Photo: AndreyPopov (Getty)
As an editor and writer, there’s nothing that I like more than sitting on a chair. But after a couple of hours my ass starts to feel like it’s been sitting on jagged rocks, so I understand why so many people love using standing desks while at work. But guess what? It seems like standing desks do more harm on your body.
According to new research recently published in journal Ergonomics, standing at a desk for a prolonged period of time will create “discomfort and deteriorating mental reactiveness.” While the study wasn’t that comprehensive (only 20 people took part in it), it does show even more proof that these standing desks aren’t the best option for employees. Standing desks may also cause back discomfort and the swelling of veins.
But there’s more evidence as Newsweek reported that a 12-year study of more than 7,000 office workers in the American Journal of Epidemiology found people who often stood at work were nearly twice as likely to develop heart disease as opposed to those that sat more often.
Here’s what Alan Taylor, a physiotherapy expert at Nottingham University had to say:
“The bottom line is that this expansion [of standing desks] has been driven more by commercial reasons than scientific evidence,” said “But the evidence is catching up, and it’s showing there are some drawbacks.”
So sitting is awful for you and so is standing. So what should we do? Well Taylor thinks we should take more walks at work. But I don’t agree. I think everyone should just lie down. I don’t see any health drawbacks with lying down all day.
h/t Washington Post
