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Benefits of an Electric Sit Stand Desk

 

You may think that standing desks are a new invention, or just a trend in modern offices, but did you know that the infamous Queen of France Marie Antoinette comissioned the design and assembly of a mechanical sit stand desk in 1778, to help her write letters while pregnant? In fact, many notable names throughout history have preferred standing while performing tasks they normally would while sitting. Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway and Winston Churchill regularly stood while writing and some even had special desks or lecterns created for this use like Marie Antoinette.

 

sit stand desk

 

Today, many of the worlds most successful business people, athletes and entertainers have realized the benefits of a sit/stand desk too. Michael Dell of Dell Computers and Tim Cook, CEO of Apple are daily users, and before his death in 2018 at 95 years of age Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee was a big proponent of standing while working, saying “I always wrote standing up, good for the figure and I stood facing the sun, good for the tan!” So why have so many people felt the benefits of standing while working? Firstly, it is important to point out that humans aren’t exactly built for a sedentary lifestyle.

 

Long-term a sedentary lifestyle can have a lot of negative effects on the body. Risks associated include:

  • Obesity
  • Diabetes
  • Heart Disease
  • Poor Blood Circulation
  • Inflammation
  • Hormonal Imbalance
  • Increased Feelings of Depression & Anxiety

 

We know that standing desks are an excellent way to avoid a sedentary lifestyle, particularly if you’re a ‘9-5’ desk user. Also known as a sit/stand desk, electric desk or height adjustable desk, research has shown that benefits include;

 

  • Burn More Calories
  • Lowers Risk of Heart Disease
  • Improves Circulation
  • Reduces Inflammation and Back Pain
  • Reduces Stress and Fatigue

 

So what does sedentary mean? Well, in the modern world we can more often than not spend the majority of our day in a seated position. Think about the time we spend sitting, eating for breakfast, then in a car or on a bus to work. At work, we’re seated at a desk for most of the day and again at a dining table somewhere for lunch. Back at home, we’re seated again watching live sports or binging our favourite shows on Netflix. In actual fact, we could spend more time in a day sitting down than we do sleeping at night. This is what we mean by a sedentary lifestyle.

 

Once we sit down, electrical activity in our body stops, calorie-burning slows almost to a standstill and after a couple of hours insulin effectiveness and good cholesterol (aka high-density lipoprotein) drop.

 

Of course, getting regular exercise goes a long way to offsetting these risks, even a brisk 20 minute every day is proven to make a difference. If you’re a desk user concerned about lack of movement in your workday, take a look at the videos below for some easy-to-do tips. We teamed with a boutique fitness facility ‘Urban Gym’ to create these videos last year in response to the problems many employees felt while working from home.

 

 

When standing for a couple of hours every day, standing desk users can burn up to an additional 1000 calories per week, compared to those sitting at their desks. Even in 1953, a study proved that standing reduced the risk compared to those sitting. Research was undertaken among London bus employees and it found that bus conductors who stood all day for work had half the risk of heart disease of bus drivers who were seated all day for theirs. Research has also shown that standing desks appear to help reduce back pain. Studies in the US reported up to a 32% improvement among participants in lower back pain after just a few weeks of using a sit/stand desk. In another study, upper back and neck pain was reduced by 54% after one month of using a sit/stand desk.

 

 

Alternating between sitting and standing also helps to reduce stress and fatigue, which in turn has a positive influence on energy and motivation. That’s why many users can feel more productive while standing. Researchers in the UKfound that 66% of workers felt more productive and 87% felt more energized by spending just an hour of their workday standing. Perhaps this is where the saying “think on your feet” originated!

 

So how long should someone stand for? We have found that even standing for one hour in mid-morning and one hour in the afternoon is a good place to start. Most research points to standing for 1 hour for every 2 hours sitting, but like anything, it is about finding what works best for you. In the OfficeMaster offices some people prefer to stand first thing in the morning while performing their most immediate tasks, while others prefer to stand post-lunchtime to help avoid any ‘afternoon slump’ and aid digestion and blood sugar levels. In general, we recommend moving at regular intervals throughout the working day, including screen breaks. Many of the desks we provide have settings that allow you to So if you’re feeling achey, lethargic or unhealthy, add more movement to your day with an electric sit stand desk and get on your feet!

 

Should you need any further information or advice, get in touch with us by email sales@officemaster.ie or call (051) 876 995 for our Waterford Office and (021) 2066 100 for our Cork Office. We have a number of certified ergonomic assessors across both offices who are always happy to offer advice and provide solutions.

 

For more advice on how to set up your workstation correctly, check out our previous blog ‘5 Ergonomic Tips for Desk Users’.

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