Standing desks have become a lot more popular these days due to the good amount of benefit it offers. Most of these desks are not designed with a fixed height that can only accommodate a standing user but are designed to be adjustable. The legs can be made to take a range of heights depending on the user. There is so much that you can do with standing desks and it is not only useful in offices but also at schools.
- Top 27 Best Height Adjustable Electric Standing Desks for Home Office Setup (All budget options from under $500 to around $1000)
- The 12 Best Budget Office Chairs under $500 for WFH
As long as your job is such that you must stay in a fixed position for several hours, you need a desk and probably a chair that can adjust to various sitting postures. As a student, you may have a project which you must complete within a certain period of time. If you are limited to your regular desk, you will have no choice but to take a few minute’s break after one or two hours of continuous work. With standing desks, you can easily get on your feet and carry on with your project allowing you to beat the deadline of submission. There are a lot more benefits you can derive from standing desks as a student and that is the main focus of this post.
Standingdesktopper's pick
Why You Should Consider Buying a Standing Desk
When tables or desks are mentioned, the regular olden-days types quickly come to mind. Those desks are simply made of wood with no added feature. Well, it’s not that such type of a bare construction would not do the job for which it was constructed, just that it will increase your stress levels. You may also develop aches from prolonged use.
Standing desks and other newer models of desks are also made of wood, however, the construction is quite different. Rather than construct a simple wood that is probably twice taller than the regular table, these desks come with added features that make them ergonomic. They don’t just do the job of a desk, but also provide you with comfort all-round. If you have been a student before, then you can tell how challenging it is to attend classes from Mondays to Fridays. Having to sit down in an unrelaxed position for more than 70% of the day is not Childs play. It could impact negatively your physical and mental health. By standing for a few hours of your study time, the stiff areas of your body will be able to stretch out. This helps prevent you from developing health issues that could possibly put a halt on your work or studies.
A lot of schools are already adopting standing desks in their classrooms and many teachers, as well as students, are glad that they are now able to improve the intensity of their studies with this innovative furniture. You can also have a standing desk at home for carrying out after-school assignments. These are only a few reasons why you should consider purchasing a standing desk. Now, let’s go on and discuss the short and long-term benefits of using standing desks.
Short-Term Benefits
The benefits you are bound to enjoy with standing desks are enormous. There is virtually no disadvantage, except of course, in terms of the quality of the desk. The moment you make the switch from your regular desk to a standing desk, there are some benefits you will immediately begin to enjoy. Those benefits are what I will share in this paragraph.
Improved Levels of Activity
Sitting all day either at school or at work is a really difficult thing to do; and for many years, many employees and students have had no option. As a student or an employee, you just have to get used to the difficult situation in order to learn at school or do your job at the office. The introduction of standing desks brought a long-lasting solution to this challenge and now, students can easily switch to a standing position to continue their studies. The bottom line is that, whatever it is you do on your regular desk, a standing desk will enable you to engage in the same activity, but for a longer period of time.
Improved Focus
There are certain tasks that require a hundred percent focus. You can get a good level of focus from your regular desk quite alright, but if you want the best focus possible, you may have to take a standing position. Have you noticed that artists and architects love standing when painting or drawing? Your lecturer or teacher as well stands when teaching. That shows the level of focus that you can get from standing while working. Sitting basically puts you in a very relaxed position. If you have a task that requires high levels of concentration and needs to be finished in a tight timeframe, you really need to get a standing desk.
A Little Bit of Exercise
Classifying standing as a type of exercise is arguable, but as long as it engages certain muscles in the body, I will take it as a little bit of exercise. Sitting all day makes you lazy, it slows down your metabolism, and makes you store unwanted fat. Research has it that standing, rather than sitting at school, can possibly help you burn up to 15% of calories and prevent you from suffering from diabetes. In practice, the more active you are, the more likely it is that you will remain in good health.
