Wellness programs have become a popular solution for employers looking to avoid high medical coverage and keep workers in business. Instead of offering a gym membership or sending encouraging memos, employers are now making even greater efforts toward disease prevention.

Gift cards and other incentives are given to employees who agree to get a physical assessment and make plans to improve the state of their current health. Some companies offer rewards for employees who set and meet specific goals, like improving their blood pressure by so many points.

Health and wellness programs started to receive occasional backlash from employees who felt an invasion of privacy, or from employees who were penalized for not participating. To resolve the issue, companies hired outside businesses to create personal surveys or run the wellness program to ensure privacy protection.

The outside company provides a general overview of the entire office’s health status, like a third of employees have high blood pressure. Personal details of individuals are not shared thus avoiding privacy concerns.

According to the Wall Street Journal, today almost 90 percent of employers offer wellness incentives. Beyond encouraging better health practices outside of the office, employers are changing the way offices function. Instead of vending machines with unhealthy snacks and processed food, employers are bringing in healthier choices for employees. And food court meals are being replaced with nutritious options.

However, wellness programs and incentives may be without visible results unless companies change the way employees work during the day. Countless studies prove that a sedentary lifestyle is directly linked to heart disease, obesity and diabetes. The risk remains even if employees workout at the gym for an hour every day.

Companies have noticed the growing trends of sedentary behavior and how it affects employee wellness and even the number of sick days taken. Now employers are investing in alternative workstations like adjustable desks that encourage more movement and allow employees to refrain from sitting for long periods.

Along with the initial wellness programs, employers have found ways to keep employees moving while at work. One option is creating incentives for employees who stand for so many minutes every hour, or if an employee uses a treadmill adjustable desk, offering a reward once so many miles are completed.

Adjustable desks are an easy way to improve employee health to keep them at the office and help them stay active. According to several studies, the risk of disease is significantly reduced if a person makes small movements throughout the day. This includes switching from sitting to standing. It even has the power to extend your lifespan.

Does your company offer incentives and rewards if you make an effort