‘Sitting is more dangerous than smoking, kills more people than HIV and is more treacherous than parachuting. We are sitting ourselves to death.”
You’ve probably heard the ‘sitting is the new smoking’ line before. But while Dr James Levine, director of the Mayo Clinic in the US, might be a bit extreme in his language in the above quote, the line has become a cliché for a reason: there is a mass of scientific evidence that shows that a sedentary lifestyle – sitting at a desk all day, getting in the car or train to commute home, then slumping in front of the telly – is terrible for your health.
Sitting for long periods slows down your metabolism, which is bad news for your cardiovascular health. Doctors have linked too much sitting to heart disease, various types of cancer, obesity, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes – basically, sitting too much can shorten your life by years.
With a desk job and spent decades on backside, as well having successfully given up cigarettes some years back, It was a such a surprise to learn from Dr Levine that it might have been healthier to stay on the fags and give up work.
Exercise
Make sure to go out for a walk or a cycle or a swim most days. And this was in keeping with the best advice – the Irish Heart Foundation recommends a minimum 150 minutes per week of physical activity, maybe 30 minutes five times a week. Unfortunately, the research says that even if you are meeting those recommended guidelines, the time spent sitting isn’t actually combatted by the activity.
Most people, if they are in a desk-based job, they’ll be sitting for at least seven hours, then commuting each way, then most people would watch maybe two hours a day of TV, or their leisure time would be spent sitting as well. So, the average sitting time would be a lot higher than that, there’s a potential 10 hours of sitting time.
Sit-Stand Working Station
The next best solution was a sit/stand attachment that sits on top of your normal desk. One crucial aspect was that it wouldn’t be a lengthy production amid a tangle of cables to move from sitting to standing, or vice versa. And the ergonomics must be right – it had to be high enough and promote good posture.
On frame : HAG H09 Excellence seated by the user, DubaB8 Adjustable Desk and HAG Capisco Leather
On frame : DubaB8 Adjustable Desk x HAG Capisco Puls x HAG Capisco
Here in Hallning, we have something very simple, it’s called DubaB8 Adjustable Desk. It’s entirely a premium quality design that backed by 100 years of Danish workmanship. The desk lifting systems powered by high quality LINAK electric linear actuators renowned for reliability and quick, smooth, ultra quiet adjustment.
The good balance of sit-stand is 80% – 20%. Standing too long might as well affect to your health same goes to sitting too long. Hence, it’s safe to say to balance your way of working by spending every 20 minutes in an hour standing. This will be tough in the beginning, being on feet was quite distracting. But after a few days, standing at the desk became normal, adjust yourself for the better you!
I found there are different types of work that lend themselves more to either sitting or standing – if I’ve got a long read, or emails to answer, I’ll do that standing up; if I’ve got to do a lot of typing, or I’m very busy approaching a deadline, sitting seems better.
I don’t have a set regime, I do what I feel comfortable with. If I get stiff or tired either sitting or standing, I can change within about 10 seconds. I’m about three months in to my new sit/stand lifestyle, and so far, so good. I’ve actually lost a few kilos and I’m hopeful that my next blood test will reveal I no longer have the cholesterol levels of an elderly sloth.
Since 2014, employees in Denmark are legally obliged to offer workers the option of a standing desk. So how long before other governments will see the preventative benefits of sit/stand desks in relieving pressure on overburdened health services? And surely employers can see the benefits to productivity from having a healthier workforce? Mr Campbell stresses that while standing desks can be a good solution, you certainly don’t need one to be healthy. You just need to stand up and move more often.
So, if you stand up for maybe a minute here or there, maybe to go to the bin or go to the printer… even going to have a chat with a colleague instead of emailing them 10 yards away, those are the small things that can make a big difference.
Now you can meet and try this adjustable desk by DubaB8 just within miles from your house especially for Jakarta region, visit our showroom in:
HALLNING (used to be known as Ergoworld) Pacific Place Mall
3rd Floor No.18 | Sudirman Central Business District (SCBD)
Jl.Jend. Sudirman Kav. 52-53 Lot 3 & 5, Jakarta Selatan 12190, Indonesia
M: +62 81314234561 T: +62 21 57973256 | F: +62 21 57973258