
Instead of Standing, Why Not Lie Down While You Work? - coryfklein
http://www.fastcoexist.com/3052273/instead-of-standing-why-not-lie-down-while-you-work-this-desk-lets-you-do-both#8
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coryfklein
I once found a dentist chair at a thrift store near work. The colors matched
exactly our company logo. I thought it would be an awesome workstation so I
brought it into the office. Everybody loved it, took pictures of me working in
it, and it was the conversation piece of the office for a couple weeks until
facilities made me get rid of it.

It actually was the most comfortable workstation I've ever used, so I was
excited to see this chair. I hope someday I can both afford it ($3,900) and be
allowed to have it in the office.

Here's the actual site for the guys building it:
[http://www.altwork.com/](http://www.altwork.com/)

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mayneack
Why did you have to get rid of it?

~~~
Namrog84
If everyone loved it so much. They'd likely be complaining and asking for one
too. And company didn't want to fork over buying new ones for everyone.

It's some form of socialism of something I think. Instead of helping everyone
we penelize the 1?

~~~
cruise02
> Instead of helping everyone...

Yes, that's exactly what socialism is based on.

~~~
Rumford
Ever read Harrison Bergeron?

Making everyone equally happy is impossible, so the regime ultimately resorts
to making everyone equally miserable.

~~~
cruise02
I guess I can understand how people might become confused if their concept of
socialism comes from a single satirical book about egalitarianism.

~~~
Rumford
Well, one satirical short story and actual historical socialism's mountains of
corpses.

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jon-galloway
I was looking into options like this 4 months ago. These types of chairs /
office solutions have the right intent but are too costly!

What I did was a DIY with 2 Ergotron Arms (the best monitor arms in my
opinion) along with a Zero-G deck chair. The deck chairs sell for about $60.

[http://s.hswstatic.com/gif/zero-gravity-massage-
chair-4.jpg](http://s.hswstatic.com/gif/zero-gravity-massage-chair-4.jpg)

I had to cut-up the keyboard tray myself to get it to hook into the underside
of the Zero-G arm rests while leaving enough room so that it doesn't wobble.
The keyboard / mouse stay in position because I simply attached some duct tape
to the wire. I also had to hacksaw a small piece off the Ergotron arms to get
them to rotate downward at an enhanced degree (safe and took under 5 min ..
used this guide
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPEiM_Qk0SY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPEiM_Qk0SY)
).

It's very comfortable. It takes the pressure off lower spine and is how we
should be working and gaming. I recommend doing it. It has helped my back so
that I can return to mixed martial arts safely.

Not the best picture but:

[https://41.media.tumblr.com/d2b79a494bf5cad30bc8e3731c2522cb...](https://41.media.tumblr.com/d2b79a494bf5cad30bc8e3731c2522cb/tumblr_nwztrkbCBF1r5a466o1_400.jpg)

~~~
papa_bear
I did almost the exact same thing! The Zero gravity chair is one of the best
investments I've ever made. But instead of attaching the monitor to a desk, I
attached it to a heavy duty kitchen cart, and it's weighed down by a desktop
computer on the bottom shelf. I call it "cartputer", and I can wheel it back
to the desk when I feel like sitting in my normal office chair.

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asifjamil
I imagine that after 30 minutes of being inclined while using the
keyboard/mouse, the reduced blood circulation in your hands and arms from
gravitational resistance will cause them to be incredibly tired/ fatigued.

~~~
merraksh
Agreed. If anything, the arms should be allowed to stay horizontal, elbows
leaning on the armrests and keyboard/mouse placed almost on my lap. With the
eyes looking at the screen, it would be suitable for the touch-typing folks.

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Retric
IMO, your much better off just buying a lazy boy for ~450$ and using it while
reclined. Now, toss in a 100$ monitor mount. You can use the keyboard on your
lap and the mouse on the arm rest or add a keyboard / mouse tray.

PS: Biggest advantage other than being 1/7th the price, if you don't like the
setup you can easily reuse the pieces for other things.

~~~
seanmcdirmid
My favorite chair for working is a classic Starbucks sofa chair (the first
ones they had, none of this new hard arm seat crap). I could never figure out
how to buy something so simple yet comfortable for my apartment though.

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gtremper
The Onion is sometimes too accurate.

[https://youtu.be/NYSxkqL9l_8](https://youtu.be/NYSxkqL9l_8)

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1024core
... because I can't fall asleep while standing, whereas I'll be out like a
light in minutes if I lie down?

~~~
nerfhammer
maybe you're not getting enough sleep

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no1youknowz
How does the keyboard and mouse not fall off the table when the unit is
reclining? Are they magnatised or something?

Also does the unit support 2/3 monitors? I saw videos on youtube with a
laptop. How about using a desktop?

Would have to first use it for an extended period of time first rather than
putting down the required $$$.

~~~
theptip
Yep, magnets. They are discussed briefly in the Ars Technica video, here:
[http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/10/sit-stand-nifty-
new-w...](http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/10/sit-stand-nifty-new-
workstation-lets-you-lie-down-on-the-job/)

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hyperchase
I use a standing desk because sitting all day is terrible for my back, after
years and years I had massive amounts of lower back pain and a fairly awful
anterior pelvic tilt (APT). Couple that with my otherwise sedentary lifestyle
and poor family genetics pre-disposed to back issues and it's not looking
pretty for me.