Liberation from Pains
The human body loves to be in a comfortable position, and sitting is definitely one, however, that is when it is only for a few hours. Sitting continuously for several hours could easily become a disadvantage to the body system due to the contraction of the muscles at various areas of the body. If you are a student who sits for several hours of the day from Monday to Friday, you will definitely feel pains at various areas of your body. The combination of a standing desk and a reclining chair enables you to take up multiple sitting postures when studying. This allows you to spend several hours on your assignment without experiencing body pains.
Long-Term Benefit of Sit-stand Desks
So we have already discussed the short-term benefits of standing desks and you can now see what you stand to gain within the first few days of using one. The best short-term benefit in my own opinion is the immediate relief you get from using a standing desk. There are also long-term benefits. You may not notice an immediate positive effect on your body system though, but as time goes on, you will begin to feel better. Funny enough, you still may not know that it was a result of you switching to a standing desk.
Improved BMI
Basic Metabolic Index (BMI) is directly linked with obesity. A simple online BMI calculator can easily tell you if you are underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese. If you see yourself as being chubby and not overweight, there is a high chance that you will fall between normal weight and overweight levels. You have a good BMI if you fall between these two levels, but that doesn’t rule out the idea of further improving your BMI. A standing desk gives you the opportunity to watch your weight while carrying out your normal school or office duties. Over time, you will find out that your weight remains at a certain level, or it could even drop a bit.
Improved State of Mind
Many students suffer from anxiety and depression due to several reasons, and the stress faced at school is one. The sad thing is that students suffering from this mental state of mind are able to conceal it from the public and could end up committing suicide or hurting themselves in other ways. The human brain goes into an idle state when you spend too much time sitting in one position. Students suffer more from sitting for extended hours of time at school. They spend up to 5 years each in their primary, secondary, and tertiary education. This amounts to somewhere around 15 years of schooling and the majority of the time, sitting. Giving them the opportunity to stand for up to half or less of this time will keep their brains more engaged and depression will definitely stay far away.
Improved Overall Health
Without good health, it is impossible to carry out your normal day-to-day activities either at school or at work. Many times, people fall ill for very little reason. If you eat properly, and your life is full of activities, the chances of you falling ill will be greatly reduced. Take, for instance, High Blood Pressure. HBP occurs most times as a result of excessive thinking, and thinking occurs as a result of your mind being in an idle state. What this translates into is that you should avoid staying too long in an idle state so as not to give room for thinking, which then results in health problems. Standing desks basically help you live healthy by increasing your metabolism, and relieving you of excessive thoughts.
Should Standing Desks Be Embraced at Schools?
We have already discussed the long-term and short-term benefits of standing desks. So does this mean standing should be introduced into the normal school routine? The answer to this question is supposed to be straightforward, however, it isn’t. Even though the benefits of standing look good, researchers are inconclusive about the results of their research. They say that they will need some more studies to assess the long-term effect of standing desks both on the health and academic performance of students. The fact that researchers are willing to devote more time to this research shows that the purchase and use of standing desks by schools is worth considering.
Right from time, children at school are traditionally told to “sit, be quiet, and learn”. Due to this, children imbibe the idea of sitting quietly right from an early age and as such, grow into quiet adults that could sit for long hours at work. Now, let’s assume that the circumstances at schools were changed and children are now told to stand while carrying out their assignments. At their tender ages, they will begin to develop the attitude of standing while carrying out certain activities. This, in turn, will make them grow into adults that could stand comfortably while performing their duties at work. Then, the positive benefits of standing which we have discussed can now start taking effect with these upcoming kids.
From the facts discussed already in this post, it is safe to say that schools should consider embracing standing in classes. There is, however, another factor that cannot be ignored. The cost of purchasing standing desks. Although they come in grades, standing desks are definitely not cheap. It may not be possible for a school to change all their desks at once to standing desks, but it is more feasible to start with a class. Starting with the primary classes is the best thing to do as these are children that are just coming up and it is easy for them to agree with whatever you tell them.
Our expert’s Conclusion
With each passing day, standing desks continuously become popular. It is not just because it’s a fairly new innovation, but also because of the level of flexibility it offers. We have already discussed all the benefits that you can possibly enjoy from using standing desks. The challenge you may face now is where to get one and what you need to look out for before making the purchase.
