Sitting throughout the day behind a desk? You might be putting yourself at risk of fatal heart problems. A recent story by NPR included commentary originating from a researcher at South Carolina University who discovered that men who sit at least 23 hours a week are 64 percent more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than are their equivalents who only sit for 11 hours or less a week. That’s surprising news.
The Good News
Want to protect yourself from potentially fatal heart problems? Why not create your own standing desk? A standing desk is exactly what it sounds like, a desk where you stand as opposed to sit. If you use a standing desk for your main desk, you will be eliminating a lot of those idle hours of sitting. And the best news? It is possible to create your own standing desk with little effort and few bucks. The editors at Website Lifehacker provided an uncomplicated recipe for building a simple, effective standing desk. Here’s the quick version of it.
The Easy Way
Need a simple way to build an easy standing desk for yourself? Lifehacker suggests getting some Utby legs from Ikea. To make this desk — one that’s small but provides enough space for a monitor, keyboard and laptop — you will need a Vika Amon Top, Utby underframe, Ekby Jarpen shelf and one set of Capita legs. You shouldn’t have any trouble finding all of these items at your nearest Ikea. They ought to set you back a maximum of about $140. As reported by Lifehacker, you can put this desk together by just assembling the main desk and platform using a screwdriver.
A Bit More Complicated
You need not settle for a homemade standing desk with a narrow top. You can easily update to one with a wider top. And you can do it while still limiting your desk-part shopping to your nearest Ikea. First, as Lifehacker advises, 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, as a result it really should not be overly hard to assemble.