5 Health Benefits of Using a Standing Desk
Are you feeling sluggish and uninspired at work lately? Are your energy levels low and making it difficult to stay motivated? Are you feeling “the slump”? If so, it could be time to reconsider your work setup. A standing desk has proven to help improve focus, concentration levels, and general health in modern professionals working from home.
In a study of 140 people who transferred from a sedentary to a standing desk environment, 52% reported feeling more productive, and 43% reported seeing a significant performance improvement.
Here we’ll show you 5 benefits that will make all the difference to how much your new standing desk will revolutionise your workflow and improve your health.
What is a Standing Desk?
Move over plain, old-fashioned office desks. With the increasing popularity of standing desks, it’s time to revolutionise the way we work. Standing desks have been a popular trend recently as many professionals are becoming enlightened about the health benefits.
Standing Desks (also known as height-adjustable desks or sit-stand desks) allow you to switch between sitting comfortably at your desk and quickly transitioning into a stand-up position directly in front of your computer whenever it’s convenient.
As humans, we’re not evolutionarily designed to sit down for a minimum of 8 hours a day, but when work gets “crazy”, you will find yourself glued to your seat staring at a blue, rectangle screen. But now, you can pair the two tasks together, focusing on your workload whilst also standing to improve your health.
Standing Can Lower The Risk of Weight Gain and Obesity
Standing more is an excellent way to lose weight, maintain a healthy weight, and avoid gaining more.
Adults are expected to stand for at least two hours a day to decrease the harmful effects of prolonged sitting, but when you’re expected to be in 5 Zoom meetings a day, you have no time to focus on your health.
A productivity-boosting solution to health concerns such as obesity and diabetes is to make a few simple changes to your office routine.
According to a study from the University of Copenhagen, standing while working rather than sitting can help reduce the risk of developing these conditions.
Standing has numerous benefits, including burning three times more calories per hour than sitting. It also improves your posture and strengthens leg muscles, giving you more energy throughout the day while ultimately boosting productivity.
Make simple changes like this to your office routine and have peace of mind knowing you’re taking steps to improve your health without compromising productivity levels.
Using a Standing Desk May Lower Your Blood Sugar Levels
Sitting for long periods can lead to poor health, particularly for type 2 diabetics.
Therefore, having a standing desk is an effective way to improve overall health and avoid the severe side effects of unchecked blood sugar levels.
By switching to a standing desk, you instantly improve your blood flow while also giving you regular physical activity to stabilise your glucose levels.
At the same time, the increased movement helps improve alertness and productivity throughout the day by increasing oxygen supply to the brain, allowing you to stay focused and on task.
Recent studies have shown that standing up for at least 2 hours daily can reduce muscle stress—causing them to burn more fat than when they’re relaxed or resting, which sends signals to both the brain and pancreas (the organ responsible for producing insulin) that there is no immediate need for more energy coming from food consumed just before exercise occurs.
In other words, not only does an ergonomically designed standing desk improve your physical health, but it also gives you improved mental wellbeing to avoid getting into a slump.
Standing Desks May Reduce Back Pain
As you work at your standing desk, you may notice that your back feels better than it has in a long time. This is because standing desks help to alleviate back pain, which is a primary reason people take time off work.
A study by the Mayo Clinic found that employees who use standing desks had an 80% lower risk of suffering from back pain than those who did not use them.
The same study also revealed that when compared with sitting workers, participants who stood had significantly higher scores on tests measuring overall physical fitness and flexibility. They also had better blood sugar levels and lower blood pressure.
By opting for a standing desk, you can protect yourself from injury and adopt healthier habits to improve your overall wellbeing without hassle.
Standing Desks May Help to Reduce The Risk of Heart Disease
Working while standing may improve your health and reduce your risk of developing heart disease.
Studies have found that standing longer during the day can reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease – a significant factor in heart health.
The American Heart Association has linked prolonged sitting with raised blood pressure and high cholesterol, which increase one’s risk of heart-related issues.
Investing in a standing desk could improve overall health by allowing the switch between sitting and standing throughout the workday. However, to get the full effects, it’s essential to be mindful not to stay on your feet too long, as this can strain other areas of the body, such as joints and increase the risk of stroke or diabetes.
A height-adjustable desk is ideal for improving your health without sacrificing comfort.
Standing Desks Help Improve Your Energy Levels and Mood
The change can be transformative if you’re considering a standing desk to improve your health and productivity.
You’ll instantly feel more alert and energetic when you switch your workstation to standing. Concentration will improve, enabling you to think creatively when facing challenging tasks.
Furthermore, there are reports of people getting more done with increased efficiency in less time. So your lack of motivation will quickly improve, and the fear of being in a ‘slump’ will seem like a distant memory.
If these benefits sound too good to be true, it’s because they are. The human body was built for movement—so be sure to take advantage of it.
Standing More Can Increase Your Life Expectancy
The benefits of a standing desk go beyond simply feeling better when you’re using it.
Standing more throughout the day may help you live longer and reduce your risk for various diseases.
In one study, researchers found that participants who sat for more than eight hours per day had a greater mortality rate than those who sat for less time (18% higher).
In another study involving over 200,000 workers in Sweden, researchers found that those who stood the most during their workday were 21% less likely to die from any cause over 11 years compared with office workers who sat the most.
The association between sitting and dying was strongest among people who started work at age 30 or younger — suggesting that keeping moving might help prevent early death even earlier.
Standing desks promote an active work lifestyle essential for maintaining good physical and mental wellbeing; this is important for any modern professional looking to improve their health whilst working from home.
Conclusion
In this increasingly digital world, it is more important than ever for modern professionals to improve their health whilst working from home.
Many of us may be glued to a screen for long hours, resulting in poor posture and musculoskeletal issues. With a standing desk, you can improve your health without sacrificing productivity.
A height-adjustable desk provides all the benefits of a regular workstation. Also, it reduces the likelihood of chronic pain due to neck, shoulder or lower-back strains related to prolonged sitting.
In addition, adjusting the desk from sitting to standing can help improve circulation and regulate heart rate. It helps improve your energy levels, which means you can stay focused and productive for extended periods with enhanced overall wellbeing.