Sedentary behaviour, including working while seated for extended periods of time, has well-documented and devastating health consequences. People who spend the majority of their days sitting are more likely to develop cancer, cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, and die prematurely.
Of course, the fact that much of the work done at home or in offices today requires people to sit and hunch over their laptops or PCs hasn’t helped. This is in direct opposition to how the human body was designed to be in motion, rather than stuck in one place doing monotonous work. Prolonged sitting has a negative impact on posture and is harmful to the spine.
As a result, it is critical to consciously incorporate movement into your office work routine in order to avoid the negative effects of sedentary lifestyles. Apart from standing and moving around every now and then to get away from your desk, there are office furniture trends that encourage movement.
Height-adjustable desks are now a common sight in the modern workplace. They make the transition from sitting to standing a breeze. These brief changes in body position and posture are necessary not only for efficient blood circulation but also for keeping the mind alert.
To top that off, here are the top seven health benefits of using height-adjustable desks at work. You’ll wonder how you ever worked without one after reading these.
1. Alleviates back pain
Backaches and pain are common office worker complaints. Lower back pain is associated with both physical and psychological stress.
Standing desks have been shown in studies to be extremely beneficial to employees suffering from chronic back pain. Another study published by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US found that by using standing desks, employees can reduce their upper back and neck pain by up to 54% in just four weeks.
Of course, the opposite is true as well. When standing desks are removed, the benefits of flexible or height-adjustable desks can be reversed in as little as two weeks by returning to extended sitting.
2. Improves well-being
In one seven-week study, users of height-adjustable desks reported less stress and fatigue than those who worked seated every day. Furthermore, 87% of those asked to use standing desks reported feeling more energetic overall.
When they were asked to return to their old workstations, their moods dropped, returning to the levels they had before the study. The findings of this study support the link between a sedentary lifestyle and an increased risk of depression and anxiety.
3. Increases productivity levels
One major concern for those who are unfamiliar with using height-adjustable desks is that they can impair a person’s ability to perform routine tasks such as typing. Those who have successfully transitioned from working seated full time to using height-adjustable desks, on the other hand, have reported no significant change in their ability to perform the same tasks, including typing speed. Because standing desks improve users’ moods, it is almost certain that they will increase productivity as well.
4. Helps prevent weight gain
If you’ve ever imagined yourself as a couch potato, you’ll understand what I mean. Staying seated all day, no matter how busy the mind and typing fingers are, does not help the body burn calories. Sitting may burn between 60 and 102 calories per hour (depending on your weight), whereas standing will burn approximately seven to ten calories more.
The slight difference in caloric burn may not appear to be significant. The difference, however, can add up over the course of a week, month, or year.
5. Lowers the risk of cardiovascular diseases
This concept is not new, having been proposed as early as 1953. A study comparing bus conductors to bus drivers discovered that the conductors had half the risk of dying from heart disease-related causes as their sedentary counterparts on the road. This study piqued the scientific community’s interest in the effects of sitting on cardiovascular health.
Long periods of sitting are now thought to increase a person’s risk of developing heart disease by up to 147%. The negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle are so severe that not even an hour of vigorous exercise can completely counteract them.
6. Helps lower blood sugar levels
Any drastic spike in blood sugar levels after meals is generally harmful to one’s health. This is especially true if you’re living with Type II diabetes. However, in one study of office workers who stood for three hours after lunch, the blood sugar increase was reduced by 43% compared to when they sat down for the same amount of time.
Another study found that standing and sitting alternately every 30 minutes for an entire workday reduced blood sugar spikes by around 11%. Remaining seated after a meal, on the other hand, has been shown to increase the risk of developing Type II diabetes by up to 112%.
7. May promote longevity
As previously stated, there is a strong correlation between premature death, type II diabetes, heart disease, and a sedentary lifestyle. More movement, on the other hand, increases a person’s chances of not only losing weight but also improving overall health. In fact, one study found that simply reducing sitting time to three hours per day can increase the average American’s life expectancy by two years.
Although more research is needed to establish a definitive cause and effect relationship between more movement and longer lifespans, previous studies and currently available evidence show that simply standing more can help improve your overall health.
Introducing adjustable working desk into your routine
It’s not a good idea to go from sitting all day to standing all day, just like it’s not a good idea to go from sitting all day to standing all day. You run the risk of experiencing leg, back, neck, or foot pain if you do this. What you should do is ease yourself into it by starting with 30 to 60 minutes of standing per day and gradually increasing it.
To avoid standing for too long at a time, set an alarm to remind you when to switch from standing to sitting and vice versa. You should also determine for yourself which tasks you can perform more efficiently standing versus sitting. This allows you to make the best use of a height-adjustable or standing desk for daily tasks.
Implementing height-adjustable or standing desks in the workplace should be viewed as a means of providing employees with another flexible desk seating option. Furthermore, in order to benefit the employees who use them, the desks must be adjusted to each user’s height and physical requirements.
Here are some useful pointers to remember:
- Always keep an upright posture
- Allow your upper arms to hang vertically downwards
- Your upper and lower arms should form a right angle
- Your head and eye tilt should be between 30 and 35 degrees
Workplace solution by DSolutions
If you’re planning to invest in a height-adjustable desk for your workplace or your home office, DSolutions have the best selections for you.
Experience a new level of work comfort with the Customised Single Height Adjustable Table. Our Customised Single Height Adjustable Table offers a clean, minimalist solution for individual workspaces. Designed with both functionality and aesthetics in mind, this desk features smooth electric height adjustment for effortless transitions between sitting and standing.
Alternatively, you can also choose the Dynamic Smart Electric Height Adjustable Table L-Shape, which offers a larger surface area for you to work on. All our height-adjustable desks are made with Formica Protec + Antimicrobial High Performance Premium Laminate product, which provides an additional layer of hygienic protection to any environment through the utilization of antimicrobial properties of silver (Ag+).
Our height-adjustable desks come in 10 attractive colours to suit your personality and workplace colour scheme. All products also come with a 5-year warranty.
For more info, please don’t hesitate to contact us and book an appointment to visit our showroom!
