Are you tired of being tired after work? Do you want to feel better about your job? If so, take a quick look at these 4 reasons why you should find a way to stand part of the day while you work. It doesn't matter if you put a box on your desk for Zero Dollars or you spend $5,000 for a full size electric desk, the goal is to get you up and moving while you work.

1. Recent studies have shown a link between sitting in a chair all day and cancer rates. "It's just one more reason to "get up and walk," said Dr. Jay Brooks, chairman of hematology/oncology at Ochsner Health System in Baton Rouge "The message here is like everything in your life. People need to recognize that the things you do every day have consequences. And if you're in a job that does require sitting, that's fine, but any time you can expend energy is good. That's the key." 



2. While there is not a complete study to verify this, I can tell you from my experience that when you feel better physically, you tend to feel better about your work. I had gotten to the point where I was unhappy in my job, but after using an adjustable height desk for just a few weeks, I had this renewed interest in my work. Using a stand-up desk just makes me feel better overall. 



3. To avoid health risk you need at least 30 minutes of exercise every day. By standing at a stand-up desk part of the day it gives you the opportunity to do squats and calf lifts while you are working. 



4. The answer isn't to stand all day either. Hazards Magazine says "Individuals spending most of the day on their feet every working day are at greater risk of health problems including varicose veins, poor circulation and swelling in the feet and legs, foot problems, joint damage, heart and circulatory problems and pregnancy difficulties." 

The bottom line is that if you sit all day it's bad. If you stand all day it isn't much better. Like most things in life, moderation is the key. Alternate between standing and sitting though out the day, sitting for a half hour then standing for an hour or so. Rinse and Repeat! Once you are comfortable standing for an hour or so, take things to another level by standing on one leg for a while. Be careful not to over do it, but there are so many different ways to move while you are standing and working.




Five or more hours of sedentary sitting, according to Dr. David Agus, is the health equivalent of smoking a pack and a quarter of cigarettes. Yikes.

Yet, sitting around is something we get plenty of practice at. Reading and writing and creating on a computer makes for big chunks of sedentary time. If you’re reading this post right now, are you sitting down? How long have you been sitting?

It’s a topic that I think of often. We’ve all kind of taken a shining to it on the Buffer team, being more aware of the time we spend in front of the computer, how we take breaks, how we focus on exercise and movement. And we’re not alone. There is tons of interest out there about the healthiest way to survive a sedentary job—from the health recommendations to the tools to the activities.

So what is indeed the healthiest way? And what can you change about your style today to get the biggest benefit?

Here’re some ideas.

The Healthiest Way to Survive a Sedentary Job

Science says:

Stand up every 20 minutes. 



Studies have shown that our bodies can benefit from simply standing up, contracting muscles, and moving. Think of standing as pushing a reset button on your body. If you press the reset button before the timer hits 20 minutes, you’ll avoid any of the negative side effects of a sedentary job.




Gretchen Reynolds, a reporter on exercise research for The New York Times, wrote a book condensing health studies down to their most essential parts. One of the key takeaways from her research was this emphasis on standing up and the golden 20-minute mark.

New science shows very persuasively that standing up about every 20 minutes, even for only a minute or two, reduces your risks of developing diabetes and heart disease.

By standing up, you cause the big muscles in your legs and back to contract, which leads to an increase in certain enzymes that break up fat in the blood stream. You don’t have to jog in place or do jumping jacks. Just stand. A very pleasant additional benefit is that standing up every 20 to 30 minutes also seems to prompt the body to burn calories, so you don’t gain as much weight from sitting at the office most of the day. Even more from Reynolds:

If you can stand up every 20 minutes — even if you do nothing else — you change how your body responds physiologically.

Other studies confirm the benefit of this simple act of standing. For instance, a study of employees at New Balance shoe headquarters showed that performing an activity every 30 minutes—standing, walking, stretching—improved not only health but also engagement and concentration. 




So now the question becomes: How do you stand up every 20 minutes?

Start small: Set a timer for 20 minutes

At Buffer, each person on the team is equipped with a Jawbone UP to track our movement, activity levels, and sleep. At the end of every day, we can see how we moved (or didn’t move). For instance, here’s my Thursday. 




Move on to adjustable standing desks

Products like the Varidesk and Kangaroo Pro help convert a standard desk into a standing desk, and they have the adjustable power to set the screen and keyboard at the ideal height.

The advantages of an adjustable desk are likely to be noticed immediately: you can vary the height at which you work when sitting, standing, or moving in between. The hybrid options like the Varidesk and Kangaroo Pro help bridge the gap between non-adjustable desks and the full-on, standalone adjustable desks.



Read More at> https://open.bufferapp.com/healthiest-way-to-work-standing-sitting/



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