You know this by now: at UpDesk we're big advocates of standing while you work. Whether it's from a treadmill standing desk a height adjustable desk that lets you sit when you need to take a break or even a DIY stand up desk solution. Because the truth is even if you stand for part of your day you'll be experiencing some pretty amazing benefits of a standing desk. You'll be healthier happier and more productive...and believe it or not you may actually add years to your life.
And now there's yet another academic study to add to the growing list of support for standing during your day. A new study conducted by the University of Minnesota School of Public Health boasts a whole new set of findings that speak to the benefits of a standing desk. And this one gives hope to all you out there who hate the gym but still want to stay healthy.
In the report co-authored by Mark Pereira an associate professor of epidemiology and community health researchers pulled together 250 employees from four different working environments for a six-month study. Then they broke the group into four sub-sets:
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A "general" group following usual work behavior and patterns
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A "move" group assigned at least 30-minutes of activity each day
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A "stand" group which was asked to stand for at least half of every day
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A "stand and move" group which combined the two active groups
Throughout the study participants reported on their activity levels and set-to-stand ratios to Pereira and his team. The researchers also used the time to measure blood sugar and triglyceride levels as well as individual blood pressure at the start and end of the study.
Can you guess what group saw the most positive results? The "stand and move" group of course. People in this fourth group had the lowest blood sugar and triglyceride levels and experienced the most positive change over the six-month period. And they also experienced a decrease in risk factors for diabetes heart disease and stroke. Just one more reason to keep exercising stretching and yoga-ing at your height adjustable desk.
But here's the really cool thing about Periera's findings: even without consistent activity standing still had a huge positive impact.
"The thing that's new with our research and some of the other recent research in this area of sedentary time and interventions to reduce sedentary time is that it seems to have physiological health benefits that are independent totally separate from physical activity" says Periera alluding to the fact that even if you're not a gym rat pushing aside that desk chair can totally change your life.
But why is that? Because even if you're not moving standing still engages a lot more of your body than sitting does. "You're actually using a substantial amount of muscular activity -- not by moving your quadriceps and your gluteus maximus -- but by holding your body weight versus sitting in a chair."
There you have it. Even if you hate the gym there's still hope. And while UpDesk is a big advocate of exercising regularly we can't help but love the fact that simply standing at your desk is an easy way to stay healthy even if you've already fallen behind in your New Year's resolution to work out more.
Have we convinced you to get a height adjustable desk from UpDesk yet? We thought so. Just make sure you do it right. One of the main things Pereira and his team advocated for was a healthy transition to the stand up desk life."We recommend [people] work up their standing time at their desk gradually over about four weeks" he says.
If you're ready to make the switch to a height adjustable desk and experience all the amazing benefits of a standing desk that the University of Minnesota discovered in their study give UpDesk a call at (615) 350-7085 today!
