Why Programmers and Coders Need FlexiSpot Standing Desk

October 18, 2019

standing desk of FlexiSpot
Rasheed Huma

As a software programmer/coder, your job entails countless hours of computer work. Extended periods of sitting in front of your PC screen can wreak havoc on your health. According to a Mayo Clinic expert, Dr. Levine, “Sitting is the new smoking,” implying that sitting is as dangerous as smoking.” Just like cigarette smoking provokes a myriad of health issues, sitting too much also heightens your risk for poor health outcomes. The damages stemming from too much sitting are so serious that even regular exercise isn’t enough to counteract them.

Given these facts, both individual avid tech users and companies have been trading in their sedentary work stations for standing desks.

This post lists the reasons as to why a standing desk like FlexiSpot could be your next best buddy.

1. Cuts the risk of spinal issues

For optimal productivity at work, you need a pain-free spine. Transitioning from a sitting to a standing desk reduces the compressive forces on your spine. Reduced spinal compression, in turn, translates into a reduced risk of neck and back pains.

On the contrary, the sitting posture puts undue strain — approx 40-90% more pressure on your spine versus when you stand — as suggested by the Cornell University Department of Ergonomics. When you remain seated in front of your computer desk for hours, your neck, shoulders, and upper back naturally adopt a hunched-over posture, sustaining damage over time. Using a sitting desk at work over-tightens your lumbar muscles, which amplifies the natural arch of your spine, a condition called hyperlordosis, or swayback. This spinal deviation induces chronic lumbar pains.

2. Ratchets up your focus

As a programmer, you know how essential it is for you to zero in on your work. Focus is fostered by proper environmental modifications rather than your personality, says an LA psychologist, Laura E. Finch. And one of the perfect adjustments that you can do at your workplace is to place a standing desk. As soon as you switch your workstation from sitting to standing, you’ll feel more connected to your screen and focused on the task at hand.

3. Quickens your brain’s processing speed

Results of a new study showed that “standing may give your attention span and brain processing speed an edge over sitting.” Researchers of this study used a psychological test called “Stroop test” to assess if standing offered a faster response than sitting. The standing volunteers performed a little better on the Stroop test than their sitting counterparts.

Stroop test assesses your brain’s ability to inhibit distracting thoughts (called cognitive interference) that occur when multiple pieces of information hinder each other’s processing. A quicker response on this test indicates your brain’s potential to process information at a faster rate.

4. Boosts your energy levels, mood, and productivity

Landing a programming job is overly demanding that can burn you out fast. You ought to have a highly energetic mindset to bring your A-game on a consistent basis. Standing desks improve mood and vigor, thereby boosting your productivity and success at work.

In a 7-week Take-a-Stand Project, employees who used standing desks reported greater energy, focus, productivity, and happiness. Also reported, was less stress in the standing group than the group that used regular sitting desks.

5. Benefits your heart health

A healthy heart promotes a healthy mind. One of the cardinal risk factors for heart disease is obesity. Exercise is the best way to help burn extra calories and turn the tables on obesity. The simplest exercise to rid unwanted calories is standing. Standing at your FlexiSpot work desk requires your abdominal, hip, and leg muscles to exert more. The extra work helps you burn off.

An exercise scientist from the University of Chester, Dr. John Buckley, equates standing just for three or four hours each day to running ten marathons a year without even taking a single step. Three to four hours of standing cause you to burn an extra 144 calories per day. More calories burnt means better heart health, and therefore a healthy, active mind (that programmers need the most).

6. Optimizes your blood sugar control

Do you know that sitting in your cubicle for hours can also enhance your diabetes risk with an increment of 7% noted every two hours. Aside from several other complications, high blood sugars can sap your energy and leave you drained, impeding your success at work. Not to worry, though. Standing desks like the FlexiSpot have you covered there too.

In a study conducted on office workers, standing for 185 min after lunch lowered the blood sugars by 43% as compared to sitting for the same length of time.

The improved blood sugars as a result of standing thus amp up your energy and make you feel good.

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