Benefits Of A Standing Desk

Benefits Of A Standing Desk
&
Why You Need One!

We all sit too much. It’s not a judgement or a cause for shame, it’s just a fact of our working culture. Sitting in an office in front of a computer all day is not good for our physical or mental wellbeing. When they first hit the market, the standing desk seemed like the kind of thing you’d find in a trendy Silicon Valley tech company. Now they’re much more positively received for the benefit they have in undoing some of the bad habits we’ve picked up from sitting all day.

How To Choose Your Desk

When you stand to work you need to keep your arms at a comfortable level. The height of the desk should therefore sit around the bottom of your ribs. You won’t want to stand for the entire work day at your desk, so at the very least you want an adjustable desk that can be manually raised. If you want to stick to a rigid schedule of sitting and standing then you’ll definitely want an automatic standing desk. The Ergodesk Automatic Standing Desk, available in a large 1800mm workspace or the slightly smaller 1500mm, is one such desk that offers motorised height adjustments. With the press of a button you can adjust the desk to one of your preset heights or make micro adjustments to find your perfect fit. Go from sitting to standing or back in an instant.

Weight Loss

If you’re trying to lose weight, sitting in front of a computer all day might be detrimental to your goals. It’s pretty simple really, we lose weight by burning more calories than we ingest, and we burn more calories when we’re active. Studies have found that just standing at your desk burns as much as 174 calories more in a day more than sitting. Standing is more physically engaging and increases blood flow throughout the body, which has even further reaching health benefits beyond simple weight loss such as improved heart health and regulation of blood glucose levels. 

Spine Support

Sitting at your desk all day is not good for your back, counterintuitive as that might sound since we often feel the need to sit to reduce tension in the back. Sitting for extended lengths of time makes the spine, in particular the lower back, more stiff and can lead to injuries. Choosing to stand instead of sitting during long work days can reduce this tension, but it might not be a benefit you notice immediately. It may take some time to undo the damage we’ve created by sitting all day, but it’s definitely worthwhile in the long run. Ease into it, spend part of your day sitting and part of your day standing until you get used to it.

Improve Concentration

There are a couple of different factors that could contribute to a perceived improvement in concentration. They all seem to amount to one key benefit: you are more active when you stand. Improvement to blood flow and a stronger engagement of your leg, core, and back muscles lead to greater activity which we’ve already established burns more calories. On top of this amazing benefit, you’ll likely also experience an increase in your ability to focus while you work.

Walk While You Work

Standing is much better for you than sitting. Sitting is relaxing, which we need from time to time, but we’re just sitting too much and it’s creating problems for our overall health. Standing solves a lot of these problems with just a few small changes, but we could still stand to be a lot more active than we are when we work in an office. A compact treadmill like the WalkingPad™ Pro can fit conveniently under the standing desk to allow you to walk and be even more active while you work. If your fitness goals include weight loss but long hours at work keep you from exercising regularly, a treadmill desk is an amazing way to burn more calories while you work.

Sit Less

Sitting has its benefits but we spend too much of our days sitting and stationary. It’s making our lower bodies weaker and more prone to injury and reducing our metabolic rate leading to weight gain and disease. Don’t feel like you need to stop sitting entirely, but endeavour to sit less, especially at work. You might not notice the benefits immediately, but they will come. Check out our whole range of standing desks and workplace treadmills here.