I started using a standing desk three months ago, and want to give my honest review on how my working day has changed since I swapped from a regular desk. I’m the type of person who wouldn’t change much about my workspace, even if it wasn’t fully comfortable or suitable. When I couldn’t find a comfortable chair, I used cushions and kept sitting on a stool. The same mentality applied to my desk that didn’t suit my height or style, and resulted in back pain during long working hours. This all changed when I started working for Progressive Desk, and began using their Solo Ryzer standing desk every working day – and it has seriously improved my quality of life!
Did I Really Need a Standing Desk?
I asked myself this question when I was researching the price of standing desks — I need strong reasons and causes to part with hundreds of dollars! One concern was whether the advantages of standing desks were nothing more than just marketing rants. So, I applied all my professional research skills (I was a competitive intelligence analyst in the past!), and went to Google to check if there were any studies related to standing desks, and learned as much as I could. From this research I finally learned that, yes, I needed and wanted a sit-stand desk! Here’s why.
Almost all studies agree — spending hours in a sedentary position is bad for our health. Scientists relate sitting to obesity, the development of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and even premature death. Needless to say, I want to do everything I can to prevent these problems before they knock at my door!
But will an adjustable desk help me with that? I needed more research. One study I came across determined the sitting time of a focus group decreased by 57 minutes per workday after a year of using sit-stand desks! Another study found that students held better concentration and showed better learning results when regularly shifting from sitting to standing. Hmm, interesting…
I decided to bite the bullet and give a standing desk a chance!
Choosing a Standing Desk
Progressive Desk offers three standing desks: the Economy Ryzer, Solo Ryzer, and Corner Ryzer. From speaking with the team and looking at their specs, I decided the Solo Ryzer was the best fit for me. With a huge choice of tabletop colors, free shipping, and a 15-year warranty, I knew that I wanted the size, specs and warranty of the Solo Ryzer. The Economy Ryzer is more affordable but has a shorter warranty, and the Corner Ryzer is L-shaped, so not suitable for my workspace.
Assembly
Assembly looked relatively easy, which was a bonus for my husband and I, who had no clue how to transform two boxes of table parts into an electric standing desk!
We ended up assembling the desk quite fast by following both the user manual and the video guide — I got my new workstation in less than an hour! I would recommend using both the manual and video, as they complement each other well for those of us who aren’t confident assemblers.
After three months of being the happy owner of a standing desk, and I’m ready to give my unbiased opinion!
Standing Desk Pros and Cons – My Experience
What I loved about this product was the possibility of finding an ideal desk height for both my sitting and standing positions. I learned that to set a perfect standing desk height, put your arms on the tabletop at approximately a 90-degree angle. If your elbows touch the tabletop and you don’t feel any tension in your shoulders, congratulations – this is your ideal standing height! My Solo Ryzer desk has a four-position memory keypad, but I’ve only used two so far for sitting and standing.
Also, since I started to move more throughout my working day, I’ve almost managed to get rid of my back pain. Of course, I think that the workplace stretching exercises I’ve been doing have also contributed, but truth be told, I probably wouldn’t be doing them if it wasn’t for my standing desk.
The new desk didn’t take much space and perfectly matched my style, thanks to the various tabletop and frame colors. There was also an option to purchase caster wheels to move the desk with less effort. We didn’t need them, but in case you do, check here. There’s plenty of other desk accessories you can add on too! You might have a lot of dangling and messy cables over and underneath your standing desk that you ideally want to hide somewhere. We bought a magnetic cable management snake for this purpose – I think it looks pretty cool and does its job!
While I’ve loved rotating between sitting and standing, what I’ve learned is that standing for too long isn’t good for you. It’s recommended to sit every 30 minutes to release the backbone load and save brain resources which control the back and legs.
And finally, there’s the question of whether standing desks boosts productivity. I’m sticking to the opinion that there is nothing on Earth that can make people stop procrastinating unless they decide it themselves one day! I do think though that people who get restless or enjoy a bit of extra movement can achieve it all at their desk, which would help with their productivity.
A Closing Word
Summarizing all of the above, my standing desk was definitely worth investing in. It helped me develop a more balanced and healthy working style. However, it’s not a magic wand — your health and productivity still depend on your own decisions and the responsibility lies with you; the technology is just a great help!
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