Stand Up! at Big Squid HQ
Thursday, May 12
Lindsay at her standing desk.
It's been in the news a lot lately...heck, even Mashable's gotten in on it: sitting is bad for you. Regardless of how much exercise one does, studies show that people who sit for most of their day are 54 percent more likely to die of a heart attack. The average American sits for 9.3 hours a day, and those who sit more than 6 hours a day have been correlated with a 40 percent increase in death within 15 years. Yikes! The fact is that the human body was not designed to spend so much time sitting down.
Of course, the increase in sedentary leisure activity isn't great (who hasn't zoned out and lost hours upon hours in front of the TV?). But what about the time you sit at work...they call them "desk jobs" for a reason, right?
So when we were planning on hiring a new squid and then Gus' desk broke shortly after, we realized we needed two new desks. Both Senior Account Manager Gus and Social Media Strategist Lindsay came forward with a proposition: we wanted standing desks! Standing desks (also called stand-up desks) are exactly what they sound like: desks that you stand at rather than sit. They sell expensive, fancy adjustable ones online, but we squid are frugal creatures. We went to Ikea.
After examining our options, we decided to buy two VIKA AMON table tops and eight VIKA BYSKE adjustable table legs. And we built our own.
Two months later, and we're still very happy with our decision to stand up for our health. Gus says: "I get more done during the day, and I find I don't get tired and zone out. And, who knows if it's related, but I've lost some weight, too." Lindsay says: "I have more energy to tackle projects both at work and after-hours, and I've noticed better posture, as well as better mobility in my athletic pursuits. I'll never go back."
So, what are you waiting for? Stand up!
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