Quick Fixes to Bust Through Brain Fog

Sit Pretty

Yes, your mom was right, your posture does matter. Even if you have a standing desk like Xdesk, chances are you’ll find yourself sitting occasionally. When you sit, make sure that your knees are at a 90-degree angle with your feet flat on the floor, and sit tall to ensure your hands lay comfortably on your keyboard. This will help improve circulation and even breathing, which both can help your brain function more effectively.

Stand Up and Move

Standing, even for just a few minutes throughout the day, can counteract the negative side effects of sitting, including brain fog. Adding that simple form of physical exercise can help burn off the stress hormone cortisol and stimulate new brain cell formation—both of which can lead to brain fog. If you have an adjustable height standing desk like Xdesk, just spend a few minutes standing, or get up and go walk around the office for a minute or so. Even better, take a step outside. Sunshine and fresh air can do wonders for your mood and help clear your mind.

Nosh Nutritiously

Contrary to popular belief, that soda or cup of coffee actually won’t really help you beat brain fog. The sugar and caffeine might give you a temporary boost, but you’ll likely feel even worse once it wears off. Avoid the sugar crash and just eat a healthy snack. Fresh foods—not packaged or processed—are best. Snacks with protein, like beef jerky and hard-boiled eggs, or good kinds of fats like nuts and cottage cheese, and great to give your brain and body much needed nutrients without the insulin spike and inevitable crash caused by carbs and sugar.

Stretch it Out

Stretching is a great way to get energy circulating in your body. Stretch your arms over your head, touch your toes, rotate your head different ways to stretch your neck, whatever feels good to get your blood flowing again. There are even some really simple yoga poses you can do at your desk.

Tips to Keep Your Brain Healthy and Prevent Brain Fog

Say No to Sugar

Sugar and sugar-containing products are some of the worst culprits for brain fog. This includes carbs and starches, which elicit a similar response to sugar in your body. Combat the draw of the vending machine by keeping healthy, nutrient-rich snacks available at your desk. In addition to the high-protein and healthy fat options from above, you can try fresh vegetables like carrots, celery, and bell peppers with hummus.

Exercise Regularly

One of the most important things you can do to keep your brain healthy and performing at its best is regular exercise. Physical exercise can increase endorphins and deliver more glucose and oxygen to your brain. Even if you can’t squeeze in a consecutive 30 minutes or so at the gym, just break up the sedentary parts of your day with a walk or stretches to experience similar benefits. The main point? Get moving!

Supplement

Sometimes, brain fog can be a side effect of missing nutrients. If you struggle with brain fog often, it might be worthwhile to visit a nutritionist to evaluate your diet and see if you need any supplementation. Some common brain-boosting supplements include:

Vitamins D and B-12: These are both essential to brain health and supplementing common deficiencies.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids: These are found in high concentrations in the brain and are crucial to memory and overall brain health and function.

MultiVitamin: This will help fill in any nutritional gaps for when you don’t eat as well as you should.

Hydrate

Research has shown that dehydration can lead to fatigue. Make sure you drink enough water throughout the day that you don’t feel thirsty. And no, this doesn’t mean coffee or tea, which both can actually dehydrate you!

Having an adjustable height desk like Xdesk makes beating brain fog easy. Breaking up your time spent sitting with short standing intervals is hugely beneficial to your overall health, productivity, and yes, brain clarity. Let us know your go-to ways to beat brain fog!

The post Tips for Beating Brain Fog appeared first on Xdesk Blog.

The Xdesk Fit offers additional features beyond the normal treadmill desk.

Unless you’ve been sleeping under a rock (or perhaps more appropriately, an old, traditional desk), you have probably heard about the latest and greatest in ergonomic workstations: The treadmill desk!

The treadmill desk is a step beyond the standing desk and adjustable height desks (pun intended!), which is why Xdesk has decided to not only to create a treadmill desk of our own, but to improve and build upon the existing treadmill desk.

Most treadmill desks on the market today are pretty basic: You’ve got a rather clunky treadmill—something you might see in the gym in the late 90’s—and a standing desk. This is all fine and well, until you start to think about the features you really need at a good ergonomic workstation.

What if the desk portion of your treadmill desk is too low or too high? What if you need to easily pause your treadmill desk while you’re working? What about counting steps, calories, distance, and speed without doing a running mental calculation?

Well, with a Xdesk treadmill desk the issues with other treadmill desks have been turned into convenient features. Let’s explore this newest addition to the Xdesk family, shall we?

First, let’s talk about the actual desk part of our treadmill desk. Rather than use a standard, one-height standing desk like some of our competitors, we’ve opted to use our unique power-adjustable height desks. Choose between the Terra or Air models for a warm or more modern look, and rest assured that either way, the desk for your treadmill desk will be the perfect height for you, because you are in control.

