Prolonged sitting combined with little exercise is detrimental to your health – so much that people have started equating sitting with smoking. The health consequences related to sitting are no less dangerous. On an average, a person with a desk job spends between 8 to 12 hours every day sitting, resulting in a lower metabolic rate, cardiac issues and increased stress.
Rachel Bindl from National Business Furniture compares the health impacts of sitting and standing at work. Here is the culmination
So how do sitting and standing compare?
Sitting:
Causes forward head position which creates pressure and muscle tightness that can lead to headaches.
Creates rounded back preventing proper spine support.
Increases chances of carpal tunnel, tennis elbow, tendinitis, varicose veins and blood clots.
Causes your body to burn less energy and to utilize less blood sugar in your body.
Causes electrical activity in the muscles to take a dip.
Enzyme productivity drops by 90% which increases your risk for heart disease
Standing:
Joints to be in more appropriate positions which results in better blood flow to the legs and to the hips.
Activates core, arm and leg muscles and improves back health.
Creates more desirable blood sugar and blood pressure levels.
Ramps up metabolism by breaking down sugars and fats more quickly.
Increases oxygen levels for improved concentration.
Burns three times as many calories as sitting, aiding in weight loss.
All of the above can be very disconcerting if you are one of the many Americans who sit for extended periods of time while at work. Don’t panic. Even a little bit of standing throughout your day can go a long way. According to Designer and Ergonomic Specialist, Mari-ann Carlson, “Alternating between sitting and standing is important as too much of either position can be stressful for your body. Aim to stand and move every 20 minutes.”
Here are five ways to easily incorporate standing into your work day:
Add height-adjustable computer accessories to a desktop.
Adjustable-height tables for conference rooms and meeting rooms.
Instead of replacing your current desk, add a matching standing table.
Add an all-in-one option, like a Sit-Stand Workstation.
Consider adding a standing work island in a common area so everyone can take a stand for their health.
The benefits of standing at work surpass individual health and express themselves in increased revenue. That is right! A healthy employee works about twice as hard and enjoys their work at the same time leading to an increase in productivity and gross contribution.
Watch doctor of therapy and mobility expert Kelly Starrett explain how standing desks at the workplace are a boon to all
Now finally here is a formal news report by Matthew Gutierrez from Star Tribune on the negative impacts of prolonged sitting at the workplace and how to rectify it
You may want to stand up while you read this: Studies show Americans sit on average between eight and 12 hours a day. Many sit in the car on the way to work. We sit in our chairs at our desks. We sit down to eat lunch. We sit through office meetings. Then we sit during our evening commute. At the end of the day, we sit while eating dinner, watching TV and surfing the web.
Even for those who exercise an hour or two every day, prolonged sitting has been associated with heart disease, low metabolism and something that researchers are calling “dormant butt syndrome,” a tightness of the hip flexors and weakness of the gluteal muscles.
Chris Kolba, a physical therapist at Ohio State University, coined the term for a condition that can be a result of sitting throughout the day. A May study published by Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center found DBS may be the cause of knee, back and hip pain.
Yet many of us sit, sit and sit.
“We were put on this Earth to be hunters and gatherers,” said Ron DeAngelo, director of sports performance training at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Rooney Sports Complex in Pittsburgh. “But now we’re hunters and gatherers of information on a computer.”
When DeAngelo first meets with patients, he’ll often ask them what they do for a living and how much they sit. “If your butt is not in the game” and you’re sitting down, he said, other parts of your body have to work harder, which can lead to injury.
While standing desks are nothing new — Charles Dickens, Thomas Jefferson and Donald Rumsfeld used them — they have gained popularity over the past decade. A few years ago, some considered standing desks weird. Now they are almost commonplace.
A 20-year history of studies show people who work at standing desk stations are about 10 percent more productive than those who sit.
For one year, Texas A&M researchers followed high school students who were given standing desks at their school and found an increase of about 10 percent in students’ cognitive improvement. Similarly, a Texas A&M study found employees in a call center who used standing desks for a six-month period were 46 percent more productive than colleagues who used standard desks.
Using a standing desk is one of the easiest ways to train yourself to stand more. They range from about $150 to $450 and can be picked up at major retailers such as Target, Office Depot and Bed Bath & Beyond.
It was not a particularly quick migration from traditional office desk and chair to standing desk for Frank Dawson, an associate vice president at the architectural firm Cannon Design in Pittsburgh.
“You have to sort of work yourself into it,” said Dawson, 48. “It’s not like, ‘Oh, yeah, this is the greatest thing ever,’ but after you do it, it’s not so bad.”
Software engineer Nick Tate of Container Ship, a cloud computing company in Pittsburgh, called the first couple of weeks an “initial adjustment period.” Three years removed, he stands about half of the time at work.
“Every half-hour or so, just remember to ask yourself, ‘How’s my posture?’ ” said Tate, 25.
Standing desks are especially beneficial for employees suffering from vascular and orthopaedic issues. Striking a balance between sitting and standing not only improves a person’s health but also enhances their abilities of cognition and acuity. Find a variety of high quality standard and height-adjustable standing desks and other office furniture at Vision Office Interiors. Choose from a carefully selected collection of new and used office furniture
