17/07/2022
Here’s a few thoughts about sit to stand work stations that you may find relevant:
Standing desks have become much more common in the modern work environment. In some cases they are provided on an as-needed basis for injured workers or people complaining of back pain, while other offices now provide these for all workers.
Negative health effects have clearly been associated with prolonged sitting. The famous London bus driver study is often quoted which revealed that double-decker bus drivers had double the rate of coronary heart disease than their coworker bus conductors, who were more mobile.
However, it is important to realize that prolonged standing can also have its own problems and lead to fatigue, foot and leg pain and vascular issues, particularly if standing posture is poor, which is often the case. So, it is not a simply a matter of standing as much as we can. The main advantage of working in standing seems to be less that we are upright and more that we tend to move around more in standing, and hence avoid static posturing.
Interestingly, research has also shown that the negative effects of sitting all day cannot be reversed by simply by doing some exercise after work. The solution then, is that we need to try and both reduce our sitting time and increase the amount of movement we do during the day. Pedometers and other activity trackers like Fitbit and Apple watch can help motivate and give feedback.
Pragier quotes suggested guidelines from Professor Alan Hedge at Cornell University that a possible regimen could be 20 mins sitting with good posture, eight minutes of standing and then two minutes of standing and moving within each 30 minute period.
