Check it out below to learn a bit more about how sitting all day on the job impacts your physical and mental health. To start, people with sedentary jobs are twice as likely to die from heart disease than those with active jobs (yikes!).

You may want to stand up after reading this:

The post MindBodyGreen Agrees that Sitting is Making You Fat appeared first on Xdesk Blog.

Sitting for long periods of time increases your risk of disease, obesity and can even shorten your lifespan

Okay, I hate to sound dramatic, but unfortunately, I’m not exaggerating. Study after study in recent years has shown us what health horrors sitting for long periods of time can do to our bodies. It can cause weight gain, varicose veins, fatigue, disease, and yes, even an earlier death. Of course using an adjustable height desk or standing desk is just one way to combat these problems; but we’ll get back to that in a moment. For now…

The Five Frights of Sitting! (Okay, now I’m being a little dramatic.)

1) We spend 8.5 hours a day in front of a screen. In 2009, Ball State University researchers found that Americans spend almost 9 hours sitting in front of some kind of screen—be it a computer, TV, iPhone, tablet, etc. Another survey conducted around the same time found a similar (and terrifying!) statistic: we spend 153 hours a month watching TV. And that doesn’t include anything watched online or on a smartphone!

2) Only 31 percent of people get the recommended 30 minutes of moderate physical activity 5 days a week—40 percent don’t get any kind of regular exercise at all. Ultimately all of this leads to about 33 percent of the entire week spent sitting. So what does that mean for you?

3) Sitting makes you fat. Obese people tend to sit 2.5 hours a day more than thin or healthy people. Why? For one, when you’re sitting, you are burning less than 1 calorie per hour. The enzymes that break down fat in your body also decrease by 90 percent when you’re sitting. Yes, this happens as soon as you sit down.

4) Sitting stops the flow of blood. When you sit for long periods of time, the blood flow to your legs and feet slows, which among other health concerns, increases your risk for varicose veins (ew!) and hemorrhoids (EW!)

5) Sitting increases your risk for all kinds of diseases.

– Cardiovascular Disease: People who sit all day at work are 2 times as likely to develop cardiovascular disease than people who alternate between sitting and standing. After just 2 hours of siting, your good cholesterol drops by 20 percent, increasing your risk for heart disease.

– Diabetes: After 24 hours of sitting, your insulin effectiveness drops by 24 percent and your risk of diabetes increases.

– Skin cancer: This might sound strange, but it’s true. Three out of four Americans have an increased risk of skin cancer, partly because of sitting inside so much. A recent study in Medical Hypotheses discovered that people who sit inside (watching TV, surfing the web, working, etc.) are more likely to get skin cancer because they lack the vitamin D that natural sunlight provides. So when they do go outside and get some sun, without enough vitamin D, their bodies are unable to fight off melanoma.

So what can you do if you have a desk job? First, take a deep breath; don’t burst into your boss’s office with your resignation. Now let’s look into an adjustable height desk. An adjustable height desk is the ergonomic workstation of the 21^st century.

As you’ve clearly seen above, sitting all day isn’t exactly doing anyone any favors, so many people rush out and buy a standing desk. But being at a standing desk for eight hours straight isn’t ideal either. That’s why an adjustable height desk is the perfect combination. With an adjustable height desk you burn more calories, improve your posture and you are free to move.

Check out our next post on a brief history of the adjustable height desk. And no, this won’t be your typical boring recap—the adjustable height desk actually has some pretty crazy beginnings!

How many hours a day do you sit? How does it affect your life? Comment below!

The post Why Sitting is Killing You appeared first on Xdesk Blog.

The Xdesk provides a smooth transition from sitting to standing.

By now you have probably heard the horror stories in the news about how bad sitting for long periods of time can be—and if you haven’t, scroll down to check out the nifty infographic below entitled, “Sitting is Killing You” from the folks at Medical Billing and Coding via Daily Infographic. If the title of that infographic wasn’t telling enough, let me put it this way: sitting slows down your metabolism, it increases your risk for various kinds of diseases, and yes, it can even lead to a shorter lifespan.

If you are one of the millions of people with a desk job, don’t worry: today there is an adjustable height desk that will move you from sitting to standing with the light touch of a button—move being the operative word here.

The Xdesk adjustable height desk is the best ergonomic desk on the market today.

Here are just five reasons why:

1)  Xdesk Adjustable Height Desk is adjustable. Some people who hear how bad for you sitting can be assume that buying a standing desk will solve the problem. It doesn’t. Standing all day isn’t good for you either–experts recommend a combination of sitting and standing for optimal metabolic performance, energy, and overall health. So rather than get up and take a walk every twenty minutes during the work day—which, let’s be honest, isn’t exactly realistic for a busy workload—you can alternate between sitting and standing with your adjustable height desk.

2) Xdesk Adjustable Height Desk is simple. Push the up or down arrow soft-touch button to find the best ergonomic desk height for you. Once you’ve found those perfect positions, you can even save them to quickly get back to them later. This is a great feature unique to the Xdesk adjustable height desk, perfect for multiple desk users. (And if you don’t share your desk now, you might have a line of people asking to once you get a Xdesk!)

3) Xdesk Adjustable Height Desk is powerful. Xdesk uses a reliable chain drive system rather than the belts used by other adjustable height desks on the market. This not only makes it stronger, lifting a conservative 315-630 pounds depending on the Xdesk model, but it also makes it virtually silent and more reliable, as chains won’t slip.

4) Xdesk Adjustable Height Desk is smooth. Like I said, with the chain drive system, this adjustable height desk will glide smoothly from sitting to standing desk positions, with hardly a sound, and without jerking to a start or stop. It makes this transition at an impressive 1.7 inches per second, so smoothly you won’t even have to worry about spilling your morning cup of coffee.

5) Xdesk Adjustable Height Desk is the best ergonomic desk. I know I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: Xdesk is the best ergonomic desk on the market today. Not only is it strong, smooth, and simple, it is also one of the only adjustable height desks on the market that offers an adjustable keyboard tray. Why does that make this the best ergonomic desk setup?

When you place your keyboard on your desk, you force your neck and back into a “C” position, putting pressure on your back and shoulders. With Xdesk’s NextSpace Keyboard Platform, you can adjust the keyboard 360 degrees, up and down, and take the stress off of your back and shoulders. This provides the perfect position, not only for your posture, but for your hands as well.

Via: Medical Billing And Coding

Come back next time when we go over the best ergonomic desk height for you!

Comments? Questions? Feel free to leave them below!

The post The Best of the Best in Ergonomic Desks appeared first on Xdesk Blog.