About [a month ago I wrote about my new "standup desk"](http://mostrom.eu/archives/513). I asked for this desk because of the muscle problems I’ve had in my back – for some reason the “main muscles” (don’t know the name in english) have been troubling me since january/february. The result has been that I’ve had some problems moving around and that I sometimes look really funny when I get up from a chair.
Anyway, I decided to ask for a “stand-up desk” at work just to see if it would make any difference. The initial experience was quite amazing, see my previous post, but what has the long term result been you might wonder. The quick and short answer is: _this desk is **not** leaving my office__
I’m quite amazed at the difference this desk has made to my back. Instead of constantly having some pain in my back I now feel much less pain and it’s much easier to move around. I was feeling rather depressed about my back a few weeks ago but now it feels like I’m going to get rid of the pain given time … I’ve started to do special exercises for my back which should also help.
Even more interesting is what happens during weekends. On sundays I start to feel some pain in my back, then on mondays I go to work and in the afternoon the pain is usually gone again. It’s really amazing.
## Negative stuff
You might wonder if there are any drawbacks of using a “stand-up desk” and of course there are … well, I’ve only found two: since I’m standing most of the day my feet are taking a beating – you really need good shoes that help making the work of standing less painful. The pain isn’t that bad, and _much_ less bothersome than back pain, but you’ll probably feel it. So get a couple of good shoes if you decide to get a desk like this. Apparently there exists some kind of “mat” that you put on the floor which makes it easier for your feet, I haven’t tried this yet but I will probably do that later.
The second problem is related, the blood seem to gather in the muscles just above my knees and after having worked at the desk for a couple of hours my legs feels a bit stiff. The stiffness usually disappears after a short walk.
But these problems are really minor and something that I gladly accept.
## Some unexpected effects
I’ve also experienced some interesting side effects of using this table that make it even more attractive for me:
+ When students come to my room to ask questions it become quite natural to stand at the table and discuss their problems. My impression is that it’s really natural to gather around the desk to study printouts, the computer screen, etc. It’s really easy to interact with the students standing up. Highly recommended.
+ A fun thing is that when people come into my room they don’t stay too long. Standing up is more work and not as comfortable as sitting down in a chair so they tend to leave my office quicker … which results in more work getting done 
+ Standing up is more work, so I’ve several time felt myself getting warm just by standing up for an extended time.
## Conclusion
If you have muscle problem in your back/hips, for example standing up straight directly after getting up from a chair, then I suggest that you try out a “stand-up” desk. Get a high quality desk, they are expensive but it’s worth it. Make sure that it’s really easy to change the height of the desk, mine have an electric motor that it easily controlled by two buttons. And make sure it’s a large desk because you will want to have a lot of stuff on it.
Try it out for two weeks and see if it makes as much difference for you as it has made for me.
