This Week We Talk About The Benefits Of Standing, But Also Address A Few Risks.
Last week we talked about the harmful effects of sitting. I hope you guys have made some changes to your sitting habits, or time spent sitting. I have also continued to make these changes while making sure that at lunch time I get up, and move around after having sat all morning.
This week, I want to talk about the health benefits of standing. Recent research has shown that standing can improve focus, give you more energy, and leads to less back pain. And recently, it has been shown to improve meetings.
An article published in the journal Social Psychological & Personality Science, by Andrew Knight and Markus Baer, showed that when chairs were removed from meetings that people involved in the meeting were less territorial about their ideas, and more engaged than when they were sitting. The study also went on to say, “if leaders aspire to enhance collaborative knowledge work, they might consider eschewing the traditional conference room setup of tables and chairs and, instead, clear an open space for people to collaborate with one another.” From this research we see that our collaborative skills/nature are better when we stand than when we sit.
I have also been reading many blogs as well as news sources that talk about the benefits of, and the issues with standing. For many, the standing desk is a great option. However, deciding to stand from here on out at work is not something that you can just start doing. You will have to slowly the build up the necessary strength in the body to be able to stand for that long, or that standing could lead to knee and feet pain, lower back pain/strain, and/or fatigue. It is wise to slowly increase the amount of time that you are standing while making sure you are wearing the proper shoes on the proper flooring.
Dr. Mike Loosemore, the lead consultant in exercise medicine at the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health, in the UK, stated that “if I stood up like this and worked standing up, which I do, three hours a day, five days a week, that would be the equivalent of running ten marathons a year.” While I admit that this seems amazing to me, I can see how it can be true especially since most of us sit so much to begin with in comparison. Small changes like getting up, and standing while making a phone call, or talking to someone in person rather than email can, and will, have positive benefits on your health. So I challenge you to continue finding small, and big ways to change your daily exercise/sitting habits. Make them not only for yourself, but also for your family.
Source: Medical News Today