How much do you sit during the day?
If you have a standard office job, the answer might surprise you. You might spend the vast majority of your days sitting down.
And that, researchers are finding, is far from healthy. Consider a recent report from NPR. Researchers at South Carolina University conducted a study showing that men who sat more than 23 hours a week faced a 64 percent greater risk of dying from heart disease than those who set less than 11 hours a week.
The good news
The message is clear: Get off your butt. Fortunately, you can greatly reduce your sitting hours by building a standing desk. A standing desk—which is exactly what it sounds like, a desk at which you stand instead of sit—is far from expensive. You can build it with cheap parts from Ikea. Here’s the recipe, courtesy of the Lifehacker blog.
The easy way
Need a simple desk for yourself? Lifehacker suggests building a standing desk with Utby legs. This will be a smaller desk, but it will give you enough room for a monitor, keyboard and laptop. For this desk, you’ll need a VikaAmon Top, Utbyunderframe, EkbyJarpen shelf and one set of Capita legs, all of which you can find at Ikea for a total of about $140. According to Lifehacker, you can put this desk together by simply assembling the main desk and platform with a screwdriver.
A bit more complicated
You can also use Ikea parts to build slightly more complicated wide standing desk, according to Lifehacker. Again, you can find the parts you need at your nearest Ikea: five VikaByske legs, two packs of Capita brackets, one Lack shelf and one VikaAmon tabletop. These items should cost you about $250. This desk will give you more space, for both your tech and your supplies. But it will be slightly more difficult to build. You’ll need a power drill. But don’t let that scare you. Lifehacker still ranks this desk as a ”medium“ in terms of difficulty.
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