The American College of Sports Medicine recently decided to take a closer look at the benefits of sit-to-stand workstations in the office. Recent studies have shown that the typical American sits for more than 10 hours a day, either while in the car, while at work or during their leisure time.
Of those three times throughout the day where people are seated, most Americans get the majority of their seated time while at work. To see if sit-to-stand desks could really cut into the number of hours people spend on their bums, researchers conducted a little study.
They decided they’d examine the usefulness sit-to-stand desks, which as the name implies, allows the user to either sit or stand at their workstation. Many studies have already been performed on standing workstations, but sit-to-stand workstations allow the worker to easily change their position should they want to stand or sit. Researchers began by giving 40 sedentary workers a WorkFit-S sit-to-stand workstation. Participants were asked to use the combination stations for a period of three months, and their standing time was tracked throughout the study.
Sit-To-Stand Study Results
Compared with their baseline scores before switching to the sit-to-stand desks, the amount of time spent sitting significantly decreased by the end of the study. Before switching, baseline figures showed that the average participant sat for 75 percent of their work day, but that number dropped to roughly 54 percent after switching to the sit-to-stand workstations. Other findings from the study include:
- Time spent standing and in light activity increased (Roughly 19 percent at baseline and roughly 35 percent at the end).
- Interestingly, time spent sitting when outside the workplace increased after switching to the sit-to-stand workstations, but only slightly (Roughly 60 percent of non-sleeping time outside of work spent sitting at baseline compared to roughly 67 percent at the conclusion of the study.
In the end, researchers concluded that sit-to-stand workstations can help get people off their feet at the office, but they also need to be conscious that just because they stand more at work doesn’t mean they can sit more often at home.
“In conclusion, the findings suggest that introducing similar workstations can significantly reduce sedentary time and increase light activity levels during working hours,” researchers wrote. “However, it appears that the changes in sedentary behavior and PA during working hours were compensated for by reducing activity and increasing sedentary behavior outside of working hours. Nonetheless, despite this compensation effect, overall sedentary time was still reduced when office workers used the sit-to-stand workstations relative to their traditional seated desk. Such overall reductions in sedentary time and increases in light activity could lead to substantial health benefits in traditionally sedentary workers.”