Chris demonstrating his sit-to-stand desk
Hello, Chris Slattery aka “Furniture Nerd” here! No, I’m not an instructor at LightSpace. However I wanted to be a guest writer this week because I recently became addicted to my standing desk. Let me tell you all about it!
As I STAND here writing this, I cannot tell you how I ever sat for most of the day. It’s been a few weeks since I started using my standing height desk so I feel like I have a better perspective on the benefits of a standing height workstation.
So, what have I noticed in the first few weeks?
- When working at my desk, my shoulders are relaxed and properly aligned. Not hunched forward and slouchy.
- I used to have awful neck and shoulder pain by the end of the day, especially on my drive home. This pain is gone.
- I occasionally have sciatic nerve pain (shooting pain down one leg). It helps to be able to stand up and continue to work, which helps alleviate the pressure that causes it.
- I am 6’ 1” tall, not a giant by any means but I always felt as though most desk heights were too low for me ergonomically. I can now adjust the desk height to the perfect size when I am seated, “perched” on my stool or standing.
- Overall I generally just feel better. And my wife tells me I look better too 🙂
If you’re interested in statistics, I dug up a bit on the CDC website, which states that prolonged sitting time (sedentary behavior) is a health risk:
Breaks in prolonged sitting time have been correlated with beneficial metabolic profiles among adults, suggesting that frequent breaks in sedentary activity may explain lower health risk related to waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), triglyceride levels, and 2-hour plasma glucose levels.”
The results of CDC’s “Take a stand” project had shown that when reduced time spent sitting by 66 minutes a day, upper back and neck pain was reduced by 54%, and improved mode states.
The best thing of all about my standing desk is I can always choose to sit, because it’s adjustable! Some daily tasks are better seated, especially if I need more desk space to spread things out. I have found myself standing for 90% of the day. Also, I notice that my body tells me I have been seated for too long. Then I just push the button and sing some REM “stand in the place you work!”
To learn more about Sit-To-Stand workstations, check out my desk and others here:
http://www.arthurpohara.com/product-category/new-furniture/sit-to-stand-adjustable-height-desks