Sitting places your body in a non-ideal position, causing significant harm over time. Using a standing desk will help you spend less time in a seated position so you can benefit from:

• Pain relief in your back and neck from improved posture (your spine is less compressed while standing)
• Increased movement
• Increased productivity
• Increased happiness
• Improved health
• Weight loss
• Increased life expectancy

Sources:
Get Up: Why Your Chair is Killing You and What You Can Do About It – Dr. James Levine
Deskbound: Standing Up to a Sitting World – Dr. Kelly Starrett

Humans are wired for short term gratification. We want results right away. We want to feel good now. Unfortunately this affects our decision making, usually for the worse.

We know drinking alcohol isn’t healthy, but we enjoy it.

We know junk food is crap, but we eat it anyway.

We know we should go exercise, but our favourite show just dropped on Netflix!

Similarly, instead of preventing injuries we try to fix them after the fact. We don’t pay attention or educate ourselves on an issue until we hit a tipping point of pain and discomfort that forces us to address it.

Will you wait for pain and injury to become a problem for you or will you stand up and address it now?

Just like there are many ways to skin a cat, people always come up with multiple names for the same thing. In general, all of these names refer to the same concept of a standing desk.

General terms

• Standing desk
• Stand up desk
• Sit stand desk (and it’s cousins), sit-to-stand desk, sitting-standing desk, sit to standing desk etc.

Standing Desk Converters – objects that sit on the table or desk you already have, turning it into a standing desk. Oristand is a standing desk converter.

• Standing desk converter
• Stand up desk converter
• Sit Stand desk converter

Workstations – a general term for the area you work at.

• Standing workstation
• Stand up workstation
• Sitting-standing workstation

…the list goes on!

Oristand is a standing desk converter, meaning it’s not a desk itself – it’s an object you place on top of your existing desk or table, transforming it into a stand up desk.

Naturally, standing desk converters are much cheaper than full-on office desks that rise and lower to suit your sitting or standing position. Because they’re so affordable, standing desk converters like Oristand are a very popular option.

We designed Oristand to be an accessible alternative to expensive $400-$1000 standing desks. Price should not be a barrier to better health.

Although standing is a healthier anatomical position for your body than sitting, standing still for long periods of time can also cause harm. Being sedentary is the problem.

The best thing to do is switch positions regularly, every 20-30 mins. And if you can’t do that, every hour or so works just fine. Just move more.

Lucky for you, studies have indicated that when you stand you’re more likely to move throughout the day as your body needs it, including walking around and taking breaks.

Here are some facts about standing and sitting from the experts:

From Dr. James Levine’s book “Get Up: Why Your Chair is Killing You and What You Can Do About It”

Standing vs. sitting is truly a matter of life or death. Dr. Levine of Mayo Clinic asserts that “for every hour you sit, two hours of life walk away.”

“People who sat for 11 hours or more per day had a 40 percent greater risk of premature death than people who sat for four hours or less. Sitting accounted for 7 percent of all premature deaths. It was clear that the chair sentence extends beyond obesity; if you sit too long, diabetes, osteoporosis, heart disease, and early death follow.”

From http://time.com/sitting/:

Studies reveal that “people who reported sitting for more hours of the day had 24% greater risk of developing colon cancer, a 32% higher risk of endometrial cancer and a 21% higher risk of lung cancer – regardless of how much they exercised. In another study involving a group of men and women who reported exercising the same amount, each additional hour they spent sitting was linked to a drop in their fitness levels.”

From Dr. Kelly Starret’s book “Deskbound“

“Standing is your best option because it enables you to employ the greatest number of means to support spinal organization and stability. Standing also promotes more movement throughout the day.”

“When standing is not an option, sitting on the ground, or in a supported passive position is better than sitting upright in a chair.”

“When you have to sit upright in a chair, prioritize your stiff trunk/neutral spine and add a second pillar of support by sitting crosslegged or manspreading.”

Yes! Oristand founder, and Hootsuite CEO, Ryan Holmes was experiencing back-pain after a sports-related injury and his doctor immediately recommended he use a standing desk. After a quick google search on “standing desks” he was blown away at the $400-$1000+ price tag. His entrepreneurial spirit kicked in and he teamed up with designer Steve Suchy to create Oristand – an affordable standing desk for the masses.

