Are Standing Desks a Good Idea?

We get asked a lot about standing desks. Will standing desks help my back pain? Do they really help your posture? If so, how do they help you? There has been a big push recently for employers to provide their employees with standing desks. Here are some key points to know about them!

A recent article from Harvard emphasizes the importance of handling your inflammation. They went so far as to say “Science has proven that chronic, low-grade inflammation can turn into a silent killer that contributes to cardiovas­cular disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and other conditions”. 

It might be a little extreme to say standing all day helps you lose weight. The Journal of Physical Activity and Health answered this question with a study on the calories burned from standing, sitting, and walking. 

- While sitting, study subjects burned 80 calories/hour — about the same as typing or watching TV

- While standing, the number of calories burned was only slightly higher than while sitting — about 88 calories/hour

- Walking burned 210 calories/hour.

So if you are standing at a desk for 3 hours as opposed to sitting down you are burning the same amount of calories as not eating that last carrot. However, they continued their research after the participants ate their lunch. 

They found that after a meal, blood sugar levels return to normal faster on days a person spends more time standing. They also noted the participants stating that standing, rather than sitting, has reduced their severity of shoulder and back pain.

The mayo clinic has found that sitting down all day at work has proven to have some severe findings. Long hours of sitting are linked with a higher risk of:

-obesity

-diabetes

-cardiovascular disease

-cancer (especially cancers of the colon or breast)

-premature death.

Experts from Harvard further go on to say that a standing desk can help you but you must also know this is not a sure fix to your ailments. If you are like many others experiencing chronic back or neck pain from sitting constantly then it might be time to visit other treatment options. Chiropractic care has been proven to help many people over the years with issues stemming from sitting all day.   

If you are unsure if chiropractic care is the right fit for you then give Dr. Jenkins a call! At Jenkins Chiropractic, the first step is an initial consultation to determine whether or not chiropractic care is best for you. You can reach us at 

(319) 393-4303.  Our Cedar Rapids office is conveniently located off council st. Learn more about us here

To continue reading more on chiropractic visit our other article on benefits on chiropractic visits.