Enhance Your Standing Desk Experience with These Must-Have Add-Ons: Insights From ZDNet

Jack Wallen/ZDNET

I’ve worked at a standing desk for over a decade, and I haven’t regretted it one bit. It’s not a convertible desk, to be clear, so there’s no option to lower my desk so it’s in a position where I can sit in a regular desk chair .

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Although I find it far more conducive to the way I work (as well as much better for my overall health), my legs do get tired. This is especially exaggerated when I’m training for a marathon. To ease that fatigue, I use a couple of different things, one of which is a small, curved, and padded balance board made by Fezibo .

ZDNET RECOMMENDS Fezibo Standing Desk Balance Board An ergonomic rocker board to relax your feet, legs, and body muscles. View at Amazon

The Fezibo balance board does two things for me: It gives me some extra padding to help my feet, and it allows me to rock or balance as I stand to ease tension and help build core muscles.

Given the slight curve of the Fezibo, you might not think it is all that effective. However, the 8.5-degree tilting angle is quite good at allowing me just enough movement to prevent my legs from building up too much stress and doesn’t allow me to rock too far so I don’t fall over. And the textured foam not only gives your feet grip, but it feels really good when standing on the mat barefoot.

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In fact, this is the only anti-fatigue mat I prefer to use without shoes. I’ve used the Fezibo both with and without shoes. When my feet start feeling a bit stressed from standing, I’ll take my shoes off and stand on the rocker for a while for instant relief. When my legs, knees, or hips are starting to complain, I’ll put my shoes on and use the mat. Again, instant relief. And when I’m feeling a bit mentally anxious, I’ll use the board to ease some of that stress.

The FEZIBO foam top includes massage points for the feet.

Jack Wallen/ZDNET

Anyone who’s ever used a standing desk understands that movement is essential. You don’t stand at your desk and remain motionless. If you do, your legs, feet, hips, and back will get tired or sore and stiff. Because of that, I tend to move a lot at my desk. By employing the Fezibo rocker mat, I don’t have to move all that much. I can rock in place and ease the tension away.

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Of course, not everyone will immediately acclimate to this device. It actually took me a few months of remembering to actually use it before I started noting the difference. Prior to using this rocker mat, I spent much of my day switching between standing and sitting on a monopod (I’ll highlight that in another article). However, once I put the Fezibo into the rotation of standing and sitting, it all just fell into place and the rocker became my default mat for standing.

Now, I do use this on a wooden mat because my office is carpeted. The wooden mat is nothing really special (just a wooden bath mat from Amazon) but it does give me an extra inch so I’m better in line with the height of my standing desk (which is actually two Gladiator work benches from Home Depot, placed together in an “L” shape).

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I know it might sound a bit hokey, but it’s not. This little $70 anti-fatigue rocker mat has done wonders for me at my standing desk. Of all the anti-fatigue mats I’ve ever used, this is the only one that has truly given my legs, feet, knees, hips, and back the relief they need from standing all day. And given the benefits of using a standing desk, the Fezibo has become a must for me.