The average office worker spends a majority of their workday seated. In fact, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the most sedentary workers (those in the legal, business operations and computer-based professions) spend over 80% of their workday seated. In the new work-from-home era, many desk-bound workers aren’t even on their feet to commute, walking across the office to use the restroom or walking outside to buy lunch. This should be cause for concern, because sitting is deadly. Here are some benefits of standing desks.
Research has shown that sitting for long periods of time can cause permanent damage to our bodies, not to mention the everyday aches and pains that precede that damage. Sitting can cause musculoskeletal damage, spinal disk compression, anterior pelvic tilt and blood circulation problems among a variety of other concerning impacts.
Luckily there is a safer, healthier, and more comfortable solution. Ergonomic office furniture.
Standard office furniture, the everyday swivel chairs and desks we’ve all used, does little to counteract the negative health impacts of remaining seated for extended periods of time. While it may provide some amount of comfort, standard office furniture lacks the protective features that make ergonomic furniture a safer necessity. And since sitting-related injuries are a function of time spent seated, the more you sit the more you need to switch to ergonomic furniture.
Ergonomics is the science behind optimizing how humans interact with their world. Ergonomic office furniture is designed to be more comfortable and to avoid the injuries that standard office furniture can cause. I will explain the benefits of two of the most popular and effective types of office furniture: ergonomic chair and standing desk.
Ergonomic office chairs
Ergonomic office chairs are not only designed with a more comfortable shape but are also designed to be easily adjusted to perfectly match your ergonomic needs, given the requirements of your body and environment. These adjustments often include chair position, seat height, seat tilt, chair back recline, lumbar support, arm rest position and head and neck support. In addition to adjustable settings, ergonomic chairs are often made with materials that provide greater cushioning and support.
When properly adjusted, ergonomic office chairs can help prevent the damage associated with long periods of sitting. This includes painful and potentially permanent problems arising in the spine, lower back, upper back, neck, shoulders, hips and pelvis. When taking into account all the damage and physical therapy bills that can be avoided, the added expense of upgrading your standard chair to an ergonomic office chair is definitely worth it.
Standing desks
As mentioned above, sitting is really really bad for you. While changing your chair can help, it is also beneficial to sometimes scrap the chair altogether and work standing up. While standing can provide relief it can also be exhausting after a while and cause its own forms of discomfort. Standing desks provide the perfect balance for a person who wants the option to sit or stand during the workday.
Standing desks are typically height adjustable (although standing desks can come with the ability to make numerous other adjustments as well) allowing you the option to sit or stand at will. There are a variety of standing desks available. Some are as simple as a raised, adjustable platform that can be placed on top of a standard desk. Other versions can be adjusted so that the table top is raised or lowered with either a manual or electric adjusting mechanism. These can get extremely fancy, with some models being able to remember programmed height settings for a perfect fit at the touch of a button.
Research has shown that there are numerous, worthwhile benefits to using a standing desk. Standing desks can prevent back pain and related musculoskeletal damage. But they may also help prevent weight gain, boost circulation and enhance productivity. As mentioned before, sitting is terrible. So it cannot be overstated how much better it is to work at a standing desk.
While the fancier models of standing desks can get very expensive, there are plenty of affordable desktop platforms that you can purchase to turn your current desk into a standing desk. You can also look into the fun and functional ecosystem of products that have emerged for office workers who stand. These include everything from balance boards to mats that are fun to absentmindedly explore with your feet.
With all of the dangers posed by long periods of sitting, it’s no wonder that ergonomic office furniture is currently in very high demand. Ergonomic office furniture covers a vast array of ergonomically designed products which are often more expensive that their standard, non-ergonomic counterparts. However, while ergonomic office furniture can cost more than regular office furniture, you might be saving yourself hours of pain and physical therapy by making the investment.
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