Last Updated on 2 March 2023 by Sarah Dunes
Not using enough energy during the day may lead to a gradual decline in health and physical well-being. As more workers become engulfed with work and not have enough time to set aside for workouts, technology is constantly being employed to make up for it. From counting steps to innovative workout tools, more methods are being developed everyday.
One of the trends catching on with the productivity wave are sit-stand desks. These desks have been around for quite some time but they are now making a huge comeback as medical professionals revisit all the health benefits that come with using them.
These desks encourage users to switch between a sitting and standing position throughout the day, reducing the amount of time they spend in one position. This helps to reduce the strain on the body that can come with sitting for prolonged periods. In addition, it helps to improve circulation, reduce fatigue, and even increase mental alertness. Furthermore, with these desks, users can also incorporate more physical activities into their day.
For example, some desks come with built–in exercise equipment, such as a treadmill or bike, so users can exercise while they work. Other desks have adjustable heights and even adjustable desks that allow users to go from sitting to standing with the push of a button. All of these features can help to increase energy levels throughout the day and promote overall physical health.
Standing desks, as the name implies, are desks where you can work while standing up. This means that the height of these desks are taller than the usual desks designed to be used while sitting. These desks have been around since the late 1400s but as more work rolled in, sitting while working became the norm to avoid fatigue among employees. Of course, this was in the best interest of the workers but as times changed and more activities required less physical effort, standing desks made a comeback as a way to add some physical activity in the day-to-day corporate office life.
Since standing desks are expected to help with posture and other physical benefits, they’re designed to have the ideal height for the user to maintain good posture, doing so comfortably. This is why there are adjustable standing desks available on the market that can accommodate any user’s height. There are many kinds of standing desks nowadays but all of them work the same.
There are many studies that claim extensive health benefits that come with using a standing desk. The simple act of standing while working can already give you the energy usage that can improve body conditions as long as you work on your standing desk on a daily basis.
From a macro perspective, sitting in itself can have a negative effect on your health if you do it for long durations. So, sitting down on your work desk 8 hours a day can be bad for your spine, your muscles, and overall cardiovascular system.
This is where standing desks come in. They can help you balance out those periods of inactivity by letting you use more energy by standing up from time to time without having to stop working. This works especially well when you have no time at all to take breaks and refresh yourself. This is a revitalizing change of pace especially if you’re already feeling dull from all the sitting down.
Here is a quick list of health benefits you can take advantage of from extensive use of your standing desk:
especially if you already are suffering from chronic back pain. There would be instances when your pain could be linked to prolonged sitting in a position that is not ideal for your spine so standing desks may help correct your posture and improve your spine’s condition.
Standing uses more energy than sitting so it can help with cutting down on your blood sugar.
Definitely, you’ll need more intense physical activity to actually drop a few pounds but standing can actually burn more calories than you think. With extensive use of a standing desk, it can make a good contribution to maintaining a healthy body weight for you.
– these are just some of the effects of burning those excess energy you have stored in your body. Standing up also promotes blood flow throughout your body so it can give you a good boost of energy that can also combat stress.
Medical professionals would always recommend more intense workouts if you need a more major lifestyle change but if you’re the type with health conditions that keeps you from intense workouts, incorporating a standing desk into your daily routine can help reduce the risk of heart disease.
On top of all the health benefits, standing desks are known to improve productivity. Studies show that since standing while working allows better oxygen flow in your blood, it increases your brain activity and helps you work better. This is why many modern offices are making stand-sit desks readily available for employees.
Check out our full blog post to find out more about the benefits of standing desks.
Last Updated on 2 March 2023 by Sarah Dunes
Fixed standing desks are non-adjustable standing desks. Using them for long periods of time may be tricky since you can’t adjust them to varying heights. This would be perfect for personal use since the fixed height would be perfect for just one user. Also due to the absence of the height adjustment feature, choices for fixed standing desks may be more stylish and even have shelves for other personal belongings.
They can also have more variations in terms of material, drawers, and compartments. They can feel more stable than some budget height adjustable desks. This isn’t the case with the EZ Desk from EZ Shopper, our desk is super strong and stable at any height – you wouldn’t know that it’s adjustable.
These adjustable standing desks are used by those working from home or in the office, as they can accommodate multiple users with varying heights. A manual adjustable standing desk has a lever that moves the top part higher or lower to suit the user.
