & Silver Frame

The top comes in a single size which is 3 feet wide by 18 inches deep.

This compact size makes it a great choice for home office use where room is often limited.

It can also be used as a side desk alongside your existing fixed desk, making it easy to alternate between sitting and standing to work.

Here’s where you can find further details about the MiniMod table.

The maker of ModTable adjustable height work tables has a gallery section on its website where it encourages customers to post an image of their table in use, together with a brief comment about what their experience has been.

When taking a look through this one thing was very striking. Nearly every poster was using a high quality office chair in the $400 – $800 range. It included an Aeron, Humanscale Liberty, Steelcase Think and Herman Miller Sayl.

White ModTables In Use With Aeron Chairs – Image courtesy of MultiTable LLC

So why would people opt for standing to work when they have such great chairs?

Even the best of chairs have limitations
No matter how good you office seat it does lack some flexibility. Of course the best models are designed to move and support you properly and they do. Even so because of the nature of sitting it’s just not possible to get the full range of movement that your body experiences when standing.

These users have no doubt realized the limitations that sitting imposes and decided to combine sitting with standing. It’s interesting reading their feed back.

What do they gain choosing to work this way?
Reading through some of the comments gave some interesting insights into why they made the change.

One was experiencing knee and sciatic nerve problems from excessive sitting. She reported how by adding standing to work into the mix as well as physical exercise it had been possible to significantly reduce the problem and enjoy working again.

A business said that the benefits of working sitting and standing were such that they added a further three desks a week after their initial purchase of four.

Another firm commented on how working standing helped get them more active and engaged with their tasks.

Clearly standing to work is making significant improvements for these people, so why not do it all day?

It’s important to maintain variation in working posture
You might be tempted to just stand all day to work. And in fact a home worker in the gallery feedback states that he does so and has more energy at the end of the day.

Even so, long term this isn’t a good idea. And the reason is that just as sitting all day leaves certain parts of your body underutilized so will standing if you choose to exclusively work this way. The difference is it will effect different parts of your body.

Ultimately it’s much better to alternate how you work throughout the day. By making radical changes to your posture several times a day you will keep your body more active and prevent certain parts from seizing up from insufficient movement.

And if your chair isn’t the best, it makes even more sense to add standing to your working routine.

More about the ModTable range
Here’s where you can find a full review of this flexible moving top table. And you can also view the user gallery to read customer’s experiences.

Detail Of Sit Stand Desk

The reasons that standing to work and combining it with sitting is better for you comes down to one word – movement.

By making frequent changes to your working position throughout the day you keep muscles moving and healthy and alternating between sitting and standing is an excellent way of doing this.

However, it’s important that you plan such a radical change to the way you work. Just racing out and buying a height adjustable desk because everyone says it’s the best way to work isn’t necessarily a good idea.

This 5 step procedure will help you get things right and avoid costly mistakes, let’s make a start.

Step 1 – Make sure standing to work is right for you
When you’ve spent many years sitting all day to work and more in the evening after work chances are many muscles have got lazy and flabby from lack of use.

Standing to work is going to place a good deal of pressure on these underutilized muscles, especially to begin with. For most people it will just be a case of building strength back into your body.

Nonetheless, it may be the case that standing to work just isn’t for you. So, before investing your hard earned cash consider a ‘try before you buy’ approach to make sure.

Test things out, by creating a standing desk arrangement. This can be done fairly simply by temporarily raising your monitor and keyboard to standing working height. All that’s needed are a few thick books or sturdy boxes to create a raised work platform to place you equipment on.

Try working standing for a short while. Don’t go mad though, 30 minutes is more than enough. Just do this a couple of times a day and spend the rest of your day sitting as normal.

Work this way for a couple of weeks because you body needs to adjust to standing while you work. You may well get aches and pains to begin with, that’s normal. And provided you feel comfortable after a couple of weeks then you should be fine to progress to the next measure.

Step 2 – decide on what you can afford to spend
Height adjustable desks aren’t cheap and even an entry level model is likely to require an investment of $500. Some powered desks cost several times this, although they do start around the $700 mark. Provided you have the budget to get what you want, next you need to be clear the adjustment range is suitable.

Step 3 – calculate your optimum standing and sitting height
It’s a mistake to think that all moving top desks are suitable for standing to work. Many don’t go high enough, so it’s vital to know your approximate optimum standing working height. Sitting height is less likely to be a problem, make sure it adjusts to a similar height to your fixed desk.

Here’s how you check your ideal standing height range.
Begin by standing with your feet slightly apart and your arms by your side with shoulders relaxed. Next bend your arms at right angles from your elbow, still with shoulders relaxed and measure the distance from the floor to the underside of your lower arm.

It may help to have a colleague take the measurement for you. Now it’s time for choosing the type of desk

Step 4 – ensuring potential products can handle your needs
Adjustable height desks come in many different formats and sizes. These range from large single moving top models down to add on units designed to only support monitor, keyboard and mouse.

