A standing desk, also called as a stand-up desk, is basically a desk that allows you to stand up between your sitting while working.

Well, it’s official, too much sitting down is bad for our health. You probably already knew that anyways, but just to be clear, if you do spend too much time sitting down for prolonged periods of time, you leave yourself susceptible to a wide range of health issues and ailments including:

  • Obesity
  • Bad posture
  • Neck ache
  • Back pain
  • Chronic pain
  • Hip issues
  • Poor range of motion

With so many people now spending the majority of their working days sitting at a desk in front of a computer for several hours each day, it’s easy to see why chiropractors are busier than ever, and why obesity levels are on the up.

To combat these issues, more and more offices and places of work are utilizing standing desks, and it is these we’re looking at today.

What are standing desks?

Desks which you stand at whilst working, rather than sitting at

Standing desks are, in their simplest form, desks which you stand at whilst working, rather than sitting at.

The desks are adjustable in height, usually by a dual or single motor (more on that shortly) and allow you to place your laptop, tablet, monitor, paperwork, and anything else for that matter, upright at just the right height for you.

Whilst sitting at a desk, too many people have their monitors or laptops at the wrong height, whereby they’re looking down too much, and consequently they suffer from neck issues and posture issues as the years tick by.

As far as how the desk adjusts, typically they are electronic and work from either a single, or a dual motor.

Dual motor or Single motor?

Dual motor or single motor standing desk

Now we’re going to take a look at whether you should opt for a standing desk with a single motor or a dual motor. Here are a few things to take into consideration when choosing a standing desk.

Speed and strength considerations

First and foremost, you need to consider the speed and strength of the motor for your standing desk.

Now, most people assume that a dual motor is stronger and faster than a single motor, but in reality that isn’t always the case.

You see, the speed and strength of a motor will depend on the manufacturer, though typically dual motor standing desks will adjust much quicker than single motor desks, for pretty obvious reasons.

However, the closer that you get to the max weight capacity, the slower the desk will adjust. So, if your standing desk consists of a computer, printer, monitor, and heavy piles of paperwork, the heavier your desk is, the slower it will be to adjust.

If you do use a lot of heavy equipment, a single motor standing desk may not cut it.

Cost considerations

If you’re an employer looking to purchase standing desks for the workplace, it’s important to remember that standing desks can vary hugely in terms of cost.

If you are on a budget, single motor standing desks are nearly always cheaper than dual motor desks. The downside is that they can’t always deal with heavy loads and they may take longer to adjust.

On the flipside, good quality dual motor standing desks adjust much quicker and can handle more weight, but they nearly always cost more.

Reliability

In an ideal world, it would be great if we could say that one specific type of desk is more reliable than the other, but that simply isn’t the case.

The overall reliability of a standing desk depends on the manufacturer.

If you go for an entry level standing desk produced by a manufacturer with a reputation for cutting corners, more often than not, the desk itself will not be reliable or efficient, and will be more likely to break down.

You want a reliable standing desk, so here, forget what type of motor it uses, and instead read reviews, both of the product itself, and the manufacturers, and use the info to draw your own conclusions.