Should I Be Using a Stand Up Desk?

In order to answer that question, we would first need to ask you these questions: do you want to be healthier? Do you want to have more energy? Do you want to live longer? These are all great reasons why you probably should be using a stand up desk, but they’re just scratching the surface. Let’s go over some of the biggest reasons why you probably should be using a stand up desk.

Is it Healthier to Stand at Your Desk? 

A lot of the scientific studies you’ll find about standing desks are less about the health benefits of standing and more about the dangers of sitting. The goal of a stand up desk is to get you to stand more, but the main reason why you should be standing at your desk more than you sit is this: sitting all day is not good for you. So a better answer to the question “is standing at your desk healthy” would be yes, because sitting all day is bad.

Why is Sitting All Day Bad For You? 

The first major study dates back to the 1940s. Scientists found that some transit workers in London had a much higher rate of heart disease than others. Through a multi-year study, they discovered that these higher rates of heart disease were most commonly found in drivers, while conductors and guards did not have the same experience. The conclusion from this study (and the many others that have taken place since) is that the people who spent all day sitting had worse health outcomes than the people who didn’t.  

Sitting is bad for the same reason why standing is good–it improves your cardiovascular health and your metabolism. Don’t take our word for it; just ask the Mayo Clinic.  

Is a Stand Up Desk Good for My Posture?

A human body is a complex collection of systems, organs, and structures that all work best when arranged in the optimal way. This “optimal way” is also called “good posture” and while standing up doesn’t automatically mean you’ll have better posture, bad posture while standing is way less dangerous to your health than bad posture while sitting. Your mother’s advice to keep your back straight and your chin up is not just a lesson in having a good mindset, it’s also a hallmark of overall better health. 

Will a Stand Up Desk Help Me Live Longer?

The answer to this question is such a resounding Yes that we’ve written about it before: Standing Up Makes You Live Longer. To summarize that blog post for this answer, here’s the short version: among the conditions that sitting all day cause include obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, and increase your risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer. So yes, a Stand Up Desk will help you live longer. 

Can You Lose Weight by Standing? 

A study in 2016 that measured caloric expenditures while sitting compared to caloric expenditures while standing showed that while the act of standing did burn slightly more calories than sitting, it wasn’t enough to make a dent on whether or not the person lost weight. But there’s a psychological effect you get by standing that maybe doesn’t come through on a study like this. There is an overall holistic commitment to healthier living that can change the way we think about our health and our daily habits. Eating better, exercising regularly, and using a stand up desk are just parts of a larger health strategy.

Who Makes the Best Stand Up Desk?

More and more companies are offering stand up desks these days, but StandDesk specializes in making stand up desks that are comfortable, affordable, and easy to assemble. Build your own StandDesk today.