I don’t think it counts if he doesn’t have a chair
My dad often says that he attributes his good health in old age to his two legs. For over forty years he walked 20 minutes to work almost everyday, and spent much of his day as a professor standing, rather than sitting at a desk. There’s a lot of people out there who would agree with him. Many say that most of the physical degeneration of office workers comes from sitting. The human body isn’t meant to sit for extended periods of time. Sitting ruins the spinal alignment, circulation, and atrophies the muscles of the lower body. The Shaolin monks in China almost never sit. They spend their entire days on their feet. They even stand while eating. Studies are showing great benefits to those who stand more at work.
- You are burning more calories just by activating your stability muscles to stand.
- Activation of the hips and glutes. Getting rid of your chair might not automatically give you a nice butt, but it will prevent those derriere muscles from atrophying.
- Better posture. Sitting causes the hip flexors to shorten. This makes your hips tip forward when you stand. The hips house the bottom of your spinal column. If you tip the base, the entire column will misalign. That’s why many office workers develop hunchbacks.
Standing at work is becoming easier. Many furniture manufacturers have created standing desks, and many companies are investing in them for the long term health of their employees. Ergonomics, the study of designing equipment and devices that fit the human body, is one of the hottest topics in business and engineering.
You don’t have to wait for your boss to buy you a standing desk. You can rework your space by propping up your computer of finding a ledge that’s elbow height (see picture left.) We as a species are moving towards body alignment and evolving out of the “office mole people.” Do your body a favor. Get up! Stand up!