A standing desk made me better at gaming – an unscientific study

The benefits of a standing desk have been the subject of over 1,000,000 op-eds, op-eds, and sponsored posts since we collectively decided to say ‘nah’ to the traditional office space and start working from home. Despite what the corporate sector and its panicked landlords would have you believe, the newly emancipated home worker is a good thing. I save the better part of £100 a month from not traveling, I get to spend more time with my dog, I have more time to take care of myself and exercise now that I don’t spend around two hours of my day on the tube, and my diet has never been better.

But a good home office setup is essential if you want to maintain a healthy work-life balance. My office is in my bedroom, but it’s very well separated, so it allows for some ‘church and state’ separation, if you will. But, if you’re reading this on a specialized gaming website, that probably means you’re a gamer. And often a gamer’s office and workspace are combined. With that in mind, let me tell you that a standing desk is transformative.

The desktop I’m using is the Standing Desk Premium Series E8 (a sample of which was kindly provided by FlexiSpot). After reading Alex talking about this desk, I wanted one purely for work purposes; I edit and do my administration when I’m standing up, and I write when I’m sitting down. Nice and simple; good for my back, healthier and a refreshing change when I need to ‘mode switch’ professionally so to speak. But a friend told me that they had been using a standing desk to play, so I thought ‘why not?’, I pressed the simple button I had previously registered for my perfect height and started playing. I’m going to break this into sections to make it easier to digest.

MULTIPLAYER

First, I tried something from Street Fighter 6. Would you believe me if I told you that it made me instantly better? Because he did. Something about my monitor being at eye level while I’m standing, with my hands able to rest perfectly on my fighting staff at perfect elbow height… it all combined to allow me to get combos faster and confiable. It gives me the feeling of being in an arcade (all proportions are correct) and not being hunched over and sitting opens up and sharpens my instincts a bit.

I’ve even tested it – sitting down, I can pull off some of the hardest Cammy combos in my technical play with about 60% consistency. Standing up, it’s closer to 70%. Not a huge difference, but quite noticeable when it comes to crunch. My best sitting qualifying streak, up to this point, was eight wins. Now, standing up, my best streak is 12. I might as well be getting better, overall, but I feel like I play better on my feet. So much so that this is now my default way of gaming: I have my Xbox Series S plugged into my work monitor, even now divorced from its long-standing living room home.

SINGLE PLAYER

Much of my singleplayer gaming is done in titles that are suited to short, quick sessions: finishing missions in Sonic Origins Plus, taking a round or two of Hades, a run or two of Rogue Legacy, or completing a few levels in sea. whatever stupid RPG I’m obsessed with right now. That is the pattern of my game. I can’t really say at this point if the standing desk has made me better at these games, but I can tell you that I am noticing the impact on my daily health goals.

Playing something like Vampire Survivors (a ‘day’ in that game lasts 30 real-world minutes) is perfect when you’re on your feet; it’s a quick burst of activity that gets you out of your seat, helps improve your posture, and gets your blood flowing. If you move around a bit while playing (I do), you’ll get 5/600 easy steps added to your daily total for every 30 minutes played, more if you’re jumping around like an idiot in the final seconds of a particularly epic Vampire Survivors run.

I also played a fair amount of Final Fantasy 16 while standing up; the ease with which you can get the desk up and down means it can handle the boring RPG bits definitely not fillers, I promise they’ve made their way into the game like ceiling insulation and then take a seat to really soak up the awesome action of boss fights and cinematics. Again, having this option may not make you better in the game, but it certainly makes you appreciate the big rewards when they come.

COOPERATIVE

I haven’t played too many cooperative games since I got my standing desk, but a constant in my life will always be Monster Hunter. I have Rise/Sunbreak on my Switch, PC, and Xbox right now, and in the interest of barely believable science, I thought I’d try some co-op play while on my feet. It turns out that standing up for Monster Hunter makes me better at the game. Similar to what I was saying about Street Fighter, it makes me more reactive; some of my friends would yell and yell when I managed to dodge Magnamalo’s huge tail flick with a frame to spare and then they would come and smash my shield over the head.

I also tried a bit of co-op Elden Ring while standing up. I felt like something about really concentrating and staying still, on my feet, gave me better focus. I have ADHD, so having several small things to focus on at once actually helps me focus, instead of focusing better when all my attention is on one thing. So standing (possibly jogging on the spot) and facing Malenia was a treat for me. One of my friends overcame a hurdle they had been struggling with for a while, no less. All brains differ of course, but I think I’ll be attempting a lot of my boss battles while on my feet from here on out.

So a standing desk is truly a game changer for work and play. I thought it would help me differentiate between two very different parts of my job, but it actually improved my ability and enjoyment of the games. I thought all those puff pastry pieces you read online about the soft benefits of having a standing desk were just that: puff pastry pieces. But it turns out that all those SEO-trained tabloid journalists and trade writers may have been onto something after all.

FlexiSpot’s E7 Standing Desk Starts At £420, but until the end of this month you can apply code “JUNE7” at checkout to receive £120 off, making it just £300. You can order a desk to go along with it. The cheapest 120 x 60cm desk is £80 (and the frame fits desks up to 180 x 80cm).

In the US, FlexiSpot’s E7 standing desk starts from $320 (was $500) for the frame, with desk options ranging from $80 for particleboard to $200 for solid wood.