One of the first, vigorously-enforced rules at school is the law of sitting still. With broken spirits, our inner children grow up and move on to longer school days, then, eventually, jobs that require — guess what? — more sitting. But we’re not just sitting at desks anymore. We sit in our cars, we sit at the table, we sit for entertainment, we sit in our farm tractors, we sit in our long-haul trucks. Then, maybe we’ll jump up and get some exercise once in a while.
The experts have long agreed that our sedentary lifestyle is killing us softly. But when “desk” equals “paycheck,” what are we to do? Answer: Acquire a sit-stand desk. Just take a look at what happens when we stand up at our desks more often while still executing our work.
1. Burn More Calories
We spend more calories in a day when we elevate our altitude than when we sit at sea level with our old-school desks. Even if you don’t notice, balancing on our feet requires the subtle use of many more muscles, no less than 20 to be exact. But don’t just stand there, move your body, too. Sway your hips, do shallow knee bends. When not typing, swing your arms a bit. Anything to get up and moving is going to burn calories, even if those movements are subtle.
2. Improve Blood Glucose Levels
Some studies suggest that standing more often helps your metabolic processes, which keep your blood sugar levels in the proper balance. This alone can help your cardiovascular health.
3-5. Improve Your Mood, Gain Energy and Lose Weight
When your body is even slightly more active, as required by standing and accomplishing some movement, you’re less likely to fall into the doldrums. At least you can shake them off if you’ve already landed there. Of course, standing won’t make your boss a better person, but you can tolerate him/her easier when you’re not feeling so blue. But don’t take our word for it. In a study published by the National Institute for Health in 2014, the subjects who used sit-stand desks for a month reported an “increased overall sense of well-being, energy, decreased fatigue, had no impact on productivity, and reduced appetite and dietary intake.”
Sit When You Need To
With a sit-stand desk, you can lower the desk to chair height at will. Standing all day can cause its own set of problems. Just ask any supermarket cashier. If you remain on your feet all day, you risk deep vein thrombosis, swelling of feet and ankles, sciatica (ouch!) and lower back compression. The trick is to stand until your legs and back feel fatigued, then sit until your rear tells you to stand back up. Our bodies have an uncanny knack for alerting us when it’s been in one position long enough.
If you’re the boss and would like to wring more productivity out of your staff, you should consider requisitioning sit-stand desks for them. When they arrive, you may need professionals to move them in and set them up. This is right up the alley of Expert Relocation Systems. We specialize in moving offices and installation of office furnishings including desks and cubicles, to name just two. For any type of heavy lifting, simply contact us today for a free quote. We have the muscle, the brains and the experience to move your office or warehouse and wrangle furniture remodels, too.