It’s important to note that standing is not a substitute for physical activity, body maintenance, and diet. Consult your health professional and read books like Deskbound and Get Up for further education.

Calories burned standing can be measured by Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenisis (NEAT) calories – the calories that people burn moving about their day when they are not sitting.

Dr. Levine states that “if your job is completely chair-bound,…you burn 300 NEAT calories per workday. If your job is upright, you can burn 1,300 NEAT calories per workday.” That’s an extra 1000 calories, just by standing upright!
Source: “Get Up: Why Your Chair is Killing You and What You Can Do About It” by Dr. James Levine

Dr. John Buckley’s caloric measurements are a little bit more conservative per day, but nonetheless impactful. He argues that standing equates to about 50 calories an hour and that by standing for three hours a day for five days, one burns roughly 750 calories. “Over the course of a year, it would add up to about 30,000 extra calories, or about 8lbs of fat.” “If you want to put that into activity levels,” Dr. Buckley says, “then that would be the equivalent of running about 10 marathons a year. Just by standing up three or four hours in your day at work.”
Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24532996

Losing weight depends on how many calories you take in and how many you burn each day. Since we don’t know your daily eating and exercise habits we can’t say for sure.

That said, people who use standing desks burn more calories throughout the day and tend to move more, leading to positive effects such as weight loss and increase in muscle mass.

Additionally, studies show that there are strong links between sitting and obesity. On average, people with obesity sit 2 hours and 15 minutes more a day than lean people. For caloric counts, see “How many calories are burnt at a standing desk?”

Standing is far better physiologically, productively, and emotionally in its benefits than sitting, particularly at work and school. Chairs should be used minimally, when needing a break from standing or when standing is not an option (such as while driving). Hold on a sec. Should we invent a standing car?

Make it your goal to reduce optional sitting in your life. If you’re on the bus or train, stand up instead of sitting down. The more you weave standing into your lifestyle, the more your spine and health will thank you!

The following diagram shows an IDEAL ergonomic position. If you can’t reach this perfect picture remember that any improvement is an improvement. Standing up in a position that is not ergonomic perfection is still way better than sitting. Just do your best!

The ideal ergonomic height and position of a standing desk can be summed up in two points:

• your elbows should be at a 90 degree angle while using your keyboard, and
• your eyes should be inline with the top third of your monitor

Oristand typically suits people from 5’ (152 cm) to 6’ (183 cm) tall based on an average table height of 29” (73 cm). If you are 5′ 6″ (168 cm) you are most likely to experience ergonomic perfection with Oristand.

View a drawing of Oristand’s dimensions here.

It depends on what you’re comfortable with. Just remember standing for as long as you can is not the goal; switching positions is.

To start, try standing for 20 minutes. Progress to standing 30 minutes for every hour you sit. Depending on your level of health, this might take a week, month, or longer. Progress at a rate that is comfortable for you.

Dr. Kelly Starrett recommends, “If at any time along your journey you feel pain brought on by strain or fatigue, reduce the amount of time you spend standing until your body can catch up.”

Find a routine that works for you.

It depends on what you are comfortable with. The idea is to focus on movement. Sit down only when you need a break from standing.

Most chiropractors and health practitioners we’ve spoken with recommend switching between sitting and standing every 20-30 minutes.

In his book Deskbound, Dr. Kelly Starrett also suggests, “for every 30 minutes that you are deskbound, move for at least 2 minutes.” This can be as simple as going for a walk or bathroom break.

No tool is inherently bad. But how you use it can be.

The standing desk is a tool that helps you move more. The way you use the desk is the key.

Sitting too much is bad. Standing too much can also be harmful. The desk itself is not.

Switch between sitting and standing every 20-30 minutes. The way you use the standing desk–the habits you develop–is the most important aspect of the standing desk.

Standing all day is not the answer to your problems – that’s why the chair was developed in the first place! Unfortunately our society has over-used the chair and developed an unhealthy habit of sitting too much.

We highly recommend these books and resources on standing:

“Get Up: Why Your Chair is Killing You and What You Can Do About It” by Dr. James Levine

“Deskbound: Standing Up to a Sitting World” by Dr. Kelly Starrett

StandUpKids.org