These desk picks reflect experts&#; criteria for adjustability and more. Scroll down for detailed shopping tips. And if you want more ideas of how to spruce up your home office, check out our list of home office essentials .
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While sitting may not actually be the new smoking, as breathless headlines once proclaimed, our bodies were just not meant to sit all day, explains Kien Vuu, M.D., assistant professor of health sciences at UCLA and author of &#; Thrive State: Your Blueprint for Optimal Health, Longevity and Peak Performance .&#; &#;Inactivity is linked to a host of chronic diseases in every system in our body,&#; he says. Sit-stand desks make you move more, notes April Chambers, Ph.D., an ergonomics researcher based in Pittsburgh: &#;We tend to move around when standing&#;shifting from side to side, wiggling around, stretching.&#;
Before the pandemic, Christina Kim, an interior designer based in Manasquan, N.J., had received only one client request for a standing desk. &#;Now, it&#;s nearly every time,&#; she says, &#;Even if there&#;s a main desk, they also want a standing desk in an alcove.&#;
The look is highly adjustable too, with four base color choices and 12 desktops, from white laminate to reclaimed birch and an almost-2-inch-thick walnut. Go for the $29 keyboard upgrade and you get a child safety lock feature and the ability to save your preferred heights; minimalists will appreciate that cord control accessories come standard.
If you&#;re tight on space or want to set up a second workstation to change up your scenery, this pick is ideal. It&#;s super compact at 24 inches deep by 42 inches wide but still fully loaded. It fits people from 5 feet, 4 inches to 6 feet, 10 inches tall. Under 5 feet, 4 inches? You&#;ll want to spring for the V2 commercial model, which fits people 4 feet, 11 inches to 6 feet, 5 inches tall (or users down to 4 feet, 3 inches with a keyboard tray).
This sleek and sturdy pick from the office furniture giant Steelcase offers commercial-grade quality at a midrange price. It&#;s easy to make it work with your room size and style, with four sizes and eight wood and color combos. It also comes with Steelhouse&#;s 12-year warranty. If you hate a mess of wires, you&#;ll be happy to know cord control is included. Unless you&#;re squarely average height, go for the extended-height version, which is adjustable from 22.6 to 48.7 inches.
People who are taller than average will appreciate that this number is comfortable for anyone up to 6 feet, 8 inches. You get to pick from four tops (woodgrain, white, walnut and fog) and two steel-leg colors (white and charcoal), so it&#;s easy to make it your own. Or share it: The Branch is a good pick for families because of its wide adjustability (25 to 52 inches) and a set-and-save function for four optimal sit-stand heights. It&#;s also a lower price point than many on our list, but the warranty is on the skimpy side, at only three years for motor and electrical components (and 10 years for the rest of the desk).
If your office design tastes run more grandmillenial chic than Silicon Valley slick, this handmade wood desk should be on your radar. Made in the U.S. by Copeland Furniture, it&#;s a sophisticated-looking hardwood desk designed to zip up and down. And it&#;s flexible, in two depths and three lengths, adjusting from 25 to 51 inches high. From the swanky finishes (walnut, smoke cherry or natural cherry) to the drawer and privacy panel, it brings classic charm to a wellness-forward workspace.
This adjustable-height desk is Kim&#;s go-to pick for its function and form. She loves that it&#;s very quiet (less than 50 decibels). &#;Some are very loud while they&#;re adjusting to different heights,&#; she says. &#;They sound like the motor is straining, and that&#;s anxiety inducing.&#; She is a fan of the bamboo top with black leg combo; it also comes with white legs. Offered in different sizes, it works well for tight and spacious quarters. Go with a contour top that allows you to easily access your whole desk or the classic straightedge option. Upgrade with a power grommet that lets you plug in your devices and a programmable handset so you can save your height preferences (the desk adjusts between 25.5 and 50 inches high). And it has your back in more ways than one, with a 15-year warranty on the mechanical and electronics and five years on the tabletop. Note: Since we first published this article, Fully&#;s parent company MillerKnoll has ceased operating Fully as a standalone business and is only selling its desks through Herman Miller and Design Within Reach. The price of this Jarvis desk has increased significantly and most configurations are listed with an 18-week or longer shipping time.
