‘Active workstations’ such as standing desks have been all the rage in recent years and now a new study has vindicated that hype after finding that they can have a positive impact on your working habits.
As office accessories like standing desks and walking pads are still only in their infancy, many of their supposed benefits and risks are still being researched. But one myth, that standing desks negatively impact work performance, has been debunked by researchers at Mayo Clinic.
Health risks of a sedentary lifestyle
Most modern office jobs – or indeed working from home – will involve large periods of sitting at a desk and working at a computer.
Researchers have known for a while that a sedentary lifestyle such as this increases the risk of developing health conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and even certain types of cancer.
In fact, a theory that dates back as early as 1961 even claimed that ‘sitting is the new smoking.’
If that wasn’t reason enough to consider investing in a standing desk, the new study from Mayo Clinic may finally convince you.
Study finds that ‘active workstations’ increase cognitive performance
Published in the Journal of the American Heart Association on April 4, the study examined the impact of active workstations such as standing desks, walking pads, under-desk exercise bikes or steppers on cognitive performance, a measure of how well the brain functions.
The research involved studying 44 participants in a trial where four office setups were evaluated over four days.
On the first day, participants were required to work using a traditional sitting station and on the following three days, they would use either a standing desk, walking pad or stepper in a randomized order.
To test the effectiveness of each office setup, participants’ neurocognitive function was measured as they conducted 11 assessments that evaluated reasoning, short-term memory and concentration.
Researchers found that when participants used the active workstations, their brain function either improved or stayed the same compared with sitting, highlighting an overall increase in cognitive performance.
While the speed of typing slowed only a small amount, there was no impact on the accuracy of typing by working at an active workstation.
Researcher recommends an active workstation
Speaking about the research’s findings in a news release, Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, MD, a senior author of the study and a preventive cardiologist at Mayo Clinic, warned of the risks of sedentary lifestyles and the benefits of active workstations.
“Our findings suggest that it is feasible to blend movement with office work that previously would have been done during long periods of sitting,” he said. “Active workstations may offer a way to potentially improve cognitive performance and overall health, simply by moving at work.”
“Being sedentary is the new smoking when it comes to your cardiovascular health, and office workers may spend a large part of their eight-hour workday sitting at a computer screen and keyboard,” he added. “These findings indicate that there are more ways to do that work while remaining productive and mentally sharp.”
“We would do well to consider an active workstation in the prescription for prevention and treatment of conditions like obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes,” Dr Lopez-Jimenez concluded.
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