Chairs and desks are necessary parts for most people’s working environment, but it comes at a cost. Often, people experience back pain or neck pain from sitting in front of a computer. And in some extreme cases, people can experience several health issues due to sitting at their chairs all day long.
This problem has been around for a long time, way before this pandemic started as people’s lives involves a lot of sitting. Not only do we sit at a desk but we also sit on couches to watch TV and more. According to research, we spend an average of 13 hours per day sitting—whether for leisure or work purposes.((PR Newswire: New Survey: To Sit or Stand? Almost 70% of Full-Time American Workers Hate Sitting, but They do it all Day Every Day))
It’s no wonder that people need to find better solutions for improving posture. One of the best tools created because of this is standing desks. A new take on something familiar, we’ll be going into details below about the benefits of standing desks which ones to consider buying.
7 Benefits of Standing Desk
If you’re not too familiar with the trend of standing desks, know that you’re not alone. Standing desks have only recently come into popularity and not everyone out there is too keen on them. But allow me to show you some of the reasons for you to be keen on them and consider getting one.
1. You’ll Lose Weight
Generally speaking, losing weight requires burning more calories than what you’re taking in. You gain weight by taking more calories than what you’re burning. In the case of sitting at a desk, you’re not really burning any calories despite your muscles being sore and stiff after a while.
On the other hand, even things like standing do actually burn calories. Research shows that standing has burned over 170 additional calories.((PubMed.gov: Standing-based office work shows encouraging signs of attenuating post-prandial glycaemic excursion)) In other words, you could burn almost an extra 1000 calories just by standing at your desk every afternoon while working.
The research also shows that sitting longer is linked so strongly to metabolic disease and obesity.
2. Lower Blood Sugar Levels
Along the same lines, sitting down for long periods of time can make your blood sugar levels increase after meals. This is especially true amongst those with insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes.
Even just standing at a desk after lunch can do a lot of good as some office workers attested to. Researchers say that standing for 180 minutes after lunch reduced the risk of a blood sugar spike by 43% compared to those sitting down.((PubMed.gov: Standing-based office work shows encouraging signs of attenuating post-prandial glycaemic excursion)) That’s one of the many benefits of standing desks.
3. Lower Risk of Heart Disease
If you have lower blood sugar and are burning more calories, you’ll naturally be avoiding fewer heart problems in the future. It’s widely accepted at this point that the more you’re sitting down, the more at risk of getting heart problems you’ll have.
4. Reduce Back Pain
I wouldn’t be suggesting standing desks if I didn’t believe in their benefits, such as helping relieve back pain. But there is scientific research to back up the claim that standing desks do reduce back pain.
One study found that participants reported a 32% relief in lower back pain after several weeks of using standing desks.((PubMed.gov: Breaking up workplace sitting time with intermittent standing bouts improves fatigue and musculoskeletal discomfort in overweight/obese office workers)) The CDC also found that using a sit-stand desk reduced upper back and neck pain by 54% after 4 weeks of use, too.((PubMed.gov: Reducing occupational sitting time and improving worker health: the Take-a-Stand Project, 2011))
5. Boost Productivity
One of the common misconceptions about standing desks is that they hinder daily tasks like typing. While we won’t disagree that standing while working will take some getting used to, most people haven’t seen a significant impact on typical work tasks.
One study found that by using a standing desk for 4 hours every day, there was no impact on characters typed per minute or typing errors.((PubMed.gov: Comparisons of musculoskeletal complaints and data entry between a sitting and a sit-stand workstation paradigm)) In fact, you may be more productive than before due to standing improving both mood and energy levels.((PubMed.gov: A systematic review of standing and treadmill desks in the workplace))
6. Increase Mood and Energy
Going into more detail with this, research shows that the improvement of mood and energy levels is due to a reduction in stress and fatigue. One study found that those using a standing desk reported less of those two things.((PubMed.gov: Reducing occupational sitting time and improving worker health: the Take-a-Stand Project, 2011)) What’s even more striking is that when people reverted to sitting at their desk, the overall mood and energy level reverted to their original levels.
7. Living Longer
Considering there is less risk of many health concerns alleviated just by standing more, it makes sense you’ll be living longer from this overall. There is an overwhelming amount of studies that show how sitting down is dangerous for our overall health.((BetterHealth: The dangers of sitting: why sitting is the new smoking)) So, standing makes more sense, which is shown by the various benefits of standing desks I presented here.
Bottom Line
There are many benefits of standing desks, and their modern ergonomic designs offer a lot more beyond the existing benefits of standing. As you can see, even these desks offer extra perks that any typical desk can offer—and then some. Buy one of the suggested standing desks today, and enjoy the benefits of having one.