Either of these options for your treadmill desk is eco-friendly—the Terra with its sustainable bamboo desktop and recycled aluminum columns, and the air with its super-thin, recycled aluminum desktop.

The treadmill is an unobtrusive 29” x 70.5” (outside dimensions) and it is modern and sleek with clean lines.

This treadmill desk is the height of technology—not only because of its adjustable height, but also because of the treadmill itself. The treadmill desk comes with an LED digital display that you can place on top of your treadmill desk—no matter where it is positioned. This will list your walking time, calories burned, distance traveled and your speed.

Even better, the Xdesk treadmill desk is Bluetooth-enabled, so you can track your progress right on your computer’s desktop with a handy app. Talk about being productive at the office!

Finally, with all of these cool features of this treadmill desk comes one that is perhaps the most important: the added safety.

Most treadmill desks continue to run if you step off for a moment, which can be dangerous if you need to stop walking or pause to take a call. With the Xdesk Fit Treadmill desk, the belt will know when you step off and will stop after just 20 seconds.

Pretty cool, huh?

Whether you’re an athlete, a person trying to lose weight, or just somebody who wants to keep moving, the all-new Xdesk Fit Treadmill desk is the desk for you. Be sure to come back next time when we go over the benefits of the treadmill desk (and trust me, there are a lot!).

What do you think of the Xdesk Fit treadmill desk?

The post Introducing the Xdesk Fit Treadmill Desk! appeared first on Xdesk Blog.

These simple exercises performed behind your adjustable height desk will help you stay in shape.

By standing behind your adjustable height desk you’re already burning more calories and bettering your health than if you were sitting down. And while that’s great and all, do you ever get bored just standing around?

That’s the great thing about an adjustable height desk. You can move around, you can alternate between sitting, standing, and somewhere in between. You can pace, you can dance, and yes, you can even get in a quick workout.

That’s what I’ll be going over in today’s post: working out behind your standing desk. It might sound a little bit…odd, but getting in a quick and simple workout while you’re at work is a great way to keep your energy up, stay in shape, and stay sharp throughout the day.

Of course I’m not asking you to jog five miles in between emails—for one thing, you’d come back all sweaty, and there simply isn’t time to do that in the workday. The workouts below are simple, they’re quick, and you can do many of them right behind your adjustable height desk.

Enjoy!

Legs

• Football Feet. You can do this seated or standing with your adjustable height desk. Simply tap your feet rapidly, like you’re running on fast-forward, for about 1 minute. Rest and repeat.

• Step Climber. This is the most basic workout: Take the stairs to your office. If that isn’t tough enough, jog them or take them two at a time.

• Calf Raises. Behind your adjustable height desk, raise your heels slowly off of the floor and then lower them. I’m doing them as I type right now—you won’t even need to take a break.

• Lunges. You can do these in place or walking around your office. You might even start lunging down the hall to the printer instead of walking—just ignore the giggles.

• Leg extensions. This is one you’ll need to do with your adjustable height desk in a seated position. Sit down, extend your right leg until it is level with your hip, and hold it for as long as you can. Then repeat with the left side.

Arms

• Spinny-arm-things. Okay, there isn’t a name for this, but here’s what you do. Stand behind your adjustable height desk, extend your arms straight out from your shoulders like a T, then rotate them in small circles for about a minute. Do the same motion the other direction. It sounds simple, but after about 100 of them, you’ll feel it!

• Shoulder raises. Raise your shoulders to your ear, hold, and then relax. Repeat. Easy.

• Triceps dips. Put your arms behind your back, resting your palms either on your chair or on your adjustable height desk in a very low position. Raise and lower your body, using the triceps as your lever.

• Push-ups. This is where your adjustable height desk really becomes a workout tool. Adjust the height of your adjustable height desk so that it is a bit above your navel. Do 10-15 push-ups here. Then lower it so that it is below your navel, about at your hips. Do 10-15 push-ups here. Finally, when you can’t lower your adjustable height desk anymore, you can do a set of push-ups on the ground, either from your knees or toes.

• Flyers. This is very similar to the “spinny-arm-things” listed above. This time, though, you’ll stretch your arms out in front of you until your hands touch, and then behind until your hands touch (hopefully). Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Full Body and Cardio

• Chair Squats. Squat down, knees over ankles, until you are almost sitting in your chair. Let your butt tap the seat, stand up, and then do it again.

• Wall sits. Lean up against the wall, but squat down as though you are sitting in a chair. Stay here for about one minute, squeeze your abs tight into your back, and do not rest your hands on your legs for support.

• Squat jumps. Squat down, touch the ground in between your legs with your hands, and then jump up, reaching your arms above your head.

• Backward leg extensions. Using your adjustable height desk for support, stand on one leg and reach the other leg behind you, squeezing your glutes and the back of your thighs. Pulse your leg for about 20-30 reps, then switch sides and repeat.