People who are choosing adjustable standing desks for their homes are comfort-focused, says Kim, the interior designer. &#;It&#;s really a shift in thinking,&#; she says. &#;People want to work and be effective, and they recognize that to do that, they have to feel good too.&#;
And then there&#;s your back: Chambers, the ergonomics researcher, conducted a review of standing desks that found solid evidence that they ease musculoskeletal discomfort (e.g. back pain). &#;Movement is medicine for our joints,&#; says Chambers. &#;If you are stiff from sitting, you relieve that by changing position. If you&#;re sitting, stand; if you&#;re standing, take a walk.&#;
That&#;s not to say you should stand all day just because you&#;ve switched to an adjustable standing desk, cautions Carisa Harris Adamson, Ph.D., director of the UCSF/UCB Ergonomics Research and Graduate Training Program. &#;We know prolonged standing is really bad for you,&#; she explains, &#;and we go to other workplaces and try to get people to sit more, because prolonged standing is associated with preterm birth, varicose veins and lower back pain.&#;
So what&#;s the right balance of sitting and standing? &#;You&#;re best off easing into a new sit-stand routine, &#; advises spine and neck surgeon Rahul Shah, M.D., of Vineland, N.J. &#;Go slow and monitor your body&#;s feedback.&#; It helps that today&#;s sit-stand desks allow you to go back and forth with literally the push of a button. While earlier models were once contraptions you had to manually adjust, they&#;re now almost all electric, so you can easily change modes.
Just because you can now find an electric sit-stand on Amazon for under $150 doesn&#;t mean it&#;s a smart buy. You&#;re better off choosing one from a reputable brand like Uplift, Javis, Invigo or Branch and that potentially has a dual motor, which makes it more adept at lifting a heavy load (important if you have unusually large computers on your desk). All of these models plug into the wall, so you&#;ll need a nearby outlet. If you are sticking with a tight budget, consider outfitting your current desk with an inexpensive lift that lets you work upright instead.
Anything with a motor can break. Some like the Jarvis, Uplift and Migration come with a warranty that lasts 10-plus years.
Some models, like the standard Uplift Standing Desk, aren&#;t ideal if you&#;re under 5 feet 4 inches because they only adjust down to about 25 inches (though the upgraded commercial version will fit a petite person). On the other hand, some don&#;t go high enough for tall people to work comfortably.
Here&#;s a good guide: If you&#;re under 5 feet 4 inches, look for one that adjusts down to at least 23 inches. Anyone taller than 6 feet 6 inches should make sure the desk goes up to at least 50 inches (the Branch, at 52 inches, is the tallest on our list). Then test it out: You should be able to keep your elbows at a 90-degree angle in sit and stand mode. &#;If your desk is too low, you&#;re going to tend to lean down on it, which is not a great thing. It relieves a little bit of weight from your legs, but it&#;s putting extra weight on your shoulders and your elbows,&#; Chambers says.
If other members of your household will be using it, you&#;ll likely need a large adjustability range (ideally more than 25 inches) and you&#;ll want one like the Branch that remembers your saved settings, just as many automatic seats in cars do. Others, including the Jarvis Standing Desk, let you upgrade to this function for an additional $29.
These circular cutouts-with-benefits will power up your tech, stash your pens and hide the cord mess. Some desks include them as a standard feature, while others consider them upgrades. Alas, they eat up some desk space.
To simplify your search, we rounded up standout height-adjustable desks that check off many of the boxes our experts outlined&#;six picks that&#;ll nudge you to stand, move and maybe even walk on a treadmill more.
The popularity of standing desks has exploded in the last few years but the variety of options makes it hard for buyers to decide which desk is best for them.
This buyers guide examines different types of sit stand desks to help you make an informed decision about which type of standing desk is right for your specific needs.
This is a multi-part buyers guide. Take a look at Part 2: Comparing Electric Sit Stand Desks here and Part 3: Standing Desk Converters here.
&#;Standing desk&#; is a broad term, and includes any kind of desk that you can stand up at. This could be a simple, fixed-height desk that you can only stand at, but most people prefer a height-adjustable, sit stand desk. Also known as sit to stand and stand up desks, these allow you to comfortably stand while you work and then adjust the height of the desk to sit. Having that flexibility is very important so you can easily alternate between sitting and standing throughout the day.
Sitting for long periods of time has been dubbed &#;the new smoking&#;. Research into the health benefits of using a standing desk is ongoing, but more and more people are choosing to stand or alternate between sitting and standing during the day. They do this because standing at your desk can help you move more during the workweek. Research has shown that standing desks help you burn more calories than you would while sitting. Another study found that standing desks significantly increased productivity - workers using sit stand desks were 45% more productive than their seated colleagues.
To read more research about standing desks and ergonomics, visit our research papers page here: https://www.ergolink.com.au/research-papers
If you want to learn more, please visit our website affordable electric standing desk.
There are four main types of sit stand desks &#; manual sit stand desks, electric sit stand desks, standing desk converters and portable standing desks.
Manually Operated Sit Stand Desks
Although cheap has many limitations.
In our experience most manual desks are generally too hard to use and in the end do not get used at all.
These are complete desks that use electric motors with push-button controls to raise and lower the desktop. One thing to look out for is the quality and noise levels of the motors. Cheaper desks will often have a single electric motor that is quite noisy and will struggle with heavier loads. A higher-quality height-adjustable desk like our Accord range should have one motor in each leg and smooth, quiet operation.
