Standing Desk, sitting desk, or neither?

A revelation has swept the globe (and has been doing so for at least the past 3 years): that office jobs that require sitting down for 8 hours per day, 5 days a week, for 50-ish years apparently (not surprisingly) adversely affects your health (examples here, here and here). Normally office workers counter this by exercising either before or after work, but this research suggests that even the longest, hardest work-outs can't negate the effects of having sat down for so god-damn long. One of the solutions to this problem is the standing desk: desks that are raised to elbow height when standing, coupled with taller chairs for the occasional rest. 

Standing desk ergonomics, courtesy of tinkeringmonkey.com

My PhD requires a lot of computer time at the moment, which results in my sitting at a desk for around 40 hrs per week, plus all the time I spend sitting in front of the computer and TV at home. I tend to get a sore back after hours of sitting (even with the correct ergonomic set-up), so I'm trialling a standing desk set-up at home. The suggestion that I might lose a little weight by doing so was also a huge motivator, to be honest. Now, I find that I tend to move a little almost constantly, shuffling, shifting weight etc... I'm also much more likely to walk around the house when I need to instead of feeling too comfortable in my chair to move. 

It's not the most elegant solution, but it was exactly $0.00. I knew one day there'd be a 
use for all the boxes I hoard... 

There are more studies suggesting that standing all day isn't healthy either, and the best solution is to get up and move every 20 minutes. I'm really not sure how that's going to work out, productivity-wise. When I'm in the 'zone' I hate to be interrupted, and just a small break is sometimes enough to throw me off. Does that mean I should just learn to get back in the 'zone' quicker? Maybe, but easier said than done.

So for the moment, the trial at home will continue, and at uni I will get up and move around every 20 minutes for 2 minutes. And hopefully not annoy my colleagues with the constant sit/stand/walk/sit routine.