If you find yourself suffering from back pain day after day due to sitting at your desk for extended periods, probably it's time for a change. Electronic standing desks are becoming more popular, and with good reason! While sitting all day can put you at risk of diabetes and weight gain, standing desks do the opposite. Also, they can improve posture, reduce the risk of chronic diseases, prevent your muscles from strain, and minimize fatigue associated with prolonged sitting. Here, we overview how planting your bump on a chair for prolonged hours affects your health and what changes (even minor ones) can be done to make your work and life much more comfortable and easier. Alright, let's dive in.
How does sitting around all day affect your body, for real?
So here’s the deal. If you sit for long hours glued to your chair, your body goes through some serious changes that can seriously affect your health. Picture this: your blood flow starts to slow down, circulation takes a hit, and your muscles tighten up. The result? Stiffness kicks in, your posture goes out the window, and the pressure on your spine and lower back starts to build up.
Also, your risk of health issues like diabetes and heart disease also increases while you are settled on your chair. And let's not forget about your muscles - all that sitting around means they aren't getting the workout they need, leaving them weak and inactive.
But wait, there's more. Prolonged sitting also puts the brakes on your metabolism, making weight gain a real possibility. Reducing your body's ability to regulate blood pressure, blood sugar and break down body fat. If that doesn’t scare you, no worries, we’ve got even more. There is some research stating that even some types of cancer have been linked to being inactive. A sedentary lifestyle is becoming a bigger and bigger threat to our health.
How can standing desks help you deal with all these things?
They can effectively reduce your sitting time during the workday, and that’s a fact! That means you, as a sit-stand desk user, tend to switch between sitting and standing positions rather than sitting for long periods. And with that comes many benefits for your physical health - just look at this:
1. Burns some calories
The research shows that it only takes 30 minutes of sitting to begin negatively impacting your health as metabolism might drop as much as 90%. So imagine what at least 8 hours a day is going to do to your body. While sitting, a person burns around 80 calories/hour — about the same as scrolling or watching TV and while standing, the number of calories burned is about 88 calories/hour. That doesn’t seem much, but during the day or a week, it adds up.
2. Keeps you upright
Using a standing desk can boost your posture by keeping your spine aligned and saving you from slouching. It makes your core muscles active, supporting your back and posture. What is more, switching between sitting and standing helps you not to get stiff and avoid tension if you sit too long. And mostly, we all do that - sit way too long.
3. Makes the blood pumping
Your blood flow gives you a million ‘thanks’ if you switch between sitting and standing while working. Sitting for too long can cause issues with circulation, like swelling or numbness in your legs. But by standing up and moving around regularly, you can encourage healthy blood flow. So, if you want to keep your body in motion and your blood flowing smoothly, you should definitely think about giving standing desks a try.
4. Protects your lower back from pain
Most of us know what it means to have lower back pain after sitting all day. A standing desk can be a game-changer. By allowing you to adjust positions throughout the day, standing makes you move and reduces pressure on the lower back while you’re standing. It's an active way of working that can make a big difference in how you cope with and avoid lower back pain. Involving some standing breaks into your work routine can be a simple yet effective way to kiss discomfort goodbye.
5. Trains and helps your muscles
When you stand, your leg muscles have to work harder to support your body weight. Over time they become stronger and more resistant to tension. Plus, when you stand, your body makes adjustments and dictates you to move from time to time, shifting your body weight so that you wouldn’t become stiff or tense. So by the end of the day, you avoid or at least reduce muscle strain (especially those in back and neck areas) and make your muscles active as they should be.
6. Helps lower the risk of chronic diseases
Let’s not get too deep into this, but there is much research proving that changing positions from sitting to standing can help avoid diseases such as diabetes, obesity and even some types of cancer. Our bodies were meant to move. Sitting (as well as standing for too long) makes our biological systems fail and our risk of disease goes up like craaazy.
And the bottom line is…
If you read the article, probably we don’t need to say again that the toll sitting all day takes on your body is no joke. It's crucial to be mindful of how much time you spend planted in your seat and to find ways to get moving throughout the day. Whether it's doing some desk stretches during the work day or investing in a standing desk. Height-adjustable desks like HomeOne or HomePro, have many benefits that directly affect your body and long term well-being. Splurge a little bit on a desk that you feel good about and be sure with the right choices you’ve made for yourself and your productive days.
Are there any thoughts that you would like to share? Let us know in the comments.
