Sitting on your rump simply does not cut it anymore when you’re working for hours upon hours on end. We’re all consistently looking for the best way to work. Whether we place importance on comfort or our health is based on the individual decision just as the decision to eat a cheeseburger is made for some while a salad is made for others. With this being said, sitting and standing desks both have their own pros and cons and while the decision might not seem so important to those who are recreational computer users, those who work for many hours in a day have an important decision to make.
Standing Desks Vs Sitting Desks
Here at Stando we feel productivity is the key when choosing a desk and different people have different needs. While some people are more productive standing at a standing desk throughout the day others find that it’s necessary to relax while at work in order to avoid feeling overwhelmed. The need for comfort at work is also important and with people finding different things more or less comfortable than others, it’s important to take one’s own perspective and utilize it when choosing the type of desk you’ll use. It’s necessary to be comfortable in the workplace so putting forth the extra effort of gaining an understanding of what benefits and issues each type of desk has. This is why the following article will cover the pros and cons of sitting and standing desks.
Sitting Desk Pros
So sitting desks are the more traditional desks that are used in the workplace and most people already understand, or at the very least have experienced, the benefits that they offer. While sitting down is not necessarily the worst thing you can do to your body, when a person sits for a long period of time sitting down can become a problem. Even with this being true, if the person has an ergonomically proper chair, the comfort level of a sitting desk is rather high. With that being said, as long as you continuously get up to get the blood pumping, sitting at a desk is relatively comfortable and sometimes even
enjoyable.
Another key benefit of having a sitting desk is the fact that since you’re already so used to it, you’re likely comfortable sitting at a desk and working. Working at a sitting desk is something that most people have been doing throughout their entire work career.
While making a change can be a good thing, the fact of the matter is that familiarity is typically comfortable. That being said, it’s likely that making the switch to a standing desk would provide some discomfort, at least temporarily until you’ve gotten used to it.
Relaxing while working is also something that is achievable when a person is utilizing a sitting desk. Have you ever tried standing up to relax? There really is nothing relaxing about it. Some people work better when they are relaxed but then again, there are some people who find that they become rather tired if they’re too relaxed at work. In essence, this is a bit of a double-edged sword, but being able to relax while working does have its benefits. Unwinding by sitting while working has the potential to decrease stress as well. With stress contributing to a variety of health issues, including but not limited to
heart attacks and strokes, being able to relax while at work can help with a person’s health if they are working in a high-stress office space. Crazy deadlines stressing you out? Relax with a sitting desk.
Standing Desk Pros
While it may sound as though a standing desk would be uncomfortable, some people actually prefer it to sitting. When some people sit, they feel lethargic or lazy, making sitting something that they’d prefer to avoid doing. With this being said, standing has the potential to make a person feel more alive. The fact that you are no longer sitting in a stagnant position can make the body feel better when comparing this action to the boring act of sitting. Understanding the body’s need to remain at least somewhat active over the course of a workday means knowing that using a standing desk has the potential to give the body what it craves.
Some people who use the standing desk find that it actually makes them feel stronger. In particular, the women who are using the standing desk claim that they feel as though they are becoming stronger when utilizing it over the traditional sitting desk. This could have to do with the fact that more muscles are being used over the course of a day when a person is constantly standing.
Between holding up the weight of one’s body and balancing the weight constantly in order to avoid falling over, it makes sense that the body is going to feel stronger after using a standing desk for many hours over the course of a work week.
The health benefits of utilizing a standing desk are rather obvious when looking at the action of standing itself. While standing, the body’s metabolism is improved tremendously in comparison to sitting down.
With the sitting desks, there have even been plenty of customer testimonials showcasing that they’ve lost as much as five pounds within a week of utilizing the desk! Although this is not a lot of weight to lose, it’s still nothing to scoff at when considering how much weight a person has the potential to gain when sitting still for long periods of time.
If you’re someone who suffers from back pain, the standing desk poses to assist with it as well. People making the switch from a sitting desk to a standing desk have reported less back pain. The fact of the matter is that a lot of back problems that people have are the result of spending countless hours sitting or slouching in chairs while working at a desk. This problem is fixable through the utilization of a standing desk and sacrificing the time seated means eliminating the variable causing back pain.