It's taken nearly a year of strengthening my back through heavy lifting in the
gym (squats, deadlifts, rows, and weighted pull-ups mainly) to finally see
some kind of resemblance of my APT clearing up.

I'd imagine that laying down all day would only be marginally better at best.
It might even be worse...I don't know for sure, but I do know that I used to
get pretty bad back pain if I stayed in bed or lied on the couch too long.

~~~
jfoutz
Planks really helped my lower back. 1 minute face down, 1 on each side and 1
face up. If you can't make it to the gym, or you're feeling pressed for time,
give it a shot.

Everyone's different of course, and i'm not a doctor, but building up that
core strength did a lot for me. I pretty much stole the warmup from reddit's
bodyweightfitness
[https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/kb/recommend...](https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/kb/recommended_routine#wiki_warmup_.28.7E10_minutes.29)
The whole routine is good, but the warmup alone seems like enough to at least
maintain my back.

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rco8786
[http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BHbxU3FCMAEBDv2.jpg:large](http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BHbxU3FCMAEBDv2.jpg:large)

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dhimes
What a great ide....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...........

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clamprecht
This reminds me of an article & photo from 10 or 15 years ago of a Sun
Microsystems programmer who had back problems. He had designed a desk where he
would lie on the floor and look upwards at his monitor. I can't for the life
of me find the picture using Google, maybe someone else can find it.

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raisedbyninjas
They're hawking an ergonomic chair that costs as much as a cheap car and using
non-ergonomic Apple mouse and keyboard. I'll just assume the chair is
primarily intended to be pretty but uncomfortable as well.

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nextos
Very interesting. Will this work with a book, pen and paper?

I really believe being slightly reclined is optimal for reducing back strain.

Herman Miller has been marketing the Embody as a (slightly) reclined chair.
They've even designed a paired desk, but oddly enough Embody has no headrest:

[http://www.hermanmiller.com/products/workspaces/desks/envelo...](http://www.hermanmiller.com/products/workspaces/desks/envelop-
desk.html)

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rvense
I wrote my thesis on a laptop lying in a sofa. It was good.

~~~
cobweb
I had such bad pains in my neck and shoulders that I had to lie down alot, and
from that position I learnt how to touch type and use vim. I thought the
position had some merit, and that a light recline might be good. About five
years on and I still struggle sitting and typing on 'standard desks'. It just
feels ergonomically wrong.

~~~
jerf
I gave up a long time ago, and I just put the keyboard in my lap now. I don't
have a 100%-keyboard based workflow, but I do only reach for my trackball
infrequently, since I switched to a tile-based window manager. I haven't had
any wrist pain since I started doing this. I pair it with a bog-standard split
keyboard, which is probably not _quite_ optimal in terms of how my arms end up
curved in a bit, but is pretty close. My monitors I move up to the edge of the
desk, so that there is just enough room to put my keyboard down when I stand
up. It works reasonably well. I'd still rather have what's in the article, but
not enough to pay for it, so....

~~~
cobweb
Cheers, I have tried that, it might suit a symmetrical keyboard a little
better or a tenkeyless, but the keyboard feels a little low still. And
slightly wrong. It's the pointer that's also a pain. I recline with a laptop
on my lap and that's okayish as the touchpad is accessible, but still not
great. Like you, I'm keyboard focused mainly, with the occasional use of the
pointer. I don't have one place in the house which is particularly comfortable
to use a PC at, and I'd need a new room for that chair! On my laptop I have
the nipple in the middle, but it requires a bit too much stress for it to be
comfortable. Otherwise that could be a great addition to any keyboard.

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seanmcdirmid
It seems that you might want to lie down on your bellie with the computer
beneath you via some kind of cut out around your face/chest to prevent
uncomfortable pressure; that way your arms can just hang down and do work
fairly easily.

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jschwartzi
These will work great in call centers. You could probably cram three people
into the same space as two desk-workers have now. As a bonus, you can put the
phrase "work like you're flying first class" in recruitment ads.

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ChristianGeek
I can't believe nobody has drawn a comparison to this yet (image link):

[http://goo.gl/QkQymW](http://goo.gl/QkQymW)

This is seriously one of the worst ideas for office furniture I've ever seen.

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ojbyrne
So I've always had a penchant for lying on my stomach with a laptop in front
of me. I think it's because that's how I did homework when I was a kid - lying
on the floor in front of the TV.

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zkhalique
I'm getting this for everyone in our office.

When we have an office :) It'll be like Aeron chairs in the 1990s boom!

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dnautics
Isn't being recumbent known to decrease performance on mental tasks?

~~~
charlesism
Aeron chair -> standing desk -> running desk -> lying down desk

This year's _running desk_ is the _lying down desk_. In 2017 it will probably
be a _hammock desk_ or something.

~~~
gnopgnip
Your best posture is your next. The most important thing is just to move
around and there are plenty of ways to accomplish this now.

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cobweb
Could you repurpose a gaming chair?