In terms of weight carrying capacity large workstations may be designed to support 300lbs, at the other end of the scale smaller units may only support 60lbs in total.

Note down all the items you would like to include on your sit stand desk’s top. Form some idea of what size of top you need to hold it all once it’s in use. Next check the weight of everything you plan to include on the work surface and assess its total weight.

Now your ready for the final step.

Step 5 -shortlist desks of interest and come up with a final choice
Using the information you’ve compiled make a list of:

• How much you are prepared to spend
• Your ideal maximum and minimum working heights
• The surface size you need to hold all your gear
• The weight capacity needed for your equipment

Then it’s simply a case of going through the specification details of any desk you are considering to make sure it’s suitable. Be sure to check whether the quoted carrying capacity is a net weight. Some suppliers include the top in their calculations so you’ll need to deduct it if that’s the case and tops often weigh 30lbs or more, so it’s significant.

By following this simple 5 step procedure you will avoid making expensive errors in choosing the right sit stand desk for you.

Capisco Chair Used Semi Standing

The new freedom of being able to stand to work liberates you from all that inflexible sitting for hours at a time.

And yet great as it is to have the ability to vary the way your work, keeping your old chair can be quite limiting.

At least compared with a seat specifically designed for variable height work.

Why is this the case?

How a specialist chair opens up new working postures
The design of a normal desk chair means that it has been made for use with a fixed height workstation, typically around 30 inches high.

Obviously office seats have gas lifts and so it’s possible to raise it to it’s maximum and maybe gain a couple of inches in working height. Nonetheless you’re still going to end up working seated as you always have been and miss out on the ability to work in a half standing, half sitting position.

Wait a minute couldn’t I just swap the gas lift for an extended one to gain more height?

Well yes you could, however you would find that semi standing wouldn’t feel natural because you would end up perching on the edge of the seat and that assumes the gas lift went high enough in the first place which it probably won’t.

It’s for this reason that a number of specialist seats have been launched in recent years to allow the full range of options for truly interactive sit stand working.

These seats differ in two major ways. First they have the ability to adjust over a far wider height range and so take care of of both traditional sitting and semi standing sitting.

Second, and crucial to supporting you while working half standing the seat pad is designed to tilt to provide safe and comfortable support.

Let’s take a look at what’s available.

Specialist seats for variable height working
The first thing you may notice about these sorts of chairs is how different they look to the sort of seat you have been used to in the office.

Varier Move Seat In Beige

For a start they often don’t have a back, this is due to the way they work as they encourage you to use your feet more and so a back isn’t really needed.

A good example of this is Varier’s Move which has a rounded base enabling users to sit with the seat at an angle. At first sight this may look unstable, however in use it’s perfectly safe and the base allows you to move easily around your work area.

Aeris’s Muvman tackles things in a slightly different way.

It has a flat base however the the seat support is angled forwards by 4 degrees making it perfect for perching at higher levels.

Muvman In Blue And Charcoal

HÅG’s Capisco has a saddle shaped seat, this places your legs further apart than a normal chair and is very stable at any height.

Unlike the other products it has a backrest of sorts with an extended support to each side. These supports are great for resting your arms on when you feel like leaning back and relaxing.

Is it essential to have a specialist seat for variable height work?
Absolutely not. By retaining your present chair you can still stand and sit to work whenever you feel like it. All it means is you miss out on some useful working positions mid way between fully standing and sitting throughout the day.

So, if you can afford to buy both desk and seat at the same time it definitely makes a lot of sense get them both. And where your budget won’t stretch to both start by investing in a movable top desk. You can always save towards the cost of the seat and get it at a later date.

Putting it all together
Let’s go over what we’ve covered in this article.

• You can retain your existing seat and use when you sit to work
• A specialist seat makes it easier to sit at various heights with an adjustable height desk
• Semi standing offers yet another way to work and it’s stable and comfortable
• Buying a variable height desk and a chair designed for this way of working is the best option
• Using your existing chair still works well and is a huge improvement on sitting all day.

Further information
Here’s where you can find out more on the Move, Muvman and Capisco seats and the advantages each offer when working in the office at a moving top workstation.

Moving Height ModTable

Although the commonest use for a crank height adjustable table is in the office, it also make a great working tool for crafters and artists.

Many people spend hours working at their hobby at a dining or kitchen table and this is often less than ideal.

Being able to quickly alter your work surface height enables you to optimize your working position and reduce strain on your body.

Healthier working at a movable top work area
Using a fixed height worktop means you often end up spending hours with your body in an unnatural posture. When concentrating on detail work it’s easy to become absorbed in what you’re doing.

Before you realize it you can often end up hunched over your work for hours. It’s only when your neck and shoulders really start to ache that you finally find you have to move.

