4 ms·

How do you type standing for long periods of time? Do you rest your arms on the table?

mattlondon 6y ago
I tend to rest my wrists/outer corner of hand on the desk, just like I do when sitting. Can't say I've ever noticed a difference between sitting and standing when it comes to typing
- grugagag 6y ago
  The best position for me that I find for typing and this might be my own body and preferences, is to have elbows tucked close to the rib cage and keyboard on my lap or as close to the body as possible and relax arms, not rest on them at all but having them hang from the shoulders. Having a standing desk is very tempting, the only thing is that I'm not sure how I'd replicate the typing position I just mentioned. I'm now very curious and I think I'll run some experiments.
  - svachalek 6y ago
    I can't stand and type for long, as soon as I start to zone into it my legs want to go off and do their own thing and it totally messes me up. But, turns out most of my day is reading text, reading code, meeting, debugging, etc and not nearly as much typing as I would have guessed otherwise. It's easy to find a few hours that I really don't need to be sitting. With a sit/stand desk you can start by standing up for meetings, phone calls, etc, that don't really require typing at all and then see what else you can do standing.
chiefalchemist 6y ago
If you're using a mouse my PT told me to "anchor" your elbow on the desk so you use your wrist to move the mouse, not your upper back. This is true whether standing or sitting. There was a good reason I was in PT and was told this ;)
- blunte 6y ago
  I've always used a mouse with my fingertips, and my outer hand bone is resting on the mouse mat. Rarely am I pushing the mouse around with my entire hand or arm...
  - chiefalchemist 6y ago
    It's not your "entire arm" per se. It's that - per the PT - the shoulder and upper back aren't designed for repetitive micro-movements. That is, unless your elbow is anchored your shoulder is likely doing more work than it should.
blunte 6y ago
I have the desktop height at the level my hands would naturally rest at if my arms were bent less than 90 degrees (so the interior elbow angle would be about 100 degrees or so). My arms are resting comfortably at my sides, so the motions my hands make for typing/mousing are comfortable. I'm thinking of an Ergodox to alleviate some wrist rotation issues, but that's nothing to do with the desk. Do note that for some reason, in standing mode it is necessary to have the monitor higher so the head isn't looking way down and hurting the neck. When sitting, this isn't as much of a problem. However, I spend most of my time standing, so I have the primary monitor height such that I'm only looking very slightly down. My eyes are even with the upper third of the monitor. Also, it's important whether sitting or standing to not push the monitor too far away. That can lead to hunching forward or craning the neck.

I tend to rest my wrists/outer corner of hand on the desk, just like I do when sitting. Can't say I've ever noticed a difference between sitting and standing when it comes to typing

grugagag 6y ago
The best position for me that I find for typing and this might be my own body and preferences, is to have elbows tucked close to the rib cage and keyboard on my lap or as close to the body as possible and relax arms, not rest on them at all but having them hang from the shoulders. Having a standing desk is very tempting, the only thing is that I'm not sure how I'd replicate the typing position I just mentioned. I'm now very curious and I think I'll run some experiments.
- svachalek 6y ago
  I can't stand and type for long, as soon as I start to zone into it my legs want to go off and do their own thing and it totally messes me up. But, turns out most of my day is reading text, reading code, meeting, debugging, etc and not nearly as much typing as I would have guessed otherwise. It's easy to find a few hours that I really don't need to be sitting. With a sit/stand desk you can start by standing up for meetings, phone calls, etc, that don't really require typing at all and then see what else you can do standing.

chiefalchemist 6y ago

If you're using a mouse my PT told me to "anchor" your elbow on the desk so you use your wrist to move the mouse, not your upper back. This is true whether standing or sitting. There was a good reason I was in PT and was told this ;)

blunte 6y ago
I've always used a mouse with my fingertips, and my outer hand bone is resting on the mouse mat. Rarely am I pushing the mouse around with my entire hand or arm...
- chiefalchemist 6y ago
  It's not your "entire arm" per se. It's that - per the PT - the shoulder and upper back aren't designed for repetitive micro-movements. That is, unless your elbow is anchored your shoulder is likely doing more work than it should.

blunte 6y ago

I have the desktop height at the level my hands would naturally rest at if my arms were bent less than 90 degrees (so the interior elbow angle would be about 100 degrees or so). My arms are resting comfortably at my sides, so the motions my hands make for typing/mousing are comfortable. I'm thinking of an Ergodox to alleviate some wrist rotation issues, but that's nothing to do with the desk. Do note that for some reason, in standing mode it is necessary to have the monitor higher so the head isn't looking way down and hurting the neck. When sitting, this isn't as much of a problem. However, I spend most of my time standing, so I have the primary monitor height such that I'm only looking very slightly down. My eyes are even with the upper third of the monitor. Also, it's important whether sitting or standing to not push the monitor too far away. That can lead to hunching forward or craning the neck.