In the 21st century, jobs that require sitting down at least eight hours a day are pretty common. No wonder why young people are struggling with affections that are not specific for their age. Sitting in a chair all day increases the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, it slows down the metabolism and it affects your bone structure. This is the reason why numerous people who work at an office each day confront back pain, neck pain, headaches and many other side effects that affect the quality of life visibly. Decreasing the sitting time and engaging in as much physical activity as possible became a priority for white collar workers.
One of the methods to reduce the amount of time spent sitting down would be to invest in standing desks. Putting all the muscles to work by standing for a few hours can exponentially diminish the negative impact of sitting at a desk all day long. Lowering the health risks of reduced physical movement by standing while working at the office is possible by purchasing such a desk. This article sums up a list of the benefits of using standing desks instead of a regular desk both at home and at work. Here’s what you need to know:
A major benefit of standing instead of sitting would be improving your current posture. When spending a lot of time sitting at their desks, people tend to develop rounded shoulders, which can be translated into kyphosis, also known as Kelso’s hunchback. Kyphosis represents a visible curvature of the spine that is abnormal and affects the cervical and lumbar regions. Even though kyphosis might not be severe at first, it can be highly influenced by other affections and it can turn into a serious health issue.
People who suffer from osteoporosis are required to keep a good spinal posture to avoid developing pain, overstretched muscles or bone modification. Luckily, standing desks can help with posture correction. They come in many styles and can be adjusted according to your height. By regularly switching between standing and sitting at the office, one’s posture can be highly improved.
Studies have shown that people who sit at their desks for multiple hours in a row encounter a higher mortality rate. This rate won’t be reduced by engaging in additional physical movement after the time spent in the office. It can only be reduced by adopting another position while at work. Standing up seems to lower this rate visibly, and the only method to do this in a comfortable way would be investing in standing desks. Lifespan can be increased by putting body muscles to work and simply standing is a small change that makes a huge difference in the long run.
The energy expenditure is not noticeably different when sitting and standing respectively, but there is a slight dissimilarity in the number of calories burnt. Substituting sitting with standing won’t affect your energy level throughout the day, but your body is going to burn around an additional of 50kcal/day if standing for around six hours. Standing desks that are adjustable allow people who work in the office all day to switch between the two states whenever they please. Going from eight hours a day sitting to six hours a day standing is a big change that should happen gradually instead of all at once.
Because of the repetitive work they are engaged in, the negative influence of a display being so close to their eyes and a poor ambiance in the office, many employees tend to become fatigued way earlier than the end of the working hours. This is a result of a bad working environment and a combination of bad practices at work. Standing desks can help with fighting fatigue by requiring the body to stay active. Standing instead of sitting at a desk can help people remain focused until the completion of the tasks they are attributed. Contrary to the popular belief, standing is linked to less fatigue during a regular working day.
Sustaining brain structures
Sedentary behavior is linked to the thinning of brain structures. To keep the memory of a person healthy, constant physical movement and avoiding sitting down for a long time become conditions. As mentioned before, the negative effects of long periods of sitting cannot be reversed through physical activity that takes place after the respective periods. Standing desks allow workers to switch between sitting and standing to reduce the health implications of sedentarism. Thus, the brain structures are protected from thinning, which leads to a stronger memory and higher productivity.
Improving blood flow
Health metrics can be modified during postural changes. When people are chained to their desks all day long, the blood flow can be blocked and cause side effects such as swollen arms and legs. In order to prevent poor blood circulation, you can invest in standing desks, which are the most efficient way to fight what studies call the sitting epidemic. People who work in the office all day long struggle with blood flow issues which can later lead to heart diseases that can put their lives in danger. Standing for the majority of a workday can increase the blood circulation and prevent the unpleasant effects that thousands of office workers are facing in the present day.
The workstation revolution happened because many illnesses that are correlated with sedentarism started to represent a real issue. Changing a small habit and using an adjustable standing desk instead of a regular one helps with preventing these illnesses and keeping office workers in a good physical shape, without investing too much effort or time into it. Raising awareness on illnesses that are caused by sitting is the first step towards convincing people to change their working environment. The first step is choosing standing desks over traditional ones and taking advantage of the health benefits they come with. Many companies are already investing a part of their budget in making this change happen at a larger scale.
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