Recent studies have shown that sitting all day isn't good for us. As we gravitate more and more to sit-down jobs where we type and mouse and stare at the computer all day, we're also learning the risks inherent in such a sedentary lifestyle.
Repetitive stress injuries (RSI's) have been known about for years and things such as carpal tunnel syndrome are a pretty widely-known side effect of working on a computer constantly. However, the adverse effects of sitting down on the job for long periods of time isn't as well known nor is it given the infamous recognition it deserves.
A recent story at Mashable
points to a study that, "tracked 123,000 Americans and found the death rate for those who spent six or more hours a day sitting was 20% higher than for men who sat for three hours or less. For women, the difference was 40%."
The post talks about a New York Times Magazine article that went on to say:
"Examining the lifestyles of more than 17,000 men and women over 13 years, the report found those who sit for most of the day were 54% more likely to die of heart attacks. According to Men’s Health, that statistic was true even if the people in the study were nonsmokers and regular exercisers.""
So the medical field is realizing that we humans just aren't meant to be so sedentary for long periods of time. If we stood for 18 hours a day, that probably wouldn't be good for us either. The key is probably something in the middle, something that many parents have advocated for us: that the key to life is a good balance, that happiness and health lies in the middle, not in the extremes. (I.E. The old saying, "everything in moderation".
It's not the act of sitting itself that is killing us, or at least doesn't lead to good health - it's just that doing anything for eight-plus hours a day isn't a good thing.
A recent Wired.com
article points to a Men's Health feature article where a PH.D from the Pennington Biomedical Research Center says that “The cure for too much sitting isn’t more exercise. Exercise is good, of course, but the average person could never do enough to counteract the effect of hours and hours of chair time.”
That same Wired.com article says that it's good to split up your keyboard and monitor if you're at a standing desk:
Ideally, while standing (or even while sitting), you should be looking straight ahead, at eye-level, to see your monitor. Meanwhile, your arms should be parallel to the ground while you type. If you reach your arms straight out in front of your you, the finger tips should barely touch your monitor. All of this is impossible to do this with a laptop, since the screen and keyboard are practically attached. So your desk should optimally be built around a split monitor and keyboard set-up. And yes, you can use your laptop as a keyboard.
We at Ergo Desktops designed each stand-up desk we make to work this way. Whether you're sitting down or standing up, the display and keyboard are at the proper angles.
The research is still ongoing but evidence points to the fact that remaining in a sitting state is not conducive to good health. On top of that, people just seem to be more productive when standing. When sitting down, your mind is in more of a receptive state, a recessive state, more conducive to relaxing than to doing and being productive.
Anyone who has ever tried to stand while working on a computer for any length of time can tell you this is true! And the best part is that our adjustable height desk lets you do whatever you want, whenever you want and adjust to the desired position very quickly.
So do yourself and your health a favor: do some research and try out a stand-up desk. You don't have to jump into it right away. You can prop your computer up at a height for a time, perhaps using books or boxes of paper. If you feel it works for you, then check into our lineup of various stand up desks. And of course, if you have any questions at all, don't hesitate to give us a shout! After all, we love our desks and use them all the time.