Friday 22 August 2014

Stand Up, Get Slimmer, a Better Posture and Live Longer

STAND UP, GET SLIMMER, A BETTER POSTURE AND LIVE LONGER

‘Standing has benefits for improving your posture and therefore back pain, it improves circulation and therefore cardiovascular health and it also promotes greater mobility in general.’

This is from Professor Kevin Fenton, the national director for Health and Wellbeing at Public Health England, which is the body in charge of improving our health and is the subject of a Daily Mail article.

One way to promote this healthier life, amongst office workers at least, is to provide sit/ stand desks. These are electric adjustable desks that are quick and easy to change the height of with no disruption to your work colleagues. This means you can sit on a chair of any height or work standing up. A standard desk is 72 cm high and is often given to all staff whether they are six and a half feet or five feet tall – this is just plain crazy so at the very least an adjustable desk will keep all your staff more comfy whatever their size.

That is just the start though as when you stand your heart rate increases by about ten beats a minute according to Professor Fenton. This will make staff fitter and in the long term having a healthier work force must be good. Standing and moving more can also boost productivity and creativity – certainly I often stand up when I am thinking over a problem or taking an important phone call.   

Standing up all day may seem like a chore but that is not what is being suggested here and mixing it with sitting is the goal. Using a chair in which you sit a bit higher so it isn’t such an effort to get up means you are less likely to get stuck in a seated position while glued to the computer and will help you switch between sitting and standing. The Back App chair does this and has the added benefit of ensuring movement hence giving your back muscles a very gentle but constant exercise, keeping you comfortable and burning more calories than if sitting completely still.

Some companies already have standing meetings as a way of keeping them focused and shorter. An adjustable height conference table would allow standing and sitting during a meeting and might provide the best of both. However it might be best to let the boss have the height control!

In October, Public Health England will issue new guidelines on exercise which will advise on all areas of our lives and not just office work but for many of us that is an important part of what we do.

The Back App chair and adjustable height desks


For more info on sit/ stand desks and Back App chairs see http://relaxbackuk.moonfruit.com/

Article in Mail Online by Sophie Borland