The Flexispot EG8 Comhar sit-stand desk has a motorised lifting mechanism for ease of use.
I’ve always been quite curious about the sit-stand desk and whether it is actually worth the investment. My job is pretty much fully desk-based and I spend eight hours a day sitting at my desk in my coworking space in Totnes. Whilst I don’t currently have any health problems that have resulted from this, I can definitely feel that as I get older, this is not really ideal and my posture is being affected and I can definitely feel myself getting stiffer.
So when Flexispot reached out to me and asked if I would like to review their EG8 Comhar Sit-Stand Desk I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for me to find out how a standing desk might work for me and whether it would make a difference to how my body feels working at a desk all day.
Are Sit-Stand Desks Good for You?
Sit-stand desks are great for encouraging us to move more during the working day. We all know that spending too much time sitting down is bad for our physical health, but The Sedentary Behaviour Research Network has also found that too much sitting can also be bad for our mental health. It looked at the relationship between sitting and depression and the research seems to support the idea that excessive sitting is positively correlated with an increase in depression.
So clearly too much sitting is bad for our physical and mental wellbeing. But it gets worse. According to The British Medical Journal, spending large amounts of time sitting or lounging around during the day is linked to around 70,000 deaths per year in the UK and the NHS spends in excess of £0.7bn per year treating the health consequences.
But there is hope. A 2019 study by The British Medical Journal showed that any level of movement decreases the risk of premature death. Therefore medical professionals strongly urge us to get more active during the day and reduce the amount of time that we spend sitting. It doesn’t have to be vigorous exercise either, light intensity physical activity also helps.
As well as taking regular breaks from your desk and maybe going for a little walk every now and again, a sit-stand desk is a great way to introduce more movement into your work day.
How do Sit Stand Desks Work?
A sit-stand desk is one that allows you to alternate between sitting and standing by lowering or raising the desktop. The way that this is achieved can be either manual or electric. In the case of a manual mechanism, the user would normally crank a handle to adjust the height, whereas an electric desk would move up and down at the touch of a button.
Some electric desks, like the Flexispot EG8 Comhar sit-stand desk, have the ability to be programmed with height presets. This allows multiple users to save their preferred height settings in a family environment or a shared workspace. The E8 can be programmed with four different heights but you can also use the controls to regulate the height outside of these presets should you need to. This makes it extremely flexible and very easy to use.
The control panel can be locked at the press of a button which will prevent children and pets from interfering with the desk height.
A really nice functionality is the anti-collision feature which ensures safety by preventing the desktop from being damaged or crushing other objects and devices while in motion. The desk can sense if anything is under it and will not continue to lower if there is a chance that something may get crushed.
What is the Correct Height for a Standing Desk?
The correct height for a standing desk depends entirely on who is using the desk at a given moment. And this is the beauty of the E8 Comhar because it can be raised or lowered to meet the exact requirements of the user.
The EG8 Comhar is designed with the entire family in mind and has a broad adjustment range of 28.3″-47.6″ which makes it perfectly compatible with the height of children.
What is really important is that you set the desk up to meet your own ergonomic needs and support good posture. For example, you should ensure that your arms are bent to 90 degrees while you work, with your shoulders relaxed and your back straight.
What are the Benefits of a Sit-Stand Desk?
As we’ve seen, sit-stand desks can offer many physical and mental health benefits. So let’s take a look at what they are.
Burns Extra Calories
Use of a sit-stand desk allows us to burn more calories during the working day. Studies have shown that standing burns about 100-200 calories per hour while sitting burns 60-130 calories. Admittedly this isn’t a huge amount but over time this will add up. If you wanted to increase the number of calories burnt you could always consider doing exercises while you stand such as leg lifts or squats.
Improves Posture
How is your posture if you spend all day at a desk? I can tell you how mine is…terrible. My neck and shoulders are almost always tense and there is a horrible crackling noise in my neck when I turn my head. I had a massage once and the lady said she’d never dealt with such tension before. I think this is down to “text neck” a term used to describe the strain on the spine when we continually look down at our phones, laptops or reading devices.
Using a standing desk can help improve posture and build our core muscle strength. And better posture has been proven to improve our moods, increase our breathing capacity, improve digestion and reduce the frequency and intensity of headaches.
