Should You Sit Or Stand At Work?

Should You Sit Or Stand At Work-office sitting

Should You Sit Or Stand At Work?

Unsure whether to use a sitting or standing desk at work? You’re not alone – not even the experts can tell you the best way to spend your hours in the office. Headlines over the past few years have declared that sitting is the new smoking and can be linked to numerous health issues such as diabetes and heart disease.

While standing is certainly a more functional way to spend your time at work it still has its downsides. There is still a risk of developing lower back pain plus I find that people can still stand with bad posture which doesn’t really solve the posture problem.

Get Moving

Movement seems to be the key factor that is missing for people who are office bound and end up spending 70% of their day sitting. Recent research suggests that up to four hours a day of movement is necessary to prevent long term health consequences from sitting still in the office. The latest ergonomic research suggests that continued movement throughout the day is most beneficial. This means going from sitting to standing combined with walking.

Even if you ride to work, or train hard in the gym at the start of the day, you still have to move throughout the day. Going for a jog at lunch or hitting the gym before work still won’t be enough to counterbalance the impact of sitting all day. While this type of exercise is certainly beneficial in an ideal world it needs to be combined with constant short periods of movement while at work.

 

Should You Sit Or Stand At Work-office-standing

Workplaces Are Changing

Workplace consultants are testing new ‘wellness’ concepts that fit with this model of movement throughout the day and believe that there will be a fundamental change in the corporate landscape. These changes may include all employees having sit to stand desks which they can adjust throughout the day and facilities to walk and move around the workplace. Changes could include walking meetings and taking more frequent shorter breaks.

But back to the desks. Before 2008, corporate clients hardly ordered them, from furniture and design company Schiavello International. Since 2013, however, about 30 per cent of new orders are for sit-to-stand desks.

Got Lower Back Pain from Your Desk Job?

If you would like advice about posture/ergonomics or if you need help with lower back pain (or other aches) you are experiencing from long hours of sitting, feel free to contact me as I am a Brisbane CBD Chiropractor and would love to help you out.

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