Learn How Often You Should Sit and Stand (Alternate between Sitting and Standing)

Are you currently using a standing workstation? If so, you have already made a good decision to improve your health and productivity in the workplace. Research has linked excessive sitting with adverse health issues such as high blood sugar, excess body fat, heart disease, obesity, and metabolic syndrome. But have you considered how to use a standing desk to reap all the benefits of your standing workstation? The truth is that if you fail to use this furniture right, your health and productivity will still suffer. You are also likely to have a shorter lifespan despite your effort to improve your workstation. For you to be safe, read on to see what you need to do to reap the most from your stand up sit down desk.

How to Use a Standing Desk while Standing

Adjust the Desk to the Height of Your Elbow

Whenever you choose to sit while working, be sure you bend your elbows to form a 90-degree angle. As you do this, your neck should remain neutral, but your wrists straight before you. Adjust your modern standing desk to align with your forearms. Be sure your hands can float over the keyboard as the wrists remain relaxed. If you find that you can type comfortably without your wrist getting inclined either up or down, you have successfully adjusted the standing desk as required. You will prevent many injuries as you work.

Watch Your Posture

Be sure your neck remains straight and should relax. Your knees should also be slightly bent so that the joints are not locked.

Keep the Wrists Straight

Your wrists should be parallel to the surface of your stand up sit down desk. You should aim at allowing your fingers to hang down towards your keyboard. However, your wrists should never incline either up or down.

How to Use a Standing Desk While Sitting

Adjust Your Chairs’ Height

You should ensure that the height of your standing chair is parallel to your knees’ base. Ensure that your feet remain flat and parallel on to the floor. At this point, your knees should remain bent at a right angle. If you know how to use a standing desk this way, you will increase your comfort and avoid back pain.

Adjust the Desk to Meet the Height of your Elbow

Your elbows should form a 90-degree angle, and your arms loosely hang.  Adjust your desk for the surface to reach the forearm’s bottom. When your hands float over the keyboard with relaxed wrists, you reduce the chances of suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome.

Watch Your Posture

While you are sitting, you should ensure you maintain an upright posture. The chair’s backrest should fully support your lower back to protect your spine. It would be best if you also used arm supports to mitigate shoulder and neck problems.

Standing Desk Mistakes to Avoid

Standing/Sitting too Long

Once you have mastered how to use a standing desk, remember that too much standing can negate the benefits of using it. In the beginning, you can stand for two hours per day. After a while, you can start standing for four hours a day.

Learn when to sit or stand.

Sitting too much is bad for your health. But, as we have seen, that does not make excessive standing healthy. Research shows that standing for too long periods can cause lower back pain, varicose veins, and other issues.

Fortunately, you can avoid this by alternating between standing and sitting. The sitting versus standing time should be in the ratio of 1:1 or 1:2. This means you should try to alternate every 30 to 60 minutes.

Failure to Adjust the Standing Desk Properly

Whether you are sitting or standing, you must maintain the correct posture to benefit from your standing desk. Ensure your stand up sit down desk is at the correct height for your body.

Lack of Anti-Fatigue Mat                      

It would help if you had anti-fatigue mats. Some people think that once they have a quality standing desk, they have nothing to worry about again. You need to purchase a quality anti-fatigue mat whether you notice your feet getting tired or not.  

If your job requires extended periods of standing, you cannot survive without an anti-fatigue mat. 

These mats encourage your leg muscles’ movements, which is essential for improving blood flow and reducing discomfort as you execute your duty in the workplace.

Conclusion

Alternating between sitting and standing as you work is becoming the norm in the present-day office.  As you discover the benefits of embracing this new normal, you cannot help but use a modern standing desk. They are the most effective tools for improving your health, workplace collaboration, and productivity.

However, once you buy the modern standing desk, remember that there are the right and the wrong ways to use valuable furniture. So, you must learn how to use a standing desk and avoid the above common mistakes to benefit from it.