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Don't Let Sitting Kill You -- The Level Will Keep You Moving, You'll Barely Notice

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As I write this post, my computer is resting on my ironing board (not recommended), and I'm standing on a vaguely skateboard-like contraption. It has a protrusion in the middle that makes the board slightly unstable, but not so much so that I'm struggling to stay balanced. It does not provoke anger like the Bosu ball.

That's exactly what Joel Heath had in mind when he created The Level, minus the ironing board.

"It's subtle enough to create enough movement but not so much that it dominates your day," Heath told me in an interview. "Your work at hand is the priority."

With the rise in popularity of standing desks, Heath saw that simply standing was not the perfect solution to sitting all day. The slight instability of The Level increases your heart rate 15% compared to sitting, and it increases your range of motion 20 times versus standing, providing lower leg motion similar to walking.

After nearly two years of development, 27 prototypes and a successful Indiegogo campaign that raised more than $500k, The Level is now available for sale online.

With 86 percent of the American workforce sitting for 7.7 hours per day, sitting has become the new smoking. It's terrible for your health. But standing is also not the solution, Heath says.

"I'm not against sitting," he told me in an interview. "I have chairs in my own office. I also don't think that standing is the solution. Sitting should feel good. We're getting sitting to a place that feels good once again."

Heath, former brand president of Teva footwear, and founder of the GoPro Mountain Games, believes it's a combination of standing, moving and, yes, sitting that's key to keeping your body healthy while trapped in an office all day.

His team spent nearly as much time on aesthetics as functionality.

"Aesthetics is everything," he said. "The first stage was function and technology and then we worked with a designer to make it worthy of a high-rise, not of a gym."

They also worked hard to make it as green as possible. In the end, the product is made in the U.S.A. using sustainable materials—but getting there wasn't easy: "All roads were constantly leading over an ocean and I spent a lot of time hitting my head against the floor."

The head-beating paid off: The Level was awarded "2015 Best in Class Design" by Inc. magazine.

The Level comes in three choices of wood: solid bamboo ($429), maple with walnut finish ($339) and natural maple ($289). All are available for pre-order with deliveries expected in June and July.

While I don't relish the idea of working from my ironing board, I can imagine taking calls or chatting with my family while standing on The Level—at least until I get my own standing workstation.