Don't Stand For It

Sitting has become such a part of our lifestyle that we don't even notice it.  Television turned one generation into couch potatoes, computers another, video games a triple threat.  By now we have mostly forgotten what it was like to live in a world without easy transportation or delivery to our living rooms.

Healthwise, it is starting to take a toll on people.

Government statistics suggest that almost half of us report sitting more than six hours a day; 65% say they spend more than two hours a day watching TV.

But it's taking a toll on health. A recent study showed that if people spent less than three hours a day sitting, it would add two years to the average U.S. life expectancy. And research has linked sitting too much to increased risks of diabetes and death from cancer, heart disease and stroke.

Endocrinologist James Levine, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., talks about sitting disease and how to get out of the chair and move more. Levine did some of the original research on the topic and is still investigating it — from a treadmill at his desk.

The article explains how we can and should start utilizing standing workspaces.  Employers are catching on, and as we start to take baby steps back towards active lifestyles, this is the easiest place for us to work in some extra movement.  I get up every hour and walk a "lap" at my job, which stops my restless legs and increases my productivity.  Walking has always been helpful when my mind is stuck on something, I always stroll my neighborhood when a story is nagging at me, so it makes perfect sense it could breathe new life into boring desk jobs.

Depending on the type of work, we can get so busy we neglect our bodies.  I work 14 hours days regularly, but during none of those tasks do I have to be standing.  I write for two hours a day at least, and move nothing but my fingertips.  My greatest exercise is the occasional forehead slap.

The expense isn't that great if we just start building them that way now, and when inevitable remodels come around.  Standing or flexible workstations are important in a world where you can kill yourself doing what you're expected to do.