How to Choose a Standing Desk, According to Ergonomic Experts

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By Lisa Lombardi

More people are investing in desks for their home offices that nudge us out of chair-potato mode.

Before the pandemic, Christina Kim, an interior designer based in Manasquan, N.J., had received only one client request for a standing desk. "Now, it's nearly every time," she says, "Even if there's a main desk, they also want a standing desk in an alcove."

While sitting may not actually be the new smoking, as breathless headlines once proclaimed, our bodies were just not meant to sit all day, explains Kien Vuu, M.D., assistant professor of health sciences at UCLA and author of "Thrive State: Your Blueprint for Optimal Health, Longevity and Peak Performance." "Inactivity is linked to a host of chronic diseases in every system in our body," he says. Sit-stand desks make you move more, notes April Chambers, Ph.D., an ergonomics researcher based in Pittsburgh: "We tend to move around when standing—shifting from side to side, wiggling around, stretching."

These desk picks reflect experts’ criteria for adjustability and more. Scroll down for detailed shopping tips.

$599+ at UpLift Desk

If you’re tight on space or want to set up a second workstation to change up your scenery, this pick is ideal. It's super compact at 24 inches deep by 42 inches wide but still fully loaded. It fits people from 5 feet, 4 inches to 6 feet, 10 inches tall. Under 5 feet, 4 inches? You’ll want to spring for the V2 commercial model, which fits people 4 feet, 11 inches to 6 feet, 5 inches tall (or users down to 4 feet, 3 inches with a keyboard tray).

The look is highly adjustable too, with four base color choices and 12 desktops, from white laminate to reclaimed birch and an almost-2-inch-thick walnut. Go for the $29 keyboard upgrade and you get a child safety lock feature and the ability to save your preferred heights; minimalists will appreciate that cord control accessories come standard.

$999 at Steelcase

$1,104 at Best Buy

This sleek and sturdy pick from the office furniture giant Steelcase offers commercial-grade quality at a midrange price. It's easy to make it work with your room size and style, with four sizes and eight wood and color combos. It also comes with Steelhouse's 12-year warranty. If you hate a mess of wires, you’ll be happy to know cord control is included. Unless you’re squarely average height, go for the extended-height version, which is adjustable from 22.6 to 48.7 inches.

$699 at Branch

People who are taller than average will appreciate that this number is comfortable for anyone up to 6 feet, 8 inches. You get to pick from four tops (woodgrain, white, walnut and fog) and two steel-leg colors (white and charcoal), so it's easy to make it your own. Or share it: The Branch is a good pick for families because of its wide adjustability (25 to 52 inches) and a set-and-save function for four optimal sit-stand heights. It's also a lower price point than many on our list, but the warranty is on the skimpy side, at only three years for motor and electrical components (and 10 years for the rest of the desk).

$4,073+ at 2Modern

$4,516 at Wayfair

If your office design tastes run more grandmillenial chic than Silicon Valley slick, this handmade wood desk should be on your radar. Made in the U.S. by Copeland Furniture, it's a sophisticated-looking hardwood desk designed to zip up and down. And it's flexible, in two depths and three lengths, adjusting from 25 to 51 inches high. From the swanky finishes (walnut, smoke cherry or natural cherry) to the drawer and privacy panel, it brings classic charm to a wellness-forward workspace.

$1,037 at Herman Miller

This adjustable-height desk is Kim's go-to pick for its function and form. She loves that it's very quiet (less than 50 decibels). "Some are very loud while they’re adjusting to different heights," she says. "They sound like the motor is straining, and that's anxiety inducing." She is a fan of the bamboo top with black leg combo; it also comes with white legs. Offered in different sizes, it works well for tight and spacious quarters. Go with a contour top that allows you to easily access your whole desk or the classic straightedge option. Upgrade with a power grommet that lets you plug in your devices and a programmable handset so you can save your height preferences (the desk adjusts between 25.5 and 50 inches high). And it has your back in more ways than one, with a 15-year warranty on the mechanical and electronics and five years on the tabletop. Note: Since we first published this article, Fully's parent company MillerKnoll has ceased operating Fully as a standalone business and is only selling its desks through Herman Miller and Design Within Reach. The price of this Jarvis desk has increased significantly and most configurations are listed with an 18-week or longer shipping time.

People who are choosing adjustable standing desks for their homes are comfort-focused, says Kim, the interior designer. "It's really a shift in thinking," she says. "People want to work and be effective, and they recognize that to do that, they have to feel good too."

And then there's your back: Chambers, the ergonomics researcher, conducted a review of standing desks that found solid evidence that they ease musculoskeletal discomfort (e.g. back pain). "Movement is medicine for our joints," says Chambers. "If you are stiff from sitting, you relieve that by changing position. If you’re sitting, stand; if you’re standing, take a walk."

That's not to say you should stand all day just because you’ve switched to an adjustable standing desk, cautions Carisa Harris Adamson, Ph.D., director of the UCSF/UCB Ergonomics Research and Graduate Training Program. "We know prolonged standing is really bad for you," she explains, "and we go to other workplaces and try to get people to sit more, because prolonged standing is associated with preterm birth, varicose veins and lower back pain."

So what's the right balance of sitting and standing? "You’re best off easing into a new sit-stand routine, " advises spine and neck surgeon Rahul Shah, M.D., of Vineland, N.J. "Go slow and monitor your body's feedback." It helps that today's sit-stand desks allow you to go back and forth with literally the push of a button. While earlier models were once contraptions you had to manually adjust, they’re now almost all electric, so you can easily change modes.

Just because you can now find an electric sit-stand on Amazon for under $150 doesn't mean it's a smart buy. You’re better off choosing one from a reputable brand like Uplift, Javis, Invigo or Branch and that potentially has a dual motor, which makes it more adept at lifting a heavy load (important if you have unusually large computers on your desk). All of these models plug into the wall, so you’ll need a nearby outlet. If you are sticking with a tight budget, consider outfitting your current desk with an inexpensive lift that lets you work upright instead.

Anything with a motor can break. Some like the Jarvis, Uplift and Migration come with a warranty that lasts 10-plus years.

Some models, like the standard Uplift Standing Desk, aren't ideal if you’re under 5 feet 4 inches because they only adjust down to about 25 inches (though the upgraded commercial version will fit a petite person). On the other hand, some don't go high enough for tall people to work comfortably.

Here's a good guide: If you’re under 5 feet 4 inches, look for one that adjusts down to at least 23 inches. Anyone taller than 6 feet 6 inches should make sure the desk goes up to at least 50 inches (the Branch, at 52 inches, is the tallest on our list). Then test it out: You should be able to keep your elbows at a 90-degree angle in sit and stand mode. "If your desk is too low, you’re going to tend to lean down on it, which is not a great thing. It relieves a little bit of weight from your legs, but it's putting extra weight on your shoulders and your elbows," Chambers says.

If other members of your household will be using it, you’ll likely need a large adjustability range (ideally more than 25 inches) and you’ll want one like the Branch that remembers your saved settings, just as many automatic seats in cars do. Others, including the Jarvis Standing Desk, let you upgrade to this function for an additional $29.

These circular cutouts-with-benefits will power up your tech, stash your pens and hide the cord mess. Some desks include them as a standard feature, while others consider them upgrades. Alas, they eat up some desk space.

To simplify your search, we rounded up standout height-adjustable desks that check off many of the boxes our experts outlined—six picks that’ll nudge you to stand, move and maybe even walk on a treadmill more.