The Benefits of Using a Standing Desk

Is a standing desk worth the effort?

Recommending exercise is never popular. Patients roll their eyes at you, ignore the advice, and don’t want to put the work in. That’s nothing compared to when you recommend a standing desk.

People love to sit down. Standing at work is very uncomfortable when you are new to it. It hurts your feet, hurts your calves, it may even hurt your back. If that’s the case it probably means you’re weak. You are using muscles you aren’t used to and placing stress on parts of the body you aren’t used to.

It takes time to build up the musculature and connective tissue strength necessary to hold this position for an extended period of time. If you’re overweight, it is even harder.

The benefits of standing rather than sitting should be pretty obvious. Just because you’re more comfortable sitting doesn’t mean it’s ideal. Most people don’t sit correctly. They slump over and have terrible postures. This leads to weak muscles, tight muscles, and so on. I have written about this in the past.

Sitting is also not optimal when it comes to circulation. Your veins transport blood when the muscles contract. When you’re sitting the blood doesn’t move. The same goes for your lymphatic system. This leads to swelling in the legs.

It’s not ideal for cardiovascular health. For example, crossing your feet or legs when you sit will increase your blood pressure. This stresses the heart, damages the endothelial lining, and leads to poor cardiac outcomes.

The fact of the matter is, there is a strong correlation between sitting for extended periods of time and various chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. However, it’s hard to tell if the cause is sitting (unlikely) or if people who are unhealthy in general are less likely to be active and more likely to sit. I think the latter is most likely.

Standing Desks

This is pretty straightforward. A standing desk is a raised desk you stand at, rather than sitting in a chair. Most times they are also adjustable so you can alternate whenever you want. They come in a wide variety of styles, sizes, and so forth.

Nowadays, standing desks are pretty cheap. I bought one off Amazon about a year ago for $150 which has served me well to date.

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To go along with your standing desk you may choose to purchase a standing mat of some sort. These are typically foam pads that soften the ground you’re standing on. This helps when you’re standing for an extended period of time. Again, they are pretty cheap to buy on Amazon or elsewhere.

Why Bother Standing?