Why Choose Standing Desks for Your Office?

How many hours do your employees spend sitting at their desk?

By sitting for too long, you can actually end up causing negative health effects on your body. Staying put for a prolonged period of time has been known to produce risks such as high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and an increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease. Although workers are encouraged to take breaks throughout the day and to move around, it is sometimes easier said than done.

Standing desks are a way to help keep employees moving and productive at the same time. So, let’s dive in deeper and see why standing desks may be the solution to your office space.

Improved Posture

Many of us have been there- as the day goes on, your back begins to hunch more and more. Keeping good posture for around eight hours a day, five days a week can be quite a challenge. A Standing desk, when set up the right way, can even help reduce eyestrain (the screen should be 15 to 30 inches from your eyes). Make sure your computer screen is just above resting eye level. This will prevent you from hunching over to use the keyboard or to look down at the screen. If you feel like you are straining, simply reposition until you get it right.

On top of the avoided hunched or slouched posture, you are always working on your core strengthen muscles while standing. Over time, this helps improve overall posture.

Increased Lifespan

As you may have guessed, the more you move around and the less you sit, the better chance you have of increasing your lifespan. By preventing the many health risks associated with sitting, and by sitting less than three hours a day, you can actually increase your life expectancy by over two months. A study done by Brazilian researchers analyzed data from 54 countries and found that sitting for more than three hours a day was linked to 3.8% of all deaths.

Decreased Obesity and Cancer Risks

There are studies that show the weight gain effects of sitting too much throughout the day. Even reminding yourself to get up and stretch or walk to the bathroom can help decrease your chance of obesity. A standing desk may not be a total solution, but it is a great place to start, as standing actually burns 50 more calories an hour than sitting. Hopefully, by using a standing desk, motivation to move comes easier.

Although there is no definitive answer as to why sitting appears to cause cancer, it is believed that it is due to increased C-reactive proteins which are found in those who sit for extended periods of time. The most commonly seen cancers related to prolonged sitting are breast cancer and colon cancer.

If you decide to go with standing desks in your office, make sure your employees adjust properly. Start standing for a few hours a day, rather than the entire day, and encourage using a mat to help take pressure off of the knees, hips, and ankles. Contact Office Flip to find out how you can incorporate standing desks in your space!