Nonetheless, after a quick break you soon end up resuming an unhealthy posture. When you have an adjustable table, all it takes is a few quick turns of a crank handle to raise your work level to stand to work. So now you are able to vary your posture significantly and get movement into your body relieving over taxed muscles.

An added benefit of standing is you will burn more calories because your body is more active. It helps promote better blood circulation too.

So much for the health improvements, what else is better with a variable height top?

Other benefits of an adjustable working height
Depending on your hobby or craft it can be very handy to be able work at differing heights. For doing close up detail work sitting may well be your preferred way to work, however as your project progresses, standing to address your work could make things easier.

And when you’re involved in any kind of progressive build up of maybe a model it is often far more convenient and comfortable to stand to work on it as it grows in height. By quickly altering the work surface position you’re able to place your body in a much better posture as a result.

A ModTable makes a great choice of table for craft work. It is supplied either just with the base to which you can add your own top. Or alternatively complete with top.

And because of the way it’s designed a single base frame can accommodate a top size anywhere between 40 inches wide by 24 inches deep and 72 inches wide by 36 inches deep. This flexibility of top size can be very useful where you have a particular space you need to customize it to suit.

Further information
Here’s where you can find our review of this flexible table.

Phoenix based MultiTable makers of the crank operated variable height ModTable has recently added three additional models to its offering.

What’s new?
First there is the MiniMod.

MiniMod Adjustable Table

This is designed for use by people who want the benefit of height adjustable working and yet only have limited space.

The MiniMod has a standard footprint of just 36 inches by 18 inches making it perfect for anyone where space is at a premium.

Next, there is now a Treadmill option for the ModTable. So if you like the idea of working on the move to keep fit this looks like a great idea.

And with the ease of height adjustment it means it can be readily altered to suit different people making it great choice for multiple users in the working office.

Lastly, the range has been expanded to include a 90 degree version of the ModTable. This corner unit will be great for people needing extra space on their worktop.

We will add full reviews of each of these new products in the next few weeks. In the meantime you can find out more about these additions at the MultiTable website.

Over the past couple of years there’s been a quiet revolution going on as more and more people are making the change to working at a standing desk. Every other week it seems a new Blog crops up where someone has made the change to standing to work and and wants to share their new way of working with the world.

I suppose it isn’t surprising given the ongoing evidence that’s been published about the dangers of prolonged sitting. And yet if you simply decide you will no longer sit to work and instead stand, isn’t there a danger that you might end up replacing one unhealthy way of working with another?

When standing to work all day can be as bad as sitting
By definition a standing desk is usually a fixed height desk. Just as a normal desk is a fixed height desk for sitting to work, a standing desk is a fixed height for standing to work. So if you suddenly decide to stand all day rather than sit then you may well find a new set of problems kick in.

Things like leg pain or sore feet. And if your core muscles around your middle aren’t toned there’s a good chance they will start protesting too.

And the reason this can happen is the same reason that prolonged sitting causes problems. Lack of movement. To remain healthy our body needs frequent changes of position and when it doesn’t get it it responds with pain to give you a nudge that it’s time to move.

What’s needed is to mix some standing and sitting as well.

Using a standing and a sitting desk makes more sense
If you have the space you could of course just add a standing desk with your existing desk and chair arrangement. That way you get the chance to switch between sitting and standing to work as the mood takes you. However the additional room required is significant and so this may not be possible.

Quite a few people do come up with innovative ways of changing from sitting to standing and back again. Frequently using some kind of shelf arrangement to create the raised section on their existing fixed chair desk to convert it to stand. Or maybe some kind of box arrangement that can be lifted on or off the work surface as they alternate between sitting and standing.

In the short term these are OK, however for the long term a better solution is needed.

Why a height adjustable desk is a better solution
A much better answer to using fixed sitting or standing desks is to use an adjustable height desk. This way you have in a single workstation something that you can both sit or stand to work at. Not only that when you have the right seat like a Muvman or Move stool you are also able to work in a semi standing or perched posture. This is a healthy alternative way to work as the angles your body forms are much more open and so don’t restrict breathing and circulation.

Although a height adjustable desk is best there are some interesting add on units like Ergotron’s WorkFit S workstation or Ergo Desktop’s Kangaroo desk that can easily convert your existing fixed sitting desk into a height adjustable workspace. Both these units work out at about half the price of a complete sit stand desk making them more affordable.

Summary
Let’s quickly recap what we’ve covered here:

• Replacing sitting all day by standing isn’t as healthy as it seems
• Our body needs frequent changes of position to keep healthy and active
• Adding a standing desk and keeping your sitting desk works well if you have room
• A height adjustable desk is the best solution
• It’s easy to use an add on unit to convert your fixed desk to sit stand use

Further information
Here’s where you can find further information on the ideas covered in this article:

• The benefits of height adjustable desks
• Ergotron WorkFit S workstation
• Kangaroo adjustable height desk
• Muvman stool
• Move stool