It wasn’t long ago that a desk job was deemed a luxury position in society. For so long, workers performed labor standing up, constantly moving around. Today, that office chair has become just as important as the computer we stare at all day. And on top of sitting from 9-5, five days a week at the office (if not more, let’s face it), think about the other sitting moments in your daily routine. Breakfast — sit. Drive to work — sit. Lunch — sit. Drive home — sit. Dinner — sit. Watch TV/relax — sit. That’s a lot of butt to seat action.
With daily sit times reaching between 9-15 hours on average, society is facing significant health risks, such as obesity, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, cancer and premature death, and sadly, most aren’t even aware of the dangers.
- An American Cancer Society study in 2010 studied 123,000 adults and uncovered an increased mortality rate of 37% from sitting more than 6 hours a day.
But wait, maybe you see yourself as an active person. That surely counteracts all the daily sitting, right? RIGHT? Afraid not.
- American College of Sports Medicine (2009) published a study revealing that regardless of fitness level, those who sat most had a 50% increased risk of early death.
Sorry fitness aficionados, even your daily sweat obsession can’t retroact the damage done by parking it on your caboose all day. But there is good news! With all these recent studies, furniture manufactures and office-based companies are beginning to take notice and make a change for standing desk furniture.
The Arrival of Sit-Stand Ergonomic Furniture
With the emergence of ergonomic sit-stand furniture and desks, office workers and the like can enjoy various stages and healthy amounts of sitting and standing at their desks. It doesn’t mean you have to kiss your precious chair goodbye, as you should continue to use both depending on your task at hand.
It’s also important to note that with sit-stand office furniture, you don’t have to cut yourself off cold turkey. Slowly wean yourself off from all your sitting slowly and comfortably. Try standing 10 minutes every 30-45 minutes. Then make it 20 minutes, 30 minutes — until you’re sitting and standing equally throughout the day. This will help with foot and leg fatigue or any kind of discomfort while making the sit-to-stand adjustment. Rome wasn’t built over night, and neither was your posture.
And if alternating between sitting and standing office furniture isn’t for you, there are specifically made ergonomic seat options that reimagine the typical office chair, putting you in a perching and/or leaning posture that opens up your hips to 130 and 135 degrees, respectively. These positions mimic our body’s natural, neutral state when under the effects of zero gravity — providing minimal stress and pressure on muscular and skeletal systems.
On top of it’s proven medical benefits, sit-stand ergonomic furniture is also good for boosting work productivity (people tend to do things faster when standing), lessening fatigue (goodbye 2-3 pm drowsy downtime?), and employee satisfaction (people like options).
Sitting has become an epidemic. Luckily, there isn’t some unfathomable future vaccine needed to cure it. All it takes is a little movement. Take a stand against unhealthy posture... literally.