What if we worked standing up to be in better shape? This is what many doctors are advocating, after the alarm bells sounded by the American Institute of Health. According to its researchers, working while seated is…even worse than smoking.
According to the American Institute of Health, an adult American spends an average of 7.7 hours a day with their buttocks in their chair without moving, and 70% of office workers sit for more than five hours a day. However, this position hinders the proper circulation of blood, going so far as to cause back pain, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, colon cancer, etc.
Worse, says the Institute:spending eight hours a day in a chair would increase the risk of premature death by up to 15% compared to people who sit for less than four hours a day.
In addition to being less bad for your health, working standing would have many advantages, notes the site "Lafehack":
We live longer.
We have more fishing.
We stay focused.
We are up to 10% more productive.
We burn more calories.
We don't destroy our work at the gym.
We optimize our future health.
Enough to make us want to put boxes under our computers (being careful that they hold well!)…
And if we are afraid of cardboard accidents, what do we do? There are "alternatives to sitting, such as high desks and ball seats," advises the American Medical Association (AMA).
Several companies have already taken the plunge on the other side of the Atlantic, such as Google, Facebook and Twitter, which offer "standing desks".
The idea is not new, since Thomas Jefferson, Winston Churchill or Ernest Hemingway already used high desks to work. But today, this work position is becoming trendy! And that's "so much the better," say the doctors in their hearts. Even Victoria Beckam got into it!
The golden mean
But beware, warns Rob Danoff, member and physician of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA):"We're not meant to sit all day, nor are we meant to be standing all the time. You don't have to go from one extreme to the other."
Tip 1. "When you work standing up, do not hesitate to do poses and sit down to rest your muscles", recommends the standing desk site which, like the INRS, recommends the "sitting-standing" position, which allows "to stand almost exclusively upright while leaving one's body resting on a kind of stool".
Tip 2. If you have to work sitting down, "you can exercise after work to energize your muscles (30 minutes of physical activity a day is recommended). Also, remember to get up regularly at your workplace. Spend 5 minutes standing every 30 minutes for example. You can also do stretches, etc,” continues standing desk.