The standing desk also helps to improve a person’s attention span. Throughout the reviews, there are plenty of customers claiming that since they started using the standing desk, they’ve felt more focused while working. These individuals believe that the action of standing allows them their better focus by acting as a reminder that this time is to be dedicated to working.
For people who have a hard time paying attention, the standing desk will assist in allowing the person to get more work done in a shorter amount of time as they stand.
Sitting Desk Cons
Sitting on your butt can be detrimental to your health as well. The blood is not pumping throughout the day and the sedimentary lifestyle that a workday that is primarily composed of sitting can contribute to a variety of health issues. These health issues arise from not moving or burning enough calories. With the lack of calories being burned, it’s possible for the excess calories to become fat, increasing your risk of a variety of health issues including diabetes and heart disease. This being said, a sitting desk can contribute to these problems.
A person who sits constantly while they work also has the tendency to feel lazy, resulting in a less productive workday than one might hope for. If you’re someone who is being paid based on their performance or someone who owns their own business, a sitting desk can promote laziness at work.
Laziness is never a good thing and poor work habits can mean less money earned by you as well as your company. A lack of production also has the potential to cost a person their job, so it’s safe to say that this can pose a serious threat to a person’s job security.
There’s also the need for a good chair if you’re working at a sitting desk. This means that you’ll have the extra expense to worry about. While standing desks don’t require you to have a chair, sitting at a desk all day means you should really invest in a good chair that is going to support your back properly. A proper chair is the difference between having back pain while sitting at a desk and having a relaxing workday. With this being said, good office chairs do not come cheap. You’ll like spend a minimum of a couple hundred dollars on the right chair if you’re planning on sitting in it for a minimum of 8 hours at a time.
Standing Desk Cons
One of the most obvious problems with working at a standing desk is that sore feet can become an issue. If you’re the type of person who cannot handle being on their feet for hours at a time, the standing desk might not be for you. While it does take a couple of weeks for a person’s body and feet to adjust to the motion of standing as opposed to sitting for hours at a time, sore feet are a potential negative impact the standing desks pose. Gel soles can help with this problem, but it really depends on the person’s ability to stand for long periods of time. Needing to wear insoles to work while standing at a standing desk can also be a
hassle for some people.
There are a lot of standing desk customers who write about the inconvenience of having to wear their shoes with a pair of insoles as they work. The truth behind this is that with these insoles, you’re helping to relieve and avoid the foot pain that one might experience while standing for hours at a time. This can be an issue for people who are prone to foot sweat or prefer wearing comfortable house slippers while they work.
If you’re someone who prefers wearing heels to work, it’s likely you’re no longer going to be able to do that anymore. Making the switch to a standing desk means you’ll be on your feet throughout the day. Wearing heels is sexy, but the cost on your feet will likely exceed the benefits of adding a couple of inches to your heels. Imagine standing on heels for a period of eight hours or more! That sounds rather painful.
Another issue that can arise as a result of using a standing desk is that a person might suffer from achy muscles or joints. Standing throughout the day, while aiding your health in some ways, can negatively impact a person’s legs, hips, and knees. These body parts tire out over time and it might be beneficial for a person suffering from these aches to switch off between sitting and standing desks.
If you’re someone who uses a laptop as opposed to a desktop, the standing desk can also be a problem for you. Standing desks do not work very well when you use a laptop due to the fact that the space between the screen and the keyboard is typically a lot smaller when comparing this space to that which is found between a person’s eyes and elbows. With this being said, if you’re someone who uses a desktop constantly, this problem is easy to overlook.
Which Choice To Make
Although some people will likely find it easy to make a choice between a sitting or standing desk, both of these desks have pros as well as cons. While the sitting desk is more comfortable, the standing desk has the potential to increase a person’s efficiency.
The sitting desk can result in a more sedentary lifestyle while the standing desk tends to result in sore feet. With both of these desks having positive and negative attributes, having the best of both worlds seems as though it might be the best decision to make. By breaking up a workday into segments in which you spend some time sitting at a sitting desk and some of the time working at a standing desk, it is possible to ensure that you obtain the benefits of both desks while avoiding the negative attributes and this is where buying a sit-stand desk comes in.
For more information on this, please contact Stando here.
