If you didn’t already know it, your body really doesn’t like it if you spend the whole day sitting down. Plenty of research has shown that extended periods spent on your butt can, over time, play havoc with your internal organs and increase the chances of succumbing to a myriad of diseases. In the short term, the joints and muscles in your back, neck, and shoulders have a greater chance of periodically seizing up, causing discomfort that in some cases can lead to serious pain.
But if you’re working in an office, or at home with a PC or laptop, the likelihood is you still spend much of your day seated.
Standing solutions
In the last few years, standing desks have been gaining in popularity, with a huge array of designs offering plenty of solutions for those concerned about the health risks of sitting all day.
But few are cheap. Hardly any are portable. And absolutely none are inflatable. Except the YoUP desk, that is.
Recently launched on Kickstarter by a team based in Milan, Italy, the YoUP’s innovative blow-up design means you can take it anywhere and set it up in a matter of seconds.
All you do it pull the top and bottom apart like an accordion, which causes it to automatically inflate to 90 percent of its full size. Then, with a couple of steady puffs, or using the supplied air pump, it’ll be sturdy enough to hold your laptop. When your work’s done or you’re done standing, its maker claims you can deflate YoUP in a “few seconds” so you won’t be there for ages looking like a nitwit trying desperately to squeeze all the air out of it.
The desk comes in two sizes, one with a height of 25 cm (10 inches) and another with a height of 35 cm (13.8 inches), with both strong enough to handle a weight of up to 11 pounds (5 kg).
The YoUP even comes with a connected companion app that tracks your standing progress and offers suggestions on improving your sitting/standing behavior based on your profile.
If you tend to work in multiple locations but can’t sit down for long periods of time without your lower back starting to twinge, the YoUP could be a quick and easy solution for easing the discomfort. Self-conscious types might not want to get it out in a cafe, but then again, a chronic back problem may leave you with little choice.
YoUP’s team has a funding target of €20,000 euros (about $22,000) and hopes to start shipping its inflatable standing desk in April 2017. Early bird backers can bag one for as little as €40 ($44), €30 lower than the expected retail price of €75 ($82).
Most company bosses have yet to come around to the idea of offering standing desks to their workers, and many people don’t have the money or space to get one for their home. In that case, how about the YoUP?