• Jumping jacks. This classic workout is great for the office. Just enough to get your heart rate up a little, but not enough to drench you in sweat before a meeting.

Stay in shape behind your adjustable height desk, or while getting to and around the office with these 15 simple workouts. Even if you’re not a gym member or marathon-runner, you can still stay healthy—just by going to work!

Do you use your adjustable height desk for office workouts? Share your workout ideas below!

The post Stay in Shape at your Standing Desk appeared first on Xdesk Blog.

Take this one week challenge to increase your standing stamina.

In a recent post we told you how to switch from your traditional, seated desk to using your adjustable height desk as a standing desk. The trick? Graaaadddduuuuaaallllyy.

I don’t want to make things too complicated for today’s post—I just want to know this: How much standing are you doing per day? How much sitting? If you don’t know, here is a nifty little calculator that will help you break it down.

Okay, have you figured it out?

No matter what your magic number is, if your sitting more than four hours, you need to do some more standing. In fact, in recent studies people who sat for more than 6 hours a day were more likely to die earlier than those who sat less. Those who sat less than three were doing pretty well.

So let’s cut that sitting time down, people!

Here is my challenge to you:

Starting this Monday, make it a point to use your adjustable height desk as a standing desk for at least half of your day. Start your morning at a standing desk, stand for about 1 hour to keep your energy high. If you need a break, lower your adjustable height desk and sit down for an hour. Make this switch every hour so that you end up spending half of your day standing.

On Tuesday, challenge yourself to use your standing desk for more of the day. Start out your day standing for one hour, and then if you need a break, sit down for 30 minutes. Repeat throughout your day.

Wednesday, start your day standing for one hour. Lower your standing desk to be seated, just for 15-20 minutes. Repeat throughout your day.

Thursday: This is where things get a little different. Start your day with your desk at standing desk height—for 2-3 hours. Then, use your time eating lunch as your “sitting break” for 30 minutes to an hour. Try to stand for the rest of the afternoon, but if your feet start to hurt, take a 10-15 “seated break” every hour.

Friday: Start your day standing until lunchtime. Then, use the time you’re eating as your “seated break.” After you finish eating, take some time to move! Go for a walk, stretch, or even better, hit the gym for a workout (if you have time).

When you get back to your office, you can lower your adjustable height desk to a seated position for 10-15 minutes. Then stand up for the rest of the afternoon, taking a 10-15 minute seated break every 1 hour, only if you need to.

And don’t think that you get to start over from square one the next week! Continue with this trend with your adjustable height desk—use the momentum! People say they want to sit down because they are tired, but honestly, people are tired because they do so much sitting! So especially when you start to feel tired or unproductive, raise your desk to be a standing desk!

Remember to take it one hour, then one day, and then one week at a time. Before you know it, this one-week “challenge” will seem like a synch. You won’t even notice you’re standing anymore.

So how many hours a day to you use your standing desk?

The post The One Week Challenge: From Sitting to Standing Full Time appeared first on Xdesk Blog.

Good posture is the beginning to a healthier lifestyle.

Xdesk is an advocate of good posture. With sit to stand desks like these, you’re not only working on your posture when you’re standing up—you’re strengthening the muscles in your back so your posture improves when you sit down. Of course maintaining good posture isn’t an easy job, even with a sit to stand desk. You need to be aware of how you’re standing, mindful of any tension in your shoulders or back, and most of all you need to practice. Remember the old saying, “practice makes perfect?” Well it is true for good posture, too. Practice good posture when you’re standing and sitting at your adjustable height desk and before you know it, it will become habit.

But good posture should go beyond just practicing behind your sit to stand desk. That’s why in the next few posts, we’re going to give you the rundown on good posture—why you want it, how to get it, and tips for maintaining it, no matter where you are.

Today, we’ll start with the basics. Here are five reasons why good posture is so important: 

1) Standing and sitting correctly prevents back strain and overuse, and helps prevent back, neck, and muscle pain.

2) Good posture helps the muscles work more efficiently, which will help prevent fatigue

3) Good posture allows better breathing, which provides oxygen to your body and your brain. This is so important during the day, especially at work, when you need your brain to be awake and productive!

4) Standing properly makes you look slimmer, stronger, and healthier. And who doesn’t want that?

5) Good posture makes you look confident. Even if you’re not feeling confident at the moment, if you stand tall with your head held high, you’ll look like you own the room. And if you practice good posture, soon enough you’ll feel just as confident as you look.

Sit to stand desks are just one great way to practice good posture during the day. Check out our next post with some other ideas!

Do you use a sit to stand desk at work? How has it affected your posture?

The post Posture 101: Why Good Posture Will Change your Life appeared first on Xdesk Blog.