Should office employees consider standing down from all the standing up at work?
A recent study in Australia shows the popular standing desks seen in many offices might come with a few side effects. The findings say standing leads to more physical discomfort, lower limb swelling and a deterioration of mental alertness.
Standing desks were introduced as the antidote to the sedentary life of the average office worker. After all, scientists have associated sedentary behavior with weight gain and an increased risk of list of ills, from heart disease to diabetes.
This study, published in the journal Ergonomics, recruited 20 volunteers to stand at a desk for two hours. That seems simple enough, right?
Well, the volunteers were not pleased. Overall, they told investigators they would have ended the session after an average of 80 minutes had they not been in a study. One volunteer didn’t wait that long. This person was the only one of the 20 who quit before the two hours were up — after 74 minutes, in fact.
One silver lining: Participants might have been tired, but they were more creative. The study found standing heightened their creative problem-solving ability.
This isn’t the first study with bad news for desk standers. A previous study looking at 7,300 Canadian office workers found that people who stood rather than sat all day had twice the risk of heart disease. Part of the reason, researchers believed, was because standing increases the pressure on your veins to return blood to the heart.
The Australian researchers say their work suggests making a switch from sitting to standing at work should be done with caution. Don’t assume standing sits well with your body.