The benefits of a standing office desk

Office life often means sitting for prolonged periods of the day, even if you work from home. This prolonged sitting during your work days, coupled with sitting while at home – watching TV, sitting in bed, and even driving, begs the question of the possible issues of sitting for too long.

Sitting down too much can create numerous health issues, from an increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, to weight gain. This is a concerning problem for office workers specifically, as they are sat from 9-5 every single working day. Thankfully, standing desks are becoming increasingly popular in office spaces, especially in the home.

What is a standing desk? Standing desks are a versatile way to change the way offices work. They function as a desk that allows you to stand up comfortably while working, but also sit down if you want to throughout the working day. With a stand-up desk, you really get the best of both worlds. Their adjustable, health-enhancing design and ingenious functionality not only promotes positive posture but also an increase in productivity which can negate the harmful effects that sitting for too long can cause.

What are the benefits of using a standing desk?

Standing more reduces back pain: Back pain is a serious issue amongst British people, with a recent statistic showing that 73% of UK people struggle with back pain on a daily basis. Sitting down puts a lot more pressure on your lower back than standing does. People who have made the switch to adjustable sit-to-stand desks have improved their sedentary behaviour and experienced a 50% decrease in lower back pain. However, it’s not just the lower back that is affected, the upper back and neck can be affected too. A CDC study found that the use of a sit-stand desk reduced upper back and neck pain by 54% after just 4 weeks.

Improves Posture and ergonomics: Using a standing desk with proper ergonomics can promote good posture while working at the computer. If the monitor is placed at eye level within 20 inches from your face at a 20-degree tilt, your arms will bend at a 90-100 degree angle at your sides- allowing you to have a more ergonomic position- helping your posture, while improving your writing speed and your overall productivity. Regular standing, in the right position will soon become second nature, and will eliminate the compression on your spine that sitting can cause- leading to less pain and boosting efficiency.

Improves your circulation: Human bodies are made to move. Standing improves our leg muscles, balance and core strength, which helps prevent blood clots from forming in the legs. Not only does standing rather than sitting activate your muscles, it also helps boost blood circulation and increase your heart rate, encouraging better cardiovascular health, which lowers your blood pressure.

Lowers your blood sugar levels: Your sugar levels rise after food intake. Your sugar levels can affect not only your health and lead to complications, but it also leads to problems with your focus, thinking, memory, mental energy and anxiety. Standing after meals helps regulate blood sugar and improve insulin sensitivity by using gravity to move glucose into cells more efficiently. This simple habit allows your body to process sugars faster than sitting after eating.

Improves your mood and energy levels: Prolonged sitting is associated with anxiety and depression, while standing has been linked to improved mood and increased energy levels. In a study that spanned over 7 weeks, participants who used a standing desk reported less stress and fatigue than those who remained seated for the entire day and reported increased energy throughout the day.

Boosts Productivity: While you may think that standing at a desk is using up energy levels and hinder daily tasks such as typing, it actually can do the opposite. By boosting your mood, energy levels and all the health benefits that standing entails your workplace will see the boost in productivity in no time. Remember, humans are not built for sitting for prolonged periods of time and we are meant to move around, and there’s a good reason for that.

Why not level up?

The benefits don’t stop here. There are so many benefits to reducing sedentary time- improving physical, metabolic and mental health. Sitting less and standing more is an important lifestyle change that you can implement today.

With our variety of sit-stand desks here at ESD, you can get the comfortability of sitting down for shorter periods of time to help improve your overall health. Optimise your workspace and tailor it to your precise ergonomic comfort with our easy-to-use control panel, which allows you to set your optimal desk height.
With its aesthetic appeal, our sit-stand desks can fit in with any office, and take any workspace to new levels. Level up the way you work with our sit-stand desks with ESD today and notice the difference.