To stand or sit at your office desk?… that is the question
Just this month, a study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology suggested switching standing for sitting for six hours per day could help people lose 2.5kg over the course of a year. And in 2015, researchers from the University of Chester recommended office workers use sit-stand desks to ensure they are on their feet for a minimum of two hours a day, with the goal of eventually increasing that to four hours.
Some researchers have even suggested standing could slow the ageing process. According to a 2014 study, the less time a person spent sitting, the longer their telomeres — the protective caps which sit at the end of chromosomes. Short telomeres have been linked to premature ageing, disease and early death.
However, not everyone is so sure that standing desks are the perfect solution. Rather, a combination of sitting, standing and moving is essential to creating a healthy working environment.
“Standing desks aren’t the silver bullet, they’re not the solution to everything, however they can be part of the solution for many people,” said David Hall, occupational health chair at the Australian Physiotherapy Association.
“A lot of jobs have a predominance of sitting, and a lot have a predominance of standing [such as retail]. We advise people to mix those two in an intuitive, natural way, much like how we’d use our body on the weekend.
“The challenge in any workplace is to try and allow people to have a natural flow between sitting, standing and moving. What we know is you shouldn’t sit for longer than 30 minutes at a time, but similarly different types of issues start to kick in after standing for a long period.”
The key message is that utilising office desks that can quickly change heights will help you maintain a healthy balance between sitting and standing while at your desk.
For help with any height adjustable office furniture, please call our team on (02) 9818 4200
Some researchers have even suggested standing could slow the ageing process. According to a 2014 study, the less time a person spent sitting, the longer their telomeres — the protective caps which sit at the end of chromosomes. Short telomeres have been linked to premature ageing, disease and early death.
However, not everyone is so sure that standing desks are the perfect solution. Rather, a combination of sitting, standing and moving is essential to creating a healthy working environment.
“Standing desks aren’t the silver bullet, they’re not the solution to everything, however they can be part of the solution for many people,” said David Hall, occupational health chair at the Australian Physiotherapy Association.
“A lot of jobs have a predominance of sitting, and a lot have a predominance of standing [such as retail]. We advise people to mix those two in an intuitive, natural way, much like how we’d use our body on the weekend.
“The challenge in any workplace is to try and allow people to have a natural flow between sitting, standing and moving. What we know is you shouldn’t sit for longer than 30 minutes at a time, but similarly different types of issues start to kick in after standing for a long period.”
The key message is that utilising office desks that can quickly change heights will help you maintain a healthy balance between sitting and standing while at your desk.
For help with any height adjustable office furniture, please call our team on (02) 9818 4200