Let's talk about feet... page 3

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I switched to a standup desk near a decade ago, I'll never go back. It would be tough to share one with somebody else unless they are similar height or the desk is really adjustable. I've always made mine so they are high enough to force me to standup straight -- best thing I ever did for my posture.

Yeah, I imagine it would be difficult to share...

[specsAreGrok]

Yeah, I imagine it would be difficult to share...

As to some of your other questions. I generally wear my luna sandals or work barefoot (I work from home). Often 12hours a day. I have a saddle-seat drafting chair (no back) that goes up high enough and I'll sit on it for maybe 15 minutes every few hours. We have wood floors now; but I used to stand on some tough terracotta flooring for years and my feet would get sore sometimes after a whole day, but If I worked in my birkenstocks it didn't happen. If you are just getting started though I'd recommend a piece of carpet or yoga mat to stand on. Also it really helps to have something to put one leg up on at a time while standing like a small stepstool, so you can bend a knee.

the first year of my kids life, he got fed and slept for hours at a time laying on a pad on my desktop between me and the keyboard.

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As to some of your other questions. I generally wear my luna sandals or work barefoot (I work from home). Often 12hours a day. I have a saddle-seat drafting chair (no back) that goes up high enough and I'll sit on it for maybe 15 minutes every few hours. We have wood floors now; but I used to stand on some tough terracotta flooring for years and my feet would get sore sometimes after a whole day, but If I worked in my birkenstocks it didn't happen. If you are just getting started though I'd recommend a piece of carpet or yoga mat to stand on. Also it really helps to have something to put one leg up on at a time while standing like a small stepstool, so you can bend a knee.

the first year of my kids life, he got fed and slept for hours at a time laying on a pad on my desktop between me and the keyboard.

I'm hardly new to standing for long periods. Today I stood for just about 12 hours straight. I mean there was some walking in there, I didn't just stand frozen in one spot, but I didn't once sit down either. It felt good actually.

[sbhikes]

How many of you make conscious efforts to stand more at work, get up and stretch your legs? Do you employ any special strategies to maximize time up from the desk? Do any of you have a standing desk at your office?

How many of you have improved your posture since going primal? What do you think was the most significant factor resulting in such an improvement?

Do you get your 5,000 steps a day? How do you find time in your busy schedules?

what is the longest period that you have been on your feet for one continuous period without sitting down, lying down, or anything of the like?

I set some alarms on my "task scheduler" to go off every hour and tell me to get up and do squats or climb stairs. Sometimes I listen. Otherwise, I work on a gorgeous college campus and can just go walk to a store or something.

Taking a core fitness class improved my standing posture. I slouch royally when I sit.

I take a walk or lift weights at lunch. Sometimes I jog. Sometimes I bicycle commute. I hike on weekends.

As for not sitting, there are lots of scenarios.
1. Jobs where you don't sit. I've worked in food service and sold flowers on a street corner. I did these two jobs for a total of 12 years so that's 12 years of my life where I never sat down at work.
2. Nude modeling. I did this for a while. There is no pose you can hold for 3 hours that doesn't hurt. If I was going to answer your question of "what's the longest you didn't sit down" my answer would be the 3-hour sculpture class where I did a standing pose for three sessions, even though I've had to stand for longer than that.
3. Long distance hiking. I spent 3 months two years in a row just walking all day. Start walking at 6AM, stop walking around 6PM to 8PM. Only sat down to eat (sometimes I didn't even sit to eat) or on "weekends".

As for barefoot shoes. After I did all that long distance hiking I couldn't stand regular shoes and my feet were all broken from "motion control" shoes. So I started learning about how shoes cripple your feet. I eventually made all my own shoes. The best ones are like the sandals sold by Native Earth. Way better than Luna sandals with the annoying thong between the toes and fussy tying. I wear my Native Earth sandals all summer. In winter I wear either shoes I've made myself or lately I've found some decent New Balance 730 and some Sanuks that I like. I've also got some Keen hiking shoes that I wear 2 sizes "too big" with really thin socks so they are all floppy. I like them that way. The heel on those suckers feels really high, though.

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Sb, I am jealous of the walking trips. What was the impetus for such outings/ventures?

[fresa]

I have "Fred Flintstone feet," (flat feet) and have since I was a young child. Nothing that was the CW of that day helped. Much over 2 or 3 hours of walking (even just strolling in a store), and I usually wish I had my running/walking support shoes with me.

I used to have flat feet too! But they were made to change when I was a child. I remember being forced to wear these high arch support inserts in my shoes as a kid, man they hurt. I had lots of foot/leg issues as a child, and doctors thought my flat feet were the cause. They weren't, as I still have the other problems, but now I have "nice" high arch. It seems like a lot of their solutions yielded no results, but hey they got money from my parents insurance so no harm no foul I guess. I kind miss my flat feet, but oh well. Also, as a side note, I'm not on the autism spectrum (that I know of)

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I used to have flat feet too! But they were made to change when I was a child. I remember being forced to wear these high arch support inserts in my shoes as a kid, man they hurt. I had lots of foot/leg issues as a child, and doctors thought my flat feet were the cause. They weren't, as I still have the other problems, but now I have "nice" high arch. It seems like a lot of their solutions yielded no results, but hey they got money from my parents insurance so no harm no foul I guess. I kind miss my flat feet, but oh well. Also, as a side note, I'm not on the autism spectrum (that I know of)

I had to wear high arch support shoes too! Parents made me. But they didn't do crap. I still have feet flatter 'n hell.

[sbhikes]

Why did I go for these walks? Well, I had a good job at a profitable dot.com. I made a pretty good salary. But what for? So I could trade all my time on earth for other people to be rich? I realized I had enough money in my checking account to live with no job for at least a year, so I quit. For 2 years I was paid in wildflowers instead of money. I was the richest woman in the whole world.