Researchers have proven that sitting down for long periods of time contributes to weight gain.

Okay, I know the title might sound a little bit harsh, but it’s the truth. By now you know how an adjustable height desk can help in your health, energy, and even prolong your life. But for some people nothing speaks to them more than this simple truth: sitting down is making you fat.

According to researchers from Tel Aviv University, by sitting down for long periods of time, your body can generate up to 50 percent more fat in those areas (hips, butt, and thighs.)

The study’s participants were in a bit of a different circumstance than sitting around the office for too long though. You see, the researchers looked at MRI images of muscle tissue of people who had been paralyzed by spinal cord injuries. They found that fat cells were stretching to surround the areas around the muscles where there was a lot of pressure from sitting or lying down.

Like I said, the participants in the study were in a different circumstance than somebody who happens to sit all day at work. So the researchers took it a step further. They manipulated a group of fat cells to stretch and stay sedentary for long periods of time, representing an average person in a desk job’s time sitting or lying down, and after just two weeks, they found that these stretched cells produced nearly 50 percent more liquid fat than regular fat cells.

And it seems as though exercise is not enough to counteract prolonged periods of sitting. Studies have shown that even those who eat well and exercise will have a bigger butt and waistline if they stay seated for longer periods of time.

So aside from quitting your desk job and becoming a professional triathlete, what can you do? Well, get moving for a start! Stand up! Yes, right now! Of course standing and staring down at your computer screen to work, type, or even to read this short post are not exactly conducive. In fact, standing up and looking down at your monitor may be better for your circulation and weight, but it’s bad for your neck, shoulders, and back. Plus, you just look silly.

With an adjustable height desk, though, you can work, type, and yes, even read this article, all without harming your posture or your health. By simply switching to an adjustable height desk for only four hours a day, studies show that you can burn an extra 120 calories per day. Let’s put that into perspective.

With just four hours standing at an adjustable height desk, you burn an extra 120 calories per day. If you stretch that out to a full year of working on weekdays, plus or minus some vacation and sick time, you will burn an extra 30,000 calories per year. That’s about 8.6 pounds of weight loss per year—just by standing.

Lots of people go out and buy standing desks when they hear the news. (“A smaller waistline! Better health! I’m getting a standing desk!”). But not so fast. A standing desk is a step in the right direction—you’re not sitting all day. But it’s also not great to stand all day either—blood can pool in your legs and reduce circulation.  With an adjustable height desk, you’re getting the best of both worlds. You can sit, you can stand, and most importantly, you can move around and in between positions. Movement is the key to a better metabolism—this is when you’ll see the weight come off.

So are you standing yet? Get an adjustable height desk today. Lose weight, feel better, be healthier.

Source: ABCNews.Go.com

Start standing and moving around during your everyday life.

In a previous post we posed a challenge to you: share your ideas on creative ways to create your own standing desk at home, or post some of the unique ways that you use your Xdesk.

Today we offer you another challenge, should you be so bold as to take it! Okay, that was a little overdramatic—it really isn’t that big of a deal.

Today we’re asking you to start implementing standing and moving around into your life, one day at a time.

As you well know by now, sitting for long periods of time can have a terrible impact on your health, your energy, and your life overall. And as you also know by now, our nation is having a bit of a “weight problem” these days—or as the news might kindly label it, an “epidemic.”

The “obesity epidemic” comes largely from diet and lack of exercise, but studies show that much of the problem comes from sitting. From the moment you sit down, the enzyme that burns fat in your body shuts down, your calorie burning slows to just one per minute, and your metabolism slows to almost a halt. If you want to know how bad for you sitting is, just listen to your body—at the end of a day of sitting, I promise you’ll feel more tired and groggy than if you’d been active.

But sometimes there just isn’t time to run around throughout the day. There’s work, then after work there are families to take care of, errands to run, etc., etc. I get it.

But you can make a difference throughout the day by standing up more, taking breaks at work, and making better choices.

The height adjustable desk and the standing desk are great solutions while you’re at work. With theheight adjustable desk, you can alternate between sitting and standing, thus boosting your metabolism, your energy, and even your productivity at work.

And there are other ways to keep moving during the day aside from your height adjustable desk. Choose to walk the stairs instead of taking the elevator, perhaps ride your bike or walk to work, walk inside instead of going through the drive-through, go for a run or a walk, and when you get home, do not just plunk down on the couch! I know how good it sounds to just fall into the cushiony-comfort of that big sofa after a long day of work, but believe me— it will only make you more tired!

