A Stand-Up Believer

Meet Mark, a stand-up believer after 6 months of time-tested stand up desk use.

I was commuting an hour to work in the morning and then another hour back home at night, and as a result, I was not exercising. At the same time, I needed to boost my production at work, so a change was needed. I went to straight to our stand up desks and began the standing lifestyle.

My crash course in standing began by immediately standing all day long from 7:30 to 5:00. By the end of the day, I quickly realized that this was too much for me at the start. The better way to begin a healthier lifestyle of standing is to start with shorter increments of an hour or two at a time, and gradually working up to the full day. Some people may even find that it's easier to sit in the mornings and stand for the afternoon. You need to find what works best for you and experiment. I added an anti-fatigue gel mat, and quickly adjusted to this new lifestyle.

The benefits of standing at work became apparent as I remained committed to the lifestyle change. I have more energy, and have seen my work output increase (I have also lost a couple of pounds). The big revelation for me was when I went to the yearly lighting show in Dallas Texas a few weeks ago. The event requires lots of walking from dawn until dusk. I arrived into Dallas late at night, and only had a few hours of sleep before the start of the event. To my surprise, I still felt energized and ready to go even on such short sleep. I was able to explore the event all day, and by 6:00 PM, I still had plenty of energy. I thought that the day might have been an outlier, so I shrugged it off and got ready for the second day of the event.

The next morning, I woke up bright and early to head the show, and I had another high energy day. This experience continued for the next three days. By the final day, I would usually be dragging from all the walking and meetings, but I was surprisingly full of energy. Some of the people I met noticed I had lost a little weight since the last event, and they asked about my energy level. I told them about the benefits of standing up at work and I think they may be trying the stand up lifestyle soon.

Standing has made a huge change in my life. Some days, I'd rather go back to sitting, but then I remember the benefits I've experienced so far and the future consequences of sitting too much, and I press on. The standing lifestyle changed my life. I can't go back now.