Although manual height adjustable desks are a great budget way to combine sitting and standing whilst working, they are also tedious to use and due to the time taken to wind them up and down, you may not get as much use out of it as you originally planned. Without the ability to clearly read the height from a display on the desk, it also makes it difficult to accurately set it to you ideal height each time.
Choosing a sit-stand desk solely depends on personal preference but there are some considerations you can think about to determine what would be best for you. If you’ll be the only user, a fixed standing desk can be a good option but sadly, you cannot convert it into a sitting desk if you need a break from standing. Moving to a sitting desk may be bothersome so an adjustable desk might be the better option. However a manual adjustable desk may be difficult to adjust as well since you’ll need to take time to set it back and forth depending on your preferences.
You might get tired of always tediously working that lever to get the height that you want. An electric adjustable best would be the ideal option if you’re looking for convenience and ease for most users, and doesn’t need to break the bank. With memory settings and a control pad, you don’t have to bother yourself with getting it set to the right height every time. On top of that, the anti-collision feature is a must have to protect yourself and any fragile items near to the desk.
You don’t need to worry about the price when it comes to the standing desk range from EZ Shopper. Our entry level desk is great for home workers and has all the features and quality that you would expect from a desk 2 or 3 times the price. Check out our range today and see how the EZ Desk range can help improve your productivity.
Over the past few years, awareness of the dangers of our sedentary lifestyles has grown. The effects are widespread: back, neck and shoulder pain are common complaints in the modern office. Rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and hypertension are rising across the country.
And the cause might be surprising to many: there is now a consensus in the medical community that sitting all day can be as dangerous for your health as smoking. That might seem a little dramatic: after all, how dangerous can sitting really be?
Extended sitting time and poor posture cause back pain and spinal problems, which if left unchecked can develop into chronic conditions. And sedentary lifestyles combined with long work hours can cause diabetes, stroke, heart disease and early death.
The national health survey reports that 43.7% of us spend the majority of our workday sitting (1). And such extended periods of time seated are clearly bad for us. However, finding clever ways to build more activity into our days can do more than help fight the negatives. It can actually increase your productivity, energy levels, and general wellbeing. If you must sit, the Desky team have put a lot of effort into ensuring your time spent sitting at a computer is as ergonomically correct as possible.
So clearly sit-stand desks could have a role to play in boosting the nation's health and productivity. But what exactly are the key standing desk benefits? You might be surprised by some of the results.
Many of the more serious complications related to sedentary lifestyles are caused by people becoming overweight or obese, and studies have found strong trends linking this to increased sitting (2). In 2014-15, 63.4% of Australians were overweight or obese. By 2017-18, this figure had risen to 67%, over two-thirds of the population (3).
It would seem to many that this is further proof that our bodies simply did not evolve to be sedentary. Of course, we can’t go back to the hunter-gatherer lifestyles for which our bodies are designed. In an increasingly data-driven, online world, many of us are destined to remain tied to our desks.
The crucial factor could be the desk you remain tied to. A stand up desk or sit-stand desk will allow you to keep on your feet for at least part of the day, which is shown to have real health benefits and aid weight loss. Time spent in moderate to vigorous activity has been shown to have a statistically significant impact on weight gain (4).
Standing raises the heart rate and can burn as many as 50 calories an hour. So if you spend longer periods of time standing you could see real health benefits. Coupled with dedicated physical activity, a standing desk can have huge benefits in the fight against obesity.
Poor diet, a lack of exercise and obesity are all factors which are known to heighten the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. However, a study conducted in the UK, which analysed the data of 18 other studies covering a total of 794,577 participants, found that those who sat all day are as much as two times as likely to develop the disease (6).
Perhaps the starkest finding was that this remains true even for those who take regular exercise. Simply, the act of sitting itself is a big danger factor for diabetes. Standing can be a lifesaver, and this is one of the most important benefits of standing desk use.
The reason for this is that extended periods seated seem to cause changes to the metabolism, which affects the production of insulin. In review, Diabetes UK recommended that reducing the time spent sitting or lying down could significantly lower the risk of diabetes (6). And their recommended actions for those at work? To spend at least part of the day standing and keep active. Using a standing desk will make sure of this.
Many studies have made direct links between sedentary work and increased risk of heart disease (7). It is definitely accepted that a lack of exercise can be a contributing factor. Also, those with diabetes are at an increased risk of heart disease and attack (6).
