Read through to discover the best way to stand behind your adjustable height desk.

In our last post we told you why good posture is important, both for your health and your looks and confidence. Today we thought we’d go over what exactly good posture looks like. This will be important with an adjustable height desk, because good posture is key whether you’re sitting, standing, or on the move. Check it out.

Sitting: If you have your adjustable height desk in a seated position, or perhaps you’re sitting on the bus, or even in your car—here is the perfect posture for optimal breathing, digestion, and muscle development. Sit with your shoulders and back straight. Your legs should be at a 90 degree angle to your body, and be sure to keep your neck, back, and heels in alignment. If you start feeling like slouching at your adjustable height desk, just adjust it and stand up!

Standing: Okay, speaking of standing, here’s how you should do it: Hold your head up straight and chin slightly tucked in. Keep your shoulder blades back, your chest forward, and your stomach tucked in. Keep most of your weight on the balls of your feet (not your toes or heels) and let your arms dangle down naturally. If you’re at your adjustable height desk using the keyboard, your forearms should be parallel to the floor and your wrists should be bent down slightly to type.

Lifting: If you need to lift something off the ground, bend at the knees and use your leg muscles to do most of the work—not your back. When you bend at the waist to lift something, your back is doing all the work and that’s a good way to pull something (trust me!)

Keep your spine straight: This is more of a general rule. Be mindful of your spine when you’re standing or sitting at your adjustable height desk, when you’re moving around, or even when moving something. Awareness is key. The more attention you pay to your posture, the better it will be!

So remember these positions when you’re sitting, standing, lifting, or just living. And be sure to check out our next post with some great tips, stretches, and exercises for getting and maintaining that perfect posture.

Do you use an adjustable height desk? Have you noticed a difference in how your back feels? Share your thoughts below!

Good posture is the beginning to a healthier lifestyle.

Xdesk is an advocate of good posture. With sit to stand desks like these, you’re not only working on your posture when you’re standing up—you’re strengthening the muscles in your back so your posture improves when you sit down. Of course maintaining good posture isn’t an easy job, even with a sit to stand desk. You need to be aware of how you’re standing, mindful of any tension in your shoulders or back, and most of all you need to practice. Remember the old saying, “practice makes perfect?” Well it is true for good posture, too. Practice good posture when you’re standing and sitting at your adjustable height desk and before you know it, it will become habit.

But good posture should go beyond just practicing behind your sit to stand desk. That’s why in the next few posts, we’re going to give you the rundown on good posture—why you want it, how to get it, and tips for maintaining it, no matter where you are.

Today, we’ll start with the basics. Here are five reasons why good posture is so important: 

1) Standing and sitting correctly prevents back strain and overuse, and helps prevent back, neck, and muscle pain.

2) Good posture helps the muscles work more efficiently, which will help prevent fatigue

3) Good posture allows better breathing, which provides oxygen to your body and your brain. This is so important during the day, especially at work, when you need your brain to be awake and productive!

4) Standing properly makes you look slimmer, stronger, and healthier. And who doesn’t want that?

5) Good posture makes you look confident. Even if you’re not feeling confident at the moment, if you stand tall with your head held high, you’ll look like you own the room. And if you practice good posture, soon enough you’ll feel just as confident as you look.

Sit to stand desks are just one great way to practice good posture during the day. Check out our next post with some other ideas!

Do you use a sit to stand desk at work? How has it affected your posture?

Standing desks are sweeping the nation—from homes, to offices, and recently even to schools. As all things old are new again, standing desks have been popular in schools before—but not in quite a while. During the 19^th century, it was common to see standing desks, and even some of the first adjustable height desks in schools. They were implemented more commonly in universities and for older students, as back then young students were required to stand each time they answered a question anyway.

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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

These days, it doesn’t take much searching to find the height of technology. Our computers are faster than ever, our cameras take pictures with more pixels than you can count, any information is a click away with the internet—and that’s just the technology on our phones!

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