Benefits of Standing Desks

If you use a standing desks, leave your experience in the comments and share it with the community.

Remember that the chair is a silent killer, and that any tool that helps to reduce sedentary lifestyles deserves the greatest support from HSN.

What is a Standing Desks?

We all know the risks of a sedentary lifestyle, that silent killer that, precisely because it’s silent, kills hundreds of thousands of people every year.

Fighting it is difficult, not because of idleness or laziness (which is also the case), but because our lifestyles are strongly opposed to setting limits to it.

The rise of sedentary jobs has an inevitable consequence: more of the population is now sedentary.

Standing Desks and treadmills for walking

A standing desks is nothing more than a raised desks that allows you to work while standing, thus avoiding having to sit down.

Something extremely simple.

It’s a tool that became very fashionable a few years ago and has been extremely well received by workers and “biohackers” all over the world.

They say that those who try it never go back.

Some go a step further and include a more dynamic element: the treadmill.

A plethora of foldable, smaller-sized treadmill models have appeared on the market that are perfect to dock under your desk and run a few miles while you write a summary of your last meeting or script your next YouTube video.

You work, improve your health, and increase your performance.

Now let’s take a look at the benefits of incorporating these two gestures into your daily routine:

Benefits of using a treadmill while you work

Burn calories without even realising it

If we compare working in a seated position with standing at a standing desks, in an afternoon’s work we could consume almost 200 kcal more.

This, which may seem insignificant at first glance, is far from it.

At the end of our week we’ll have burned no more and no less than 1500 extra calories with a simple gesture.

Reduce postprandial blood sugar

An additional benefit of this type of strategy is to achieve a considerable reduction in postprandial glycaemia, i.e. the rise in blood glucose levels after eating.

Cardiovascular health

The anti-obesogenic and anti-diabetic effect has another equally or more important consequence: protection against cardiovascular disease.

When health professionals say that the chair kills, it’s not a metaphor. Spending all or most of the day sitting is directly related to high cardiovascular risk.

The health problems generated in an office chair are not only those listed above: chronic back and neck pain is an extremely common issue that can be minimised by using a standing desks.

Studies on increased performance at work

More and more jobs are linking working while standing with improved performance and overall quality of life.

Working while standing appears to decrease feelings of stress and fatigue throughout the day in this study, and, despite what it might seem, has an invigorating effect compared to working while sitting.

There is concern about the effect of working while standing on productivity.

Some studies indicate that not only is productivity not affected, but it could be substantially increased.

Some studies confirm that the number of words per minute and the number of typing errors are not affected when using a standing desks.

Which companies incorporate standing desks?

Many companies, especially technology companies, have taken the leap and are offering their employees the option of working while standing or sitting.

And it’s no wonder. What do companies want? Performance.

A standing desks, as we’ve seen in this post, can improve your productivity and reduce days off work by protecting against issues such as chronic back pain, which cost companies hundreds of thousands of euros a year.

Advice and recommendations

Before you start using your standing desk, there are a few tips to keep in mind:

If you’re new to this, don’t go to the other extreme and try to work your whole working day standing up

This, as well as making you feel strange at first, can have the opposite effect (more muscle aches and lower productivity).

Start with a 1:1 ratio (standing: sitting)

Ideally, use this tool to break up very long periods of sitting.

Maintain a good posture

A standing desks that forces you to look down is doing you a disservice.

This is especially important for tall people

When to incorporate the treadmill?

The treadmill can complicate some activities that require intense concentration, or others that are more mechanical, such as typing on the keyboard.

Bibliographical references.

1. John P Buckley , Duane D Mellor, Michael Morris, Franklin Joseph (2014). Standing-based office work shows encouraging signs of attenuating post-prandial glycaemic excursion.
2. E G Wilmot, C L Edwardson, F A Achana, M J Davies, T Gorely, L J Gray, K Khunti, T Yates, S J H Biddle (2012). Sedentary time in adults and the association with diabetes, cardiovascular disease and death: systematic review and meta-analysis.
3. Nicolaas P Pronk, Abigail S Katz, Marcia Lowry, Jane Rodmyre Payfer (2011). Reducing occupational sitting time and improving worker health: the Take-a-Stand Project.

Related Entries.

• Click here to learn about the importance of Posture Exercises in the Office.
• Change your sedentary habits now! Put these tips into practice.