You'll hear my peers and me at UpDesk sing the praises of the standing desk and we aren't the only ones. The Medical Journal of Australia gave more insight into the stand up desk and its necessity based on a recent study. Lifehacker reviews the paper concluding "Researchers from Curtin University's School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science in WA have confirmed what hundreds of Lifehacker readers already knew — standing desks are awesome."
According to research non-standing desks can attribute to an unsafe working environment even if the risk isn't as obvious right away. Head researcher Professor Leon Straker explains "A doctor who is aware that a patient has a prolapsed disc in the spine would require the patient to refrain from lifting heavy objects at work. In the same way a doctor who is aware that a patient's cardiovascular condition necessitates remaining active and avoiding excessive sedentary exposure should inform the patient and employer of the need for the patient to regularly move to maintain well-being."
Since over 75% of the office workday is consumed with sitting it can lead to disastrous health ailments such as obesity type 2 diabetes and other serious outcomes. There's a reason sitting at a desk has been dubbed the "new smoking."
The authors of the study aren't holding back in their warnings against the harm of sitting and being sedentary and they also give solutions to the problem of a sitting environment like standing meetings which is similar to the walking meetings we're such huge fans of.
The numerous benefits of standing at an office desk are too important to ignoreand the report sums up our feelings nicely saying "There is now evidence that both overall sedentary time and the pattern of sedentary exposure are associated with substantial harm. Some risk reduction strategies such as introducing standing meetings are costless. While other strategies have a cost the cost does not seem disproportionate given the potential for significant harm."
If you've been thinking about getting a new piece of office furniture--specifically a standing desk be sure to look at our options online. They range in color function price and design--with enough benefits to last you the rest of your (hopefully long) life.
