To stand or not to stand

Sitting here at my desk, staring at the switch that would convert my comfortable seated desk to a standing desk. Fast forward later in the day, and after standing for over an hour – I felt good. So the question is to stand or not to stand.
You won’t go a week without hearing what your body needs to function well, one of which is prolonged seating and bad seating posture that we are all guilty of in our work day. Coupled with the fact that these days we generally work longer hours and spend more time than ever in a seated position. Usually with very little movement with the exception of mouse movements and keyboard use.
81% of Australian workers are now are in jobs which are predominately sitting. Which is almost double of that in 2008 which estimated around 45% of workers at the time were in sedentary roles.
Employers have made efforts to combat this by creating spaces and programs to help with this. Breakout rooms, stand up meetings, lunch time activities, subsidized gym memberships and offering a range of sit and stand ergonomic options.

​Sit and Stand workstations
Enter the sit and stand workstations. These workstations are in essence a desktop with an adjustable height, so the user can switch between a sitting position and a standing position. Also being adjustable to allow for users of different heights to have the desktop at an optimal height. Sit/stand workstations can either be electronic or manual, or with an addition added to a static workstation to allow for adjustable heights.
 
There has been substantial discussion around the benefits of standing desks how much does it help and how long should we stand up in a day. The short answer is yes – Standing desks do help, they will not replace an exercise routine and keeping in mind that you shouldn’t be standing up for too long.
So delving a little deeper, how much does a standing desk help in regards to posture and keeping you fit.
Standing at your desk is  generally beneficial as it takes you away from a bad seating posture, the image indicates a proper standing desk setup.


Keeping you fit
In a 2015 study published in the European Heart Journal, if you were to replace just two hours of sitting each day with standing it will boost you cardiometabolic health.
Which may help reduce cholesterol and blood sugar levels and lower triglycerides by up to 11 percent. This same study found that standing up during the day rather than sitting may also improve your body’s general health, and improve your body’s ability to metabolise fats, carbohydrates which can help to combat obesity and negate weight gain to an extent. According to the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, standing burns an extra 0.15 calories per minute. Which if you were to stand for 2 hrs a day equate to approximately  360 calories a week – a Big Mac is 260 calories.
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Productivity also can be boosted, in clinical trials, people who used sit/stand workstations experienced greater engagement, reduced anxiety levels and increased general quality of wellbeing. Some even took less sick days!
Keeping in mind that, wearing property footwear that is cushioned and provides support is very important. Standing in in appropriate footwear will cause discomfort over time and will provide issues in the long run. Flooring also plays a part, hard flooring such as wood, concrete or tile will also cause discomfort. Also do what feels right for you, standing for long periods of time can wear you out and cause soreness, build up to it.
 
What is best
So – asking what’s best overall is determined person by person, overall standing through out the day does help however your current physical condition and capabilities need to be taken into account. Ease into it, whatever you’re comfortable with and listen to your body.

Montage's standing desks 
If you are interested in standing desks, Montage Commercial interiors have a range of electronic workstations that are cost effective, high quality and great looking.

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