A standing desk is both an antique desk

Desk

A desk is a furniture form and a class of table often used in a work or office setting for reading or writing on or using a computer. Desks often have one or more drawers to store office supplies and papers. Unlike a regular table, usually only one side of a desk is suitable to sit on . Not all...

 and a modern desk form conceived for writing and/or reading while standing up or while sitting on a high stool. The term stand-up or stand up desk is also used. During the 18th and 19th centuries, standing desks were popular in the homes and offices of the rich.

Limitations

While most modern desks are 30 inches (76 cm.) high and most antique desks 29 inches high (73.7 cm), there is no such average for standing desks. Users of a "sitting desk" are fairly immobile so it is relatively easy to adjust the height of a seat to compensate for variations in the individual height of the users. Users of a standing desk move around a bit more, so it is not practical to have them stand on a small pedestal or some other object. Thus, standing desks tend to vary greatly in height.

It was common in the past to have a standing desk made to measure to the height of the user, since only the rich could afford desks. One way to get around this problem when one had many users for a single desk, was to give an angle or slant to the writing surface, as was common on the typical drawing table. The other alternative, to produce a desk with adjustable legs, was less popular, but it was frequent enough to give birth to a precise desk form, the "table à tronchin" or "table à la tronchin".

The modern solution is presently found in the ergonomic standing desk

Computer desk

The ergonomic desk and related computer desk are furniture pieces designed to comfortably and aesthetically provide a working surface and house or conceal office equipment including computers, peripherals and cabling for office and home-office users....

, which can be adjusted to the height of most standing persons, and offers other possible adjustments, as is the case for a typical ergonomic desk.

Advantages

Manufacturers of standing desks point to several studies showing reduced back injuries or less back pain

Back pain

Back pain is pain felt in the back that usually originates from the muscles, nerves, bones, joints or other structures in the spine.The pain can often be divided into neck pain, upper back pain, lower back pain or tailbone pain...

 for the users of standing desks. In February 2010, Olivia Judson wrote a post in the Opinionator (an online commentary section of the New York Times) about the benefits of using a standing desk. At the end of her post, she cites a number of studies about the relationship between ill health and a sedentary lifestyle. One of the articles she cites is from Healy, G. N. et al. 2008. “Breaks in sedentary time: beneficial associations with metabolic risk.” Diabetes Care 31: 661-666. A study by the American Cancer Society published on July 22, 2010 found that time spent sitting was independently associated with total mortality, regardless of physical activity level.

Most antique standing desks have an open frame with few or little drawers, and a footrail (similar to those seen at a bar) to reduce back pain. It is more practical to make a hinged desktop which can be lifted to give access to a small cabinet placed underneath it, despite the problems this layout can cause to objects left on it. This way the user can store or retrieve papers and writing implements without bending or standing back from the desk.

Variations

There are many specialized standing desks such as certain variations of the telephone desk

Telephone desk

The telephone desk is the smallest kind of fixed desk. Its traditional role is to provide a working surface barely large enough to write notes while speaking on the telephone, and in some cases to support the telephone or hold telephone books. In early generations of telephones the phone...

and certain types of wall mounted desks. Some drafting desks and architectural drafting tables are also made for standing. One U.S. manufacturer of solid wood standing desks offers over 22 different styles with hundreds of variations for both stand-up desks and drafting tables. Most stand up desks are fixed height and can only be used while standing up. Some of the more interesting (and expensive) standing desks are adjustable-height, allowing the user to sit or stand by controlling an electric motor that raises or lowers the desk height on demand. Other variations include platforms that sit on top of your current "sit-down" desk.