I’m hoping that in time, by using my new Flexispot sit-stand desk I will be able to reverse some of the damage that I have done to my own posture.
Boosts Mood, Focus and Productivity
Research has shown that standing up helps us to feel healthier and when we feel healthier we tend to be in a better mood. Brain scientists at University College London also conducted studies that showed that when employees were given standing desks at work they showed better performance in their tasks, improved accuracy, and better decision-making. They were also more open to creativity.
Improves Circulation
Standing up can be better for our circulation. It is recommended to stand at least two hours every day in order to help increase circulation and blood flow and reduce the risk of blood clots. So using a Flexispot sit-stand desk is a great way to increase our time spent standing and improve our circulation.
Are Sit-Stand Desks Worth it?
If we look at the price tag of a sit-stand desk they are usually more expensive than regular sitting desks and more expensive than static standing desks, particularly if they are electric models like the Flexispot EG8 Comhar which is currently on sale for £469.99.
But when we look at the added physical and mental health benefits that can be had from using a sit-stand desk, we can quickly see that the payoff is definitely worth it.
In addition to this, the EG8 Comhar has other benefits that make the price worth paying. It has 3 convenient USB charging ports (2x USB Type-A, 1x Type-C) embedded in the desk so that you can quickly and easily charge your electronic devices.
It also has a handy anti-collision function that ensures safety by preventing the desktop from being damaged or crushing other objects and devices while in motion. So for example, if you are lowering it, it won’t come down and crush your legs or anything else that may be underneath the desk.
A Sit-Stand Desk for Small Spaces
The Flexispot EG8 Comhar is particularly well suited to smaller spaces due to the fact that it takes up minimal floor space despite having a generously sized desktop. The fact that it is also available in white helps as the desk doesn’t take up as much visual space in the room as it would if it was just available in black.
A Sit-Stand Desk with Storage
One thing I particularly like about the E8 Comhar is the built-in storage drawer that allows you to keep your belongings close to hand but off the desktop. The drawer isn’t particularly deep which means you can’t cram it full of too much but it is big and deep enough to keep your notepads, pens, and phone inside.
Flexispot E8 Comhar Sit-Stand Desk Review
All in all, I was mighty impressed with this product. The build is really good and the materials used to make it are of superior quality. It took about 30 minutes to put together and two of us to construct it and get it in position.
The desk came in two large boxes which were really quite heavy and I struggled to get them up into my office alone. I had to enlist help from my husband as I simply wouldn’t have been able to lift and manoeuvre the boxes on my own. This is definitely something to bear in mind if you are considering purchasing the E8 Comhar for your home office.
I love the look of the desk as it is very minimal and the white version looks very fresh and clean. The legs are particularly sturdy and the tempered glass desktop in white is finished with rounded edges for extra safety, comfort, durability, and elegance.
One drawback I have found is that the glass top is very prone to sticky finger marks and smearing. Therefore it needs to be wiped down and given a polish quite regularly. This is no big deal though and I still prefer the glass desktop over a wooden one purely for aesthetic reasons.
The built-in storage drawer comes in very handy for keeping clutter at bay and ensuring the desktop stays free from chaos. And the USB charging points are a really nice addition.
However, it is taking me a while to get into the habit of actually standing up to work. As I’ve spent most of my working life sitting down at a desk, standing up still doesn’t quite feel natural to me. But I am getting used to it now and I will be trying to increase the amount of time I spend standing in the coming weeks.
But what I have noticed is that on the days that I do remember to spend more time standing, my neck and back definitely feel less tense and my mood is slightly better. Hopefully, these benefits will increase the longer I spend standing.
Overall, I have had a very positive experience with my new Flexispot sit-stand desk and it has been a pleasure to work on. I can’t say yet whether or not it has improved my productivity as I haven’t really been measuring it. But I do find that standing helps with concentration and focus.
I have found it to be really easy to use, and great value for money. Because I haven’t tried any other sit-stand desks, I cannot make any comparisons. However, the E8 Comhar is great value for money and an excellent investment for your home office. I would definitely recommend it if you are on the lookout for a new desk for your own home or office.
Have you got a standing desk or a sit-stand desk in your home office? If so how have you found it? How long did it take you to get used to standing up to work? I’d love to know so leave me a comment below and don’t forget to pin this post for later.
