Its funny calling standing desks a trend when, in fact, Thomas Jefferson used one back in the s. But theres no doubt that working on our feet is having another moment.
While tech companies from Apple to Google have been outfitting their offices with them for more than a decade, sit-stands didnt really take off for home work zones until our post-, hybrid era. They fill our need to furnish our work-from-home space with a comfortable, flexible setupwhile also satisfying that modern-day wish to work hard but maintain a healthy balance. People are much more invested in where and how theyre working now, says Irvington, N.J.-based interior designer Beth Diana Smith.
But snapping up an adjustable-height desk to try to stand more for wellness reasons comes with some tricky decisions. From finding one thats comfortable for your height to figuring out the best ratio of standing to sitting, theres a lot to weigh before getting with the sit-stand program, including whether it should double as your home gym. You can now pair a standing desk with a treadmill, as Victoria Beckham reportedly does, or swap out your chair for a bike desk chairbut is that wise? To find out, we talked with ergonomists, interior designers and healthy work experts. Ahead, tips to help you clarify your stance on it all.
Thats an easy one: Everyone, says Jack Dennerlein, professor of physical therapy, movement and rehabilitation sciences at Northeastern University in Boston. If you want to improve your well-being, having a sit-stand workstation allows you to change your posture and that just helps everybody.
Many studies have looked into the health benefits of standing desks, and the big winners are your neck and back. When you feel a little stiff or achy, it lets you change things up, Dennerlein says. Some studies have found the desks make a difference for easing lower back and shoulder and neck discomfort. In fact, a review of 53 studies published in Applied Ergonomics concluded sit-stand desks are successful at changing behaviori.e. getting sitters to stand moreand relieving aches.
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They may help your mental health too. Research has shown that when companies implement sit-stand desks, their staffers become a lot happier. Theyve got more control over their work environment, Dennerlein says, and that decision power can improve their well-being.
Theres also a social contagion factor that means you have the power to spur someone else to move moreeven if you only see each other over Zoom. I know when Im in a meeting and I see someone standing, Im like, Oh, Ive got to stand too, Dennerlein says.
Nothats about the worst thing you could do. We know standing all day is not good for you, Dennerlein says. People who stand for work have more back pain and often have higher rates of cardiovascular disease.
You need to mix it up, and your body is the best judge of the right ratio for you. Some people can only stand for five or 10 minutes before they start to feel pain and have to sit, Dennerlein says, while others can comfortably stand for a couple of hours at a clip.
Its not the standing part that is beneficial, but rather the movement, explains April Chambers, associate professor of health and human development at University of Pittsburgh. Unlike a traditional desk, a standing station nudges us off our chairs, changing our posture. Then once were up, we naturally shift around.
Think about Zoom calls: You can usually tell when someones at a standing desk because theyre moving around, Dennerlein points out. These micro and macro movements do more for the muscles and joints than youd think. By changing your posture, the load on your joints changes and you get the blood flowing to other parts of the body, he notes. Thats why going between sitting and standing is really helpful for you.
Well, if you buy one hoping itll help you drop pounds, you might be disappointed. When standing desks first came out, some people thought of them as a weight loss tool, but that promise hasnt held up in research, Chambers says. Turns out, doing a desk job on your feet isnt much of a fat burner. As Dennerlein puts it, The calories burned if you stand all day are equivalent to a slice of bread.
Theres no one-size-fits-all, says Dennerlein. Whats important when using a standing desk is paying attention to your body. What feels good? What doesnt feel good?
While the classic 90-90-90 ergonomics rule for sitting at a deskwhere your knees, pelvis and elbows are all at 90-degree anglesis a good starting point, theres actually a lot of deviation in how people like to work while standing, and thats just fine. A study Dennerlein led that was published in the journal Human Factors compared how people arrange their sitting and standing setups and found most preferred the standing desk set slightly lower than elbow height. They also arranged their monitor lower than they did while sitting, with more upward tilt, and kept their mouse closer to the body while standing than while sitting.
The inspiration for the study came from his own realization that he was setting up his sit-stand desk differently when standing than when sitting, and it was giving him neck pain. He says to pay attention to those twinges and adjust accordingly because people find comfort in different ways when they work at a computer.
Your height is a crucial consideration because if the desk doesnt fit you, it wont be comfortable. If youre shorter than average, you want to make sure your sit-stand goes low enough so you can sit comfortably. Atlanta-based writer Kate Rope, who is 5-foot-3, bought this Vari sit-stand desk strictly because of its adjustability. I like the fact that it goes lower than a normal desk for my short self, she says.
If youre tall, you need one that adjusts high enough so you dont have to stoop downor put it up on bricks, as a 6-foot-6-inch friend of Dennerlein had to do. The specs generally spell out the desk height range in inches, along with which heights those work for, so read carefully before investing. These adjustable standing desks, including the two below, work for a wide range of heights.
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