So remaining active during the day will help keep you active, burning calories and ensure your metabolism is operating to it’s best. A standing up desk allows you to keep moving, promotes good blood flow and can even help lower cholesterol. All of this in turn will lower the risk of heart disease, related heart complaints and stroke.
All of this boosts your chances of leading a long, healthy and productive life. By keeping your weight down you can avoid a whole host of serious ailments.
Sufferers of Type 2 Diabetes are shown to have shorter life expectancy than non-sufferers (8), so using a desk to avoid this and further complications can literally extend your life. This is true for those who already suffer from the disease, with lifestyle factors and level of activity shown to extend the lives and condition for those who make positive health choices.
And avoiding heart disease, high cholesterol and high blood pressure will add years to your life. An active lifestyle is the best way of avoiding all of these problems, so standing up at desk spaces rather than sitting could well help you live longer.
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Worryingly, not only are many people sitting all day, but they can’t find time between work and family life to fit in enough exercise. Just over half of Australians aged 18-64 (55.4%) are getting the recommended 150 minutes of exercise each week (9). On top of this, many are now adjusting to home working, often with imperfect equipment, and even longer hours. Standing has never been more important.
Of course, a sit stand desk cannot replace physical activity, but it can help. One interesting stat shows that if you combined the figures for exercise shown above with active work hours, this proportion of people hitting the exercise target rises to 65.5% (9).
So, remaining active at work can help bridge the gap between the exercise we do, and the exercise we need. Office workers don’t have the ‘luxury’ of manual work, so sit stand desks can help you keep moving during the day. This can help even out the deficit in exercise, avoids more serious health complications, promotes blood flow, and has a host of perhaps unexpected health benefits associated with it.
Standing during the day, or dividing your time between standing and sitting, has been shown to boost productivity. One study conducted by Texas A&M University’s Health Science Center School of Public Health found significant boosts in both productivity and outcome when surveying subjects in a call centre. Compared to their seated colleagues, after 6 months they registered 53% more successful calls (10).
Another study on by The University of Leicester tested workers in the UK’s NHS, and reported that the group who switched between sitting and standing showed boosted performance and engagement vs the seated control group (11).
Although detailed studies into why this happens are not yet complete, it is thought that the increased blood flow, endorphin levels, and relative lack of musculoskeletal pain all combine to boost worker performance. Users report increased energy levels throughout the day. So if you feel you need a boost, a sit stand desk could be the answer you’ve been looking for.
This is one of the least known sit stand desk benefits, but is so important. Low energy, pain and poor performance can all adversely affect your mental health. But standing can help. Standing desks can improve your overall health, your performance at work (or while gaming at your new setup), help promote good blood flow, and keep you energised and free from musculoskeletal pain.
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All of which will combine to boost your sense of health and wellbeing. This in turn will help you work better, further increasing your productivity. A happy worker is a productive worker, so boosting your wellbeing could actually advance your career. You can think of using a sit stand desk as a very positive snowball effect, where each day and increased usage feeds into your sense of wellbeing. And who wouldn’t want that.
Poor posture and related musculoskeletal problems are a huge driver of workplace absenteeism. One of the key benefits of using a standing desk is that it allows you to alter your position during the day, which relieves strain on key muscle groups and allows the body to share the load more easily. This can have a profound effect on back pain. If you do have to sit we recommend you take a look at our guide for how to sit at your desk the ergonomically correct way.
One study showed that participants reported a 50% decrease in back pain vs their seated co-workers (12).
But that's not all that sit standing desks can offer. Standing more often can increase the strength of your core muscles, which will help support the back, relieve pain and prevent further injury. And even if you don't have back or neck pain, using a standing desk periodically will help prevent you from developing bad posture.
The jury is out, but the most common pattern is 30 minutes standing out of each hour. If this is uncomfortable you can either increase or decrease your sitting time. At first you should stand less, as your muscles adjust, and slowly ramp up the time you spend standing until you find your level. Check out our guide on using a standing desk correctly for more info.
Sitting for hours a day on end is known to have a host of negative effects on our health. This is why standing desks have so many health benefits, as they negate the destructive effects of our sedentary lifestyles. In a world where time is at a premium, they allow us to keep active whilst we work, saving time and our health.
Whether you stand all day, for 30 minutes an hour or hardly at all at first, incorporating standing into your work-life can keep you free from pain, help you lose weight, and avoid the risk of more serious illness. If you're concerned with your health, well-being or productivity, a standing desk could be what you're looking for. Try Desky's range of standing desks today and experience health improvements from increasing your daily activity.
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