Get off your butt and start standing
Business Technology | April 29, 2014
If you’re working inside an office, you may inadvertently be setting yourself up for future health problems. According to a recent story by NPR, people who spend a lot of time sitting throughout the week face a greater potential for heart problems than do those who are more physically active. The NPR report quoted a researcher from South Carolina University who found that men who sat greater than 23 hours per week were 64 percent more likely to die from heart disease than were those who sat fewer than 11 hours in an average week.
The Good News
But there’s good news, too: It is possible to dramatically reduce the number of hours a week that you sit by making your own standing desk, a desk at which you stand instead of sit. Best of all? You can build that standing desk even if you’re not handy or if you don’t have many dollars to spend. Web site Lifehacker recently gave its own recipe for a standing desk, one which uses inexpensive parts that you’ll be able to find at any Ikea furniture store.
The Easy Way
Need a straightforward desk for yourself? Lifehacker suggests building a standing desk with Utby legs. This is a smaller desk, but it will give you enough room for a monitor, keyboard and laptop. For this particular desk, you’ll need a Vika Amon Top, Utby underframe, Ekby Jarpen shelf and one set of Capita legs, which you can find at Ikea for a total of approximately $140. As per Lifehacker, you can put this desk together by simply assembling the main desk and platform with a screwdriver.
A Bit More Complicated
You may also use Ikea parts to build a bit more complicated wide standing desk, according to Lifehacker. Again, you will find the parts you’ll need at your nearest Ikea: five Vika Byske legs, two packs of Capita brackets, one Lack shelf and one Vika Amon tabletop. These materials should set you back about $250. This desk provides you with more space, for both your tech plus your supplies. But it is going to be slightly more difficult to build. You will need a power drill. But don’t allow that to scare you. Lifehacker still ranks this desk as a “medium” in terms of difficulty.</p
If you’re working inside an office, you may inadvertently be setting yourself up for future health problems. According to a recent story by NPR, people who spend a lot of time sitting throughout the week face a greater potential for heart problems than do those who are more physically active. The NPR report quoted a researcher from South Carolina University who found that men who sat greater than 23 hours per week were 64 percent more likely to die from heart disease than were those who sat fewer than 11 hours in an average week.
The Good News
But there’s good news, too: It is possible to dramatically reduce the number of hours a week that you sit by making your own standing desk, a desk at which you stand instead of sit. Best of all? You can build that standing desk even if you’re not handy or if you don’t have many dollars to spend. Web site Lifehacker recently gave its own recipe for a standing desk, one which uses inexpensive parts that you’ll be able to find at any Ikea furniture store.
The Easy Way
Need a straightforward desk for yourself? Lifehacker suggests building a standing desk with Utby legs. This is a smaller desk, but it will give you enough room for a monitor, keyboard and laptop. For this particular desk, you’ll need a Vika Amon Top, Utby underframe, Ekby Jarpen shelf and one set of Capita legs, which you can find at Ikea for a total of approximately $140. As per Lifehacker, you can put this desk together by simply assembling the main desk and platform with a screwdriver.
A Bit More Complicated
You may also use Ikea parts to build a bit more complicated wide standing desk, according to Lifehacker. Again, you will find the parts you’ll need at your nearest Ikea: five Vika Byske legs, two packs of Capita brackets, one Lack shelf and one Vika Amon tabletop. These materials should set you back about $250. This desk provides you with more space, for both your tech plus your supplies. But it is going to be slightly more difficult to build. You will need a power drill. But don’t allow that to scare you. Lifehacker still ranks this desk as a “medium” in terms of difficulty.</p