What happens when you work on a standing table

Osheen Jain
4 min readDec 2, 2022

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Photo by Magnus Andersson on Unsplash

A standing desk can offer many benefits, including improved posture, decreased back pain, and increased productivity. If you’re considering switching to a standing desk, here are some benefits you can expect.

Improved posture is one of the most common benefits of using a standing desk. When you’re sitting, it’s easy to slouch or round your shoulders. This can lead to back pain and neck pain. Standing desks can help improve your posture by encouraging you to stand up straight.

A standing desk can also help decrease back pain. When you sit, your hips are angled forward, which can strain your back. A standing desk can help neutralize your hip position and take the pressure off your back.

In addition to improved posture and less back pain, standing desks can also lead to increased productivity. One study found that employees who used standing desks were 46% more productive than those who sat down.

A standing desk is a great option if you’re looking for a way to improve your posture, reduce back pain, and boost your productivity.

Benefits of Using a Standing Work Desk

Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash

Using a standing desk is a great option if you’re looking for a way to improve your productivity and overall health. Here are some benefits of using a standing desk every day:

1. You’ll Burn More Calories

When you are standing, you burn more calories than when you are seated. So, if you’re looking to tone up or lose weight, using a standing desk is a great way to add more movement to your day.

It has been shown that an equal amount of time spent standing burns over 170 additional calories compared to an afternoon of inactive work, allowing you to burn almost 1000 extra, calories each week. The caloric difference could be one of the reasons why sitting for long periods is strongly linked to obesity and metabolic disease.

2. You’ll Reduce Your Risk of Disease

Sitting for long periods has been linked to an increased risk of diseases like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Using a standing desk can help reduce your risk of these diseases. Furthermore, a small study of 10 office workers found that standing for 180 minutes after lunch lowered their blood sugar spike by 43% compared to when they sat for the same amount of time. According to a study, bus conductors who stood all day had half the risk of heart disease-related deaths.

3. You’ll Improve Your Posture

When you sit, your body is hunched forward, which can lead to back and neck pain. standing upright can help improve your posture and reduce pain.

4. You’ll Boost Your Energy Levels

Standing up helps increase your circulation and blood flow, giving you a natural energy boost. In one study, people who used standing desks said they felt less stress and fatigue than people who sat down the whole workday. Almost 85% of those using standing desks reported increased energy and vigour throughout the day.

5. You’ll Be More Productive

A study of 60 young office workers found that using a standing desk for 4 hours a day did not affect how many characters they typed per minute or the number of typing errors they made.

Since standing works to improve mood and energy, a standing desk is likely to boost productivity rather than hinder it.

So, Where does Research Leave Us?

A deep dive into the research and literature related to standing vs sitting desks is, to a level, inconclusive. We saw that standing for longer durations can be unhealthy. A study by Smith and colleagues found that people with occupations that involve standing have a 2-fold chance of an increase in heart disease. Although this study didn’t control the type of occupation or demographic factor.

It’s true that a sedentary lifestyle with no movement and exercise is unhealthy and can contribute to various health-related risks. However, standing desks isn’t the necessary solution.

The idea is that any form of inactivity, either while standing or sitting, leads to adverse health implications. Working on standing desks can help you stay active. A good rule of thumb is to stand for 20 minutes, sit for 8, and walk for 2.

Time to take a stand 😜

I’ll leave you with a quick piece of actionable advice. Gretchen Reynolds, a health reporter for The New York Times, wrote a book that condenses health studies down to their most essential parts. The golden 20-minute mark was one of the key findings from her research.

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

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Osheen Jain

Content creator. Computational Neuroscientist in Making. I write mostly on productivity, AI, cognitive science, and Neural Nets.