“Sitting is the new smoking”.
Sitting long hours can kill. It’s the truth, although it sounds very dramatic. Studies point at the detrimental effects of sitting that almost all Americans do on a regular basis, without a serious thought.
People who sit too much on a daily basis have increased risk of acquiring heart diseases, diabetes and even death. Besides, sitting all the while burns lesser calories, resulting in overweight and obesity.
This is one of the biggest problems amongst office workers, since they do not have another option but to sit for most of the day. Thankfully, sit-stand desks are becoming more and more popular. Gone are the days when people used to think standing desks were employed by eccentrics like Dickens, Kierkegaard and Hemingway.
A lot of research was conducted by an endocrinologist James Levine at the Mayo Clinic. He mentioned in one of his telephone interviews that – the way we live today is by sitting all day, occasionally walking from the parking lot to the office, but sitting is the default action. We need to switch from sitting to standing.
The panacea is not to sit for long hours and heading to the gym post that, since evidence marks that the unfavorable effects of sitting cannot be controlled by strenuous workouts. The solution to this is to incorporate pacing, standing and other activities in your routine and standing at your desk is the simplest and easiest way of doing so.
Sit-stand desks enable the transition between standing and sitting. They are equipped with crank systems or motors to lower or raise them. Some are designed for artists for optimal painting and drawing with adjustable stands.
Here are the top 5 benefits of sit-stand desks supported by science.
1. Sit-Stand Desks Lower The Risks Of Obesity And Boosts Your Energy
Obesity is one of the most common reasons why individuals prefer a sit-stand desk. Standing is considered far superior to sitting when it’s about energy expenditure. Obesity is a result of consuming more calories than what you burn and burning more calories than you consume results in weight loss. While vigorous workouts are most effective in burning those extra calories, a simple choice to stand rather than sitting can also prove advantageous.
Studies have shown that the comparison between sedentary office work and the same amount of time spent standing has depicted a burn of about 170 extra calories, which amounts to burning about a 1000 additional calories every week by simply standing at your own desk every noon. The difference in calories could be one of the reasons why long hours of siting are linked to obesity.
People may become very lethargic sitting at their desks all day, standing allows you to move around aiding you in keeping yourself engaged and awake.
2. Sit-Stand Desks May Regularise Or Even Lower Your Blood Sugar Levels
The dreadful impacts on health due to sitting stretches way beyond obesity. Researches by Levine and others suggest that sitting for extended hours is related to reduced efficiency in regulating glucose levels in the blood stream which is a part of a health condition called metabolic syndrome. In another study of 10 employees standing for 180 minutes post lunch decreased the blood glucose levels by 43 percent when compared to employees sitting for the same amount of time.
Increase in blood glucose levels after meals is bad for your health, which is true for people with an insulin resistance to type II diabetes. The last thing you should do if you have high blood sugar levels is sitting all day. Even brief standing up or moving around can help regulate blood sugar levels.
Alternating 30 minutes of sitting and standing is the best thing to do to lower your glucose levels for which the a sit-stand desks is the best available solution.
3. Sit-Stand Desks Reduce Risk Of Cardiovascular Disease And Will Help You Live Longer
There have been evidences to prove that sitting is not good for your heart. Researches have proven that adults who spend extended hours of sitting have an increases risk of cardiovascular diseases that include heart attacks and that men who spend more than five hours a day sitting and getting limited exercise are twice at risk of heart failures compared to those who sit for fewer hours. Sitting for long hours can be so detrimental that even an hour’s intense workout cannot make up for the negative effects.
Researches have depicted a correlation between extend hours of sitting and early death. This doesn’t come as a surprise because there is a strong association between cardiovascular disease and a sedentary lifestyle.
Factually, studies reported that people who sit longer are at 49% more at risk of dying earlier than those who sit lesser. Another study showed that reducing sitting hours to about 3 hours a day would increase the average life expectancy by 2 years.
Even though the observed studies don’t prove causes and effects, the evidence indicates standing longer aids increasing your lifespan.
4. Sit-Stand Desks Reduce Back Pain And Improves Your Energy Levels And Mood
Back pain is among the common complaints of most employees who sit all day. Several studies have been conducted to determine if sit-stand desks could actually reduce back issues. Employees have reported almost about 32% reduced pain in their lower backs after a couple of weeks of using these desks. Besides terminating the use of these desks reported the reverse in the improvements within a 2 week period.
Standing desks have a positive influence on your overall well-being. A 7 week study showed people using sit-stand desks reported less fatigue and stress than those who were glued to their seats all day. Besides about 87% of people using this desk reported an increase in energy and vigor all through the day.
5. With Sit-Stand Desks You Have The Option To Sit And Stand Which Has Proven Good For Focus And Productivity
Standing all day can be as harmful as sitting. One of the best advantages of sit-stand desks is the possibility to adjust the desk to both standing and sitting heights, which allows you to create the right balance between sitting and standing throughout the day. Among the various health benefits of sit-stand desks are the benefits of workplace improvements with respect to productivity and focus. Not only do the sit-stand desks improve the overall health of an employee it also results in greater productivity.
Final Thoughts
The latest trend is getting the employees off their buts while at office. Sit-Stand desks are designed to enable you to perform the exact same functions you would normally perform while sitting, in the sense that sit-stand desks are set higher than the normal desks and can be adjusted to various heights.
While spending long hours in a day at your desks is the fact of most of your lives, it definitely doesn’t mean that you spend your lives like drooping drones at your offices. A sit-stand desk can lower your risk of heart diseases, obesity, diabetes and aid you in keeping a sharp alert.
Sit-stand desks are an amazing way to improve your general health condition and is a must have for individuals who have a job that fixes them to the chair all day. There are many sophisticated and cool sit-stand desk, you can choose one according to your preference.
Author Bio: Complement is domiciled in the town of Vejle (Denmark) in a new building complex from 2000 which was expanded in 2004. Complement is a stock-holding manufacturer of CPU holders, Sit-Stand Desks, monitor arms, cable trays, table legs, table frames, etc., with increasing sales to customers all over the World.