So, dear readers, this week we’d like to challenge you. If you have a height adjustable desk and you stand some of the time at work already, start standing more. If you sit at work now, start standing up.

You can start small—alternating 30 minutes of standing for an hour of sitting. But as the week progresses, build up your “standing endurance.” With your height adjustable desk, start lessening the amount of time that you sit, and increasing the amount of time you stand. After just a day of this, I promise you will feel the difference.

And start considering your decisions. Be aware. Do you want to take the stairs or the elevator? Would you rather go for a walk or stare at yet another screen for another hour? I guess the more appropriate question is, what does your body want you to do? What can you do for your health?

By asking this question, becoming aware, and consciously making an effort to stand up, move around, and make a difference, you are already initiating the change.

So get up, get out there, and get moving!

Have you changed the way you work with an adjustable height desk? Share your thoughts below!

Adjustable height desks and standing office desks have swept the nation’s workplaces. Companies like Groupon, Men’s Health, Google, Microsoft, and even the FBI are a handful of those that have outfitted their workplaces with standing office desks—and for good reason too. …Read More

The Xdesk has grown from small beginnings to being used throughout the nation.

In a previous post, we told you all about the history of the sit to stand desk—how it has been used throughout the centuries in offices and in schools, how some of the most famous leaders and writers have created their masterpieces at sit to stand desks, and how these desks are now starting to regain popularity in time to combat our nation’s overall health and weight problem.

…Read More

Using an adjustable height desk at work has given me a more active lifestyle.

In previous posts we’ve given you a lot of information about the Xdesk adjustable height desk. We’ve told you how they are made, a bit of history on the standing desk, how they can help improve your health, and how the Xdesk adjustable height desk can improve the health of the planet as a whole. But these are just facts—unarguable, to be sure—but still, it is just information. So in today’s post, we thought we’d bring you something a bit closer to home: my very own story about my Xdesk ergonomic workstation.

In our first post I briefly introduced myself, but for those of you who might have missed it, let me give you a quick recap. My name is Natalie and I write this blog, not as a Xdesk employee, but as someone who personally uses a Xdesk ergonomic workstation. Seriously.

I call it an “ergonomic workstation,” because to me it is more than an adjustable height desk. My Xdesk has become something of a second home to me—it is a complete workstation, adjusted perfectly to my height and my preferred keyboard position, whether I am standing or sitting. There is plenty of room on this desk’s surface for me to sprawl out all of my notes, my calendar, and yes, snacks, photo frames, and whatever else I bring into the office that day. (Today my ergonomic workstation features a notepad, a cell phone, an empty Tupperware from lunch, two large bottles of water, and my monitor. All very official stuff, you see.)

Since I’ve started working at this job and using the height adjustable desk, I think I have become somewhat spoiled. The desk adjusts perfectly to my height, no matter what kind of shoes I’m wearing that day, and as I mentioned above there is plenty of surface space for anything and everything I need for work. Like coffee.

And when I get tired of standing and move the desk to a seated position, the transition is so smooth, said coffee won’t even spill.

Like I said, a complete ergonomic workstation.

What did I do as soon as I got home from my first day after working on the Xdesk? I tried to create my own standing desk.

I knew it might take some trial and error to create my own perfectly positioned ergonomic workstation in my living room, but I didn’t think it would be impossible. Turns out, it is.

Now when I work from home I place my laptop atop a box which sits on top of a chair, which is precariously balanced on top of my coffee table. It isn’t the best solution—in fact it’s probably a bit dangerous (it’s easy to trip on the computer cord, which is stretched awkwardly to reach the chair)—but after reading all the facts and figures on how bad for you sitting can be, I just couldn’t stand it. Or rather, sit it, I guess.

But the sad truth of the matter is, I couldn’t recreate the ergonomic workstation that the Xdesk provides me. Not only is there absolutely no “desk” surface with my laptop sitting on top of a box, on top of a chair, on top of a table, but there is no way for me to adjust the keyboard to a different height than the monitor.

See, the whole purpose of an ergonomic workstation is to create a healthier, more comfortable position for people at work. And to do this the keyboard needs to be a bit lower than the monitor so that your arms are parallel to the floor and your wrists are slightly angled down. Clearly with my setup at home I can’t do this.

So until I get a Xdesk for my home as well as office, I guess I will just be resigned to this awkward, box/chair/table setup.

Do you have a “creative” ergonomic workstation at home? How did you make it?