Health risks from standing
Standing all day has its own health problems. People who have to stay on their feet all day at work can face problems such as, lower back pains, varicose veins and problems with leg muscles, etc. In a study published by Ergonomics journal back in 2017, it was observed that prolong standing can cause feeling of discomfort and can reduce reaction times. Just after two hours of standing, participants complained about mental deterioration. Physical symptoms included leg swelling and muscle fatigue. But standing helped in creative problem solving. Check out uplift v2 desk review – More Info.Maintaining the balance between standing and sitting
The best course of action is to maintain the balance between standing and sitting. According to a professor in Waterloo, the best ratio between sitting and standing lies between, 1:1 to 1:3. That means if you are working for one hour, you need to stand for about 30 to 45 minutes and stay seated for the remaining time. If you have 8 working hours at office, you should look to stand for about 4 to 6 hours. See locus desk by focal review – Website.Switching from a sedentary lifestyle to standing for hours is not easy. It is important to give your body proper time to adjust. A study was conducted in which half of the participants develop lower back pain while standing at an ergonomic desk for two straight hours. These participants had no issues of back pain prior to the study.
So what is important is to maintain the balance and switch between standing and sitting throughout your day. Although sedentary life style consists higher health risks, but you can’t change yourself overnight. You need to gradually make your body use to standing for 30 to 45 minutes each hour to avoid developing back pains and give your body rest for 30 to 15 minutes by sitting. It is also important to move and stretch your body while standing to avoid stress on your muscles. And you need to do this before feeling any discomfort or pain, because it’s hard to get rid of pain once it is started. So you need to move and stretch as you stand and not let your muscles to get stressed.