A man and his board: Joel Heath started working on plans for The Level to make his standing desk more comfortable, healthier, and a better workout. Photo courtesy of FluidStance
Thanks to a growing number of studies that suggest sitting is dangerous, even for active people, the popularity of standing desks has risen significantly in the past five years. In 2011, The Wall Street Journal even coronated standing desks as status symbols at Silicon Valley’s most desirable employers, like Google and Facebook. But why stand when you can almost surf? Thanks to The Level, workers can now move while working at their standing desks.
Will office surfing be the new sidewalk surfing?
Shaped like a skateboard deck with a convex bottom, The Level, which is 26.5 inches long by 12.2 inches wide by 2.5 inches tall, “elicits subtle, constant movement below your feet to increase your range of motion and heart rate,” according the company.
Though almost impossible to stand still on, it’s not precarious enough to send you tumbling—even if you’re wearing shoes with heels.
Got heels? No problem. The Level doesn’t require Vans. Photo courtesy of FluidStance
The Level is the brainchild of a former ad-agency exec, Joel Heath, who owned a company in Vail, Colorado, that maintained a 6-inch rule: more than a half-foot of fresh snow on the hill and the office was closed for a ski/snowboard day.
After 16 years in Vail, Heath moved to California for a corporate gig at Teva, and he found himself getting soft thanks to 60- to 80-hour work weeks, where the only fresh powder he saw on the regular was decorating donuts. So he moved to a stand-up desk, just like a few famous men in history such as Ernest Hemingway, Donald Rumsfeld, and Winston Churchill.
The amount of lower-leg motion provided by The Level is similar to what most experience while walking. Photo courtesy of FluidStance
Initially Heath liked the desk, but his enthusiasm was soon dashed when he started feeling pain in his hips and knees from the way he was standing. So Heath asked himself, “How do I create motion that’s not just about standing? Standing’s been great, but I really want to move.”
He started to sketch out some ideas, and after 27 prototypes, his startup, FluidStance, was ready to bring The Level to production.
Launched on Indiegogo.com on Jan. 12, 2015, the campaign was at 552 percent ($226,502) of its goal by Feb. 24. If you want one, a handmade original that’s built in California will cost $389. (The funding campaign will run through Mar. 13, 2015.)
The top layer is built from real wood and the bottom is die-cast aluminum. Handsome enough for even design-forward offices, the aesthetic can be customized via interchangeable top decks, floating bumpers, and base plates.
The Aeron chair for the skate/surf set? The base of The Level. Photo courtesy of FluidStance
And the benefits are impressive. Most studies suggest that standing desks increase a user’s heart rate by about 10 beats per minute, which can help burn an additional .7 calories per minute. Adding The Level to the equation can increase heart rate to 12.2 beats per minute over sitting, according to a third-party tester, Heeluxe Labs. (Although The Level helps you burn more calories than a traditional standing desk, it doesn’t burn as many as the more expensive treadmill desks, where most walk a pace of about 2 miles per hour.)
Maybe most importantly, though? Levelers were not prone to making any more typos than they were when sitting.
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