How I changed my working position ... and my life!
Yes, I am aware that this post title sounds pretty dramatic and yes ... it also sounds extremely salesman-like ... but this time it is simply the best way to describe what happened! And if you suffer from back pain or any of the symptoms described below, I encourage you to read on!
It all started when I experienced this annoying back pain getting worse each day. In the beginning it felt like a little marble stucking somewhere in between my rips below the bladebone and I only noticed it when I was inhaling very deep as one mostly does when stretching after a good potion of work! Then it became worse and the little marble soon turned into a tennisball. I am really not a wimp when it comes to stuff like this and to be homest the pain wasn't really that hurting, but it was annoying like hell because everytime I inhaled I noticed this tennis ball and I had the constant need of stretching myself about every five to ten minutes. It got even worse when the pain started to slowly crawl into my breast letting me feel as I was stuck in a bar clamp. I seriously knew that I had to do something about this!
After I had an appointment with a massage therapist it was a bit better but still there. Since I recently started working out in a good studio there was also another inhouse massage therapist who I visited a few weeks after the first treatment. My back relaxed a little more but it was still there. Finally I decided to visit an orthopedic specialist. After I told him that I am a composer and that I am sitting all day he simply said one thing:
"I seriously recommend a standing solution for what you do because it won't get better!"
While we were talking about the symptoms and solutions he did one of these exercises with me. You know, ... one of these exercises which make you feel that this guy just broke you a few bones inside your body, but all pain suddenly was gone! What a relief!
After I arrived home and still thinking about his words about a standing working solution, I sat down at my workstation continuing to work on the milestones I had to complete ...
... and a few days later it all started to crawl up on me again!
It actually wasn't the first time I heard about working in standing position. I had one guitar student back then who told me being an architect and that his back was that hurting that much he was just able to work while standing. The other time I was reading an article on zenhabits (one of my favorite blogs) about this topic: http://zenhabits.net/stand/
I finally decided to do Tabula rasa and started to research for companies who sell standing working solutions. Since I knew (and recently experienced) that sitting too much isn't healthy I was aware that standing too much - besides that it can be extremely tiring - shouldn't be to healthy too. With this in mind I started looking for a working solution which lets me stand and sit ... and since I knew that it can be annoying to always adjust the right position for either sitting or standing, I wanted something which I could not only electronically adjust but also program to a fixed height for both positions.
It didn't take long to find my hopefully perfect solution on this matter, so I ordered the following parts from this company (I am not going to recommend, but more on this later):
A desk plate of 200 cm x 100 cm, a very stable stand which is electronically adjustable and able to carry around 80 kg, the little device to program around 4 height presets into.
For my previous desk I already bought kind of a cheap living room shelf with kitchen furniture stands. This may sound funny, but it was perfect for putting the monitors on top and the keyboard below. I ended up buying another one and the pictures in this post should give you an idea on what became the final working solution.
Besides my personal story, I also collected some facts from throughout the web:
from mashable - http://mashable.com/2011/04/22/standup-desks/ "Examining the lifestyles of more than 17,000 men and women over 13 years, the report found those who sit for most of the day were 54% more likely to die of heart attacks. According to Men's Health, that statistic was true even if the people in the study were nonsmokers and regular exercisers."
from the blog of athlete Patrick John McCrann - http://www.patrickjohnmccrann.com/blog/self-care/sitting-vs-standing-at-work-why-you-need-to-raise-your-working-game
"Counting Calories: The top physical benefit to standing up to work is simply that your burning calories while your there. You’re already working because your standing. You’re active, okay. So there’s that for the equation. Let’s add that right there. This alone probably negates your coffee habit or whatever else your drinking during the day…all by simply standing at work.
The second element of that physical benefit is for your hips and your glutes. Spending most of your day sitting down really tightens up your hips and shortens those hip flexors. This is the result of the fact that the majority of your time is spent in a docile, unengaged position. After six to eight hours a day of sitting in the car to work, sitting at work, sitting in the car home…sitting when you get home…it all means that you’re really putting your body at a disadvantage. Instead, standing at work means you’re constantly engaging your back, your core, your glutes. If you want to be proactive and geek out, you can do stretches and some exercises to do some strengthening in there. It’s amazingly different."
I could find many more within seconds, but you basically have to browse the web for tags such as "standing working solutions" or similar and you will literally drown in helpful information!
my personal experience and results
After all the parts arrived, it took me a while to set up the whole workstation, but basically after a day I was completely done including setting and rearranging all my gear. On the first day it was really a tough one! Even though I am used to run, walk and stand a lot, my legs hurt a lot after that first working day. On the second morning I obviously felt what I was doing the day before but I kept on working while standing, knowing that if it gets to much, I could simply drive down the desk and sit for an hour or so. During all the those "painful" weeks before I developed this habit of lifting myself up on the kitchen working table to release the spine and give it some time to stretch while letting the legs dangle. Suddenly something weird happened. There was this loud "knack" and it felt as my lower body including the legs fell to the floor. In fact it was so intense that I just waited for my guts to fall out - I wouldn't have been surprised! To be honest I was a bit shocked and when I came back on my feet and inhaled, the pain in my back was completely gone! My investement has already been worth the money spent! At the evening of this day I did some of my relaxation exercise for the breast. It is a bit difficult to describe but basically you take the fingers or your right hand to the left side next to your solar plexus and the fingers of your left hand to the right side of it. It should then look like as your hands are folded to the inside against your body. If you then inhale and literally try to softly rip open your solar plexus (by pushing your left hand to the right side of your breast and the other way round) you can release the tension on your rips a bit. As I did this, suddenly there was a softer "knack" and the pain in my breast when inhaling very deep was totally gone!
I am aware that this all sounds like: "Oh come bro, just put away your funny fairy tales and stick at least to a little truth, ok?" :)
During the following days, I did not just feel very relaxed, because all my pain was gone. I also experienced to be much more focused while working. As if this wouldn't have been enough already, I kept on being surprised. Since "ever" I had issues with my knees. Sometimes when I hunkered down, I had this feeling in my knee cap as if someone put a knife in there - gone! Almost every morning or evening, when I was put on/off pants (while standing) I had a strange soft pain in my hips - gone! We live in the 5th floor and sometimes if I was going up a bit faster I wasn't really exhausted (I blame that on the workout! :)) but sometimes really felt completely tired - gone!
Today (and after a few weeks) I feel as if someone bought me an entirely new body ... and I can honestly say, that this investment was worth more than anything else I had ever purchased for my studio ... and it really changed my life!
I decided to put up a few pics below. To be honest, at first I didn't really want, because I didn't find the perfect solution for the cables so far. However, in the meantime I already considered giving up on finding a solution for this, since I am the only one seeing them (and only if I look below the desk ;)). I think we all agree that this article isn't about winning a beauty/design contest anyway!
This is the desk in "standing mode". You determine the exact height by holding your forearms in a 90° position away from your body. Your elbows should be able to touch the desk without trying to raise or lower them:
This is the desk in "sitting mode". You determine the exact desk height by doing the same as above, except that the sitting height of your chair should let your legs do a 90° position of your upper and lower legs:
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