How much should you sit throughout the day? For people with an average office job, the result might shock you. Chances are you’ll spend most your days sitting down. That, researchers have found, is far from good. Consider a recent report from NPR. The news organization spoke to a researcher at South Carolina University who completed a study showing that men who sat more than 23 hours a week faced a 64 percent higher risk of dying from heart problems than those who set under 11 hours each week.
The Good News
The message is clear: Get off your rear. Luckily, you are able to decrease your sitting time by building a standing desk. A standing desk — which happens to be just what it sounds like, a desk at which you stand rather than sit — is far from pricey. You can build it with inexpensive parts from Ikea. Here’s the recipe, thanks to the Lifehacker blog.
The Easy Way
Need a simple desk for yourself? Lifehacker suggests setting up a standing desk with Utby legs. This will be a compact desk, nonetheless it provides you with enough room to have 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, all of which you can find at Ikea for a total of around $140. According to Lifehacker, you can put this desk together by simply assembling the main desk and platform with a screwdriver.
A Bit More Complicated
You don’t have to be satisfied with a homemade standing desk with a narrow top. You can easily step up to one having a wider top. And you can do this while still limiting your desk-part shopping to your nearest Ikea. First, as Lifehacker recommends, find two packages of Capita brackets, one Lack shelf, one Vika Amon tabletop and five Vika Byske legs at your Ikea. Then grab your power drill and get busy. Lifehacker ranks this desk as a “medium” one to build, so it should not be overly difficult to build.
Leave a comment!
You must be logged in to post a comment.