Review: Yo-Yo PRO 1 Standing Desk

Not many people know that last year I injured my back. I am not even sure how it happened but one morning I woke up, tried to get out of bed and felt a searing pain from my lower back and down one leg. I hadn’t fallen over or done anything particularly strenuous so I was surprised and rather worried.

I am lucky that my ex-husband is an Osteopath so when I told him about the symptoms he was able to diagnose the issue, he told me that I had a slightly bulging disc (otherwise known as a slipped disc) in my lower spine. A slipped disc is when the soft cushion of tissue between the vertebra pushes out and if it presses on nerves, can be painful.

I was obviously fairly worried about this diagnosis, although I was reassured that it was only minor based on the symptoms and that getting gentle exercise would help my recovery, and pain killers would help take the edge off. You may or may not know that I have 3 labradors and so walk for around an hour day each morning, so the gentle exercise was no problem.

Thankfully after a few weeks, the disc had sorted itself out and I was no longer in pain. However, since then I have thought a lot about how I can keep my spine happy and healthy – you really don’t know how important it is to have a happy spine until you damage it and even the smallest of movements can cause terrible pain.

Something I had been thinking about for some time was looking into getting a standing desk. I work from home and spend the majority of my day, sometimes up to 8 hours or more, sitting at my computer typing away. I take a couple of breaks but really sitting for such a large proportion of the day isn’t at all healthy.

Sitting for long periods of time has been linked to a range of health concerns such as obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar levels, body fat around the waist and high cholesterol. There is also a correlation between an increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Experts recommend:

• Getting up and moving around every 30 minutes.
• Standing instead of sitting when talking on the phone or watching TV.
• Using a standing desk, or improvise with a high table or counter.
• Walk with your colleagues for meetings rather than sitting in a conference room.
• Try a specialised treadmill-ready vertical desk so that you can be in motion throughout the day.

So, when I was invited to review a standing desk from Yo-Yo Desk I was very excited and eager to see how it could help reduce my sitting time and hopefully boost my health.

I was sent the Yo-Yo Desk PRO 1 – a home office standing desk with a single motor for lifting and lowering the surface from sitting to standing. The desk has a robust steel frame has a range of extendable widths from the XS size of 100x60cm to Small at 120X70cm and medium of 140X70cm. There is a range of colours available to match your interior. The standing desk has a lift capacity of 70kg which is plenty for the usual computer and work paraphernalia and a maximum height of 124cm which is more than enough for my 5 foot 6 height.

There is some construction required for the standing desk so I recommend you include the installation as part of your purchase. The friendly chap was able to put mine together in around half an hour and I wouldn’t have known where to start! Although the up/down switch is super easy to use, he was also able to show me how it works which was handy.

Included in my desk was a really useful cable tray which means that all my computer cables are neatly kept off the floor and reduces the likelihood of me tripping over them! It also has 2 portholes which allow cables to be fed from the tray up to the desktop and plug into my computer. I was also given a lovely Yo-Yo anti-fatigue mat which lives under the desk and encourages optimal movement whilst standing, boosting blood circulation in my legs and helps to reduce pressure on my feet.

I have really enjoyed using the desk. It is very comfortable to both sit and stand at, and has ample desktop space for my computer and large screen! It is very quick and easy to raise and lower the desk by using the buttons to the left. I have been trying to slowly increase the amount of time I spend standing at the desk and hope to stand for at least half of my working day soon.

I award the Yo-Yo PRO 1 5 out of 5 stars and look forward to seeing how it benefits my health in the months to come.