R7D22 – Stand

July 19 2011 – The day the desk died.

So it’s not the first time I have tried this epic movement away from my desk chair. Once again it was a post by Fitbomb that encouraged me to get my ass out of my chair and convert my work space to a standing space. The health benefits are immense, but the learning curve is just as massive.

Fact is however, that as much as my couch is trying to kill me, I spend most of my time at work and therefore on my butt. So I have a temporary solution while I wait for the inspiration to build something more permanent.

It’s certainly not pretty and for the 3 hours that I had the setup yesterday it was almost torture. Hopefully today I will be a little more used to it however it’s a long 8 hours on my feet that I am nervous about. I suppose just like anything, once you get over the initial pain, awkwardness and difficulty it turns out fine. The issue currently is that the space for the mouse isn’t really big enough and because it is an empty box, the surface itself is a little wobbly when I type quickly (which thankfully is not often!). Once I manage to get a proper solid surface, I think it will be much better.

The big question is why? Well, the statistics that caught my eye were related to people like myself who believe that working out each day is enough to lengthen their life. Unfortunately, if you have a sedentary job, you may not be doing the kind of good you were hoping for.

Those who sit 3 hours or more (and that time goes like a rocket) per day watching TV (or whatever) are 64% more likely to die from heart disease.
Of those who sit on front of the TV 3 hours per day, those who exercise (and believe they are staying “fit”) are JUST AS FAT as those who don’t. Each hour of watching TV = 11% higher death risk.

Not only that, but obese people sit for an average of 2.5 hours more per day than the rest.

Scary stuff. Enough to scare me onto my feet, at least to see what the difference is.