Designed to modify a standard desk into a sit stand desk, a converter sits on top of your existing desk and is then adjusted up and down to the required height. For most standing desk converters, the user pulls a lever at the side of the unit, and the desk rises using gas or spring assisted struts. High-end converters like the Humanscale Quickstand don&#;t even need a lever. Instead they use a weighted counterbalance system that makes it smoother and easier to adjust the height.
Converters are ideal for offices that already have built-in desks and limited available space that doesn&#;t allow for any additional furniture. Desktop converters are also a good choice if you are on a tighter budget and want to keep your existing desk.
For workers that need to move around during the day at work, a portable standing desk or cart is ideal. Perfect for medical practices where the worker moves between rooms with their laptop, for teachers moving around the classroom and mechanics moving around their workshop. They are also ideal for the home office worker that wants to work in different rooms of the house. Depending on your requirements, you could get a smaller portable desk that just has enough space for a laptop and a mouse, or a larger unit that also has a monitor arm like the Ergotron Neo-Flex LCD Cart.
The sort of work you do and the tools you use to do your job will determine what type of sit stand desk is best for you. Here are several scenarios and our recommendations for the most suitable sit stand desk.
Most standing desk converters are not suitable for using with only a laptop unless you use an external keyboard because they have two separate parts &#; a keyboard platform and monitor or work surface platform. Your laptop may not safely fit on the keyboard area so you need one flat area to place your laptop on. You have the lightest computer setup, so you don&#;t need to be concerned about the weight of your equipment.
Recommend: Any Electric or Portable Standing Desk
This equipment configuration gives you the most options in sit stand desks. With only one monitor you don&#;t need to worry about the weight or space your equipment needs - you can choose almost any type of sit stand desk. Your height and body shape will be the main deciding factor rather than your computer setup.
Recommend: Electric Sit Stand Desk, Converter, larger Portable Standing Desks
The weight and space required for your equipment is your biggest concern with this scenario. You need a sit stand desk that is large, strong and stable enough to hold the monitors. Before purchasing make sure the desk can accommodate the weight of your equipment and you will have enough available space for any paperwork, stationery etc.
Recommend: Electric Sit Stand Desk, larger Converter Desks
If you need to type or data enter using papers, your biggest concern is where the document holder will sit. You need a desk large enough that the document holder can sit to the side of your monitor. Some desk converters only have room for the document holder above the keyboard which then obscures the view of the monitor.
Recommend: Electric Sit Stand Desk, select Converter Desks
Some professions need to refer to heavy books while working. You need a large flat working area that can take the size and weight of an open book.
Recommend: Electric Sit Stand Desk
If you need to move the position of one or more monitors, then you need to consider a monitor arm when choosing your desk. Some desks aren&#;t as suitable as others for a monitor arm to be attached to the back. Not all office walls can have a monitor arm attached either.
Recommend: Electric Sit Stand Desk with a movable Monitor Arm
Not all sit stand desks are a good fit for every body size and shape. Most products are designed for adults who are average in height and weight. If you are taller, shorter, big or small framed, some desks are better suited to you than others.
Sit stand desks are designed to be ergonomic to use but also need to be easy to adjust without risking an injury. Consider some of the following points before making your sit stand desk selection.
Anyone with a height of around 185 cm or more needs to consider which type of sit stand desk they use. Some standing desk converters don&#;t rise high enough for their arms to be at the correct angle when using the keyboard. Other converters are not as stable and if a tall or heavy person leans on the desk edge, there is a risk of them toppling over. Tall workers are best suited to an electric desk as they can extend high enough, offer the most stability and weight capacity. Check the specifications and make sure the desk can be raised high enough for you to work comfortably.
Recommended: Electric Sit Stand Desk
If you are less than 165 cm in height or a small build, you may find it difficult to move some standing desk converters up and down. When a desk is loaded with monitors and a keyboard, it can be difficult to push down if the gas lift system isn&#;t of good quality.
When a standing desk converter is raised to its full height, it may be higher than some workers&#; shoulders, so they don&#;t have the strength and weight to push the desk back down.
The handle used to move the desk can be located away from the edge, under the desk, making it difficult to use for someone with small hands. These converter desks require reasonably strong, large hands to pull the lever to move the desk with ease.
Recommended: Electric Sit Stand Desk
We recommend you keep moving around while standing at your desk to avoid fatigue. A good way to do this is by using a padded anti fatigue mat. A mat like the Topo Anti Fatigue Standing Mat has contours and different shapes that allow you to keep changing your standing position in a natural way. Make sure you get a mat that is lightweight and easy to move out of the way when you want to lower your desk and sit down for a while.
This guide has hopefully given you a much better idea of which standing desk is right for you, but if you&#;re unsure of the best ergonomic setup for your body shape and type of work, visit our Perth showroom and try our range of height adjustable desks for yourself. If this isn&#;t an option, give Ergolink a call on (08) and speak to one of our experienced consultants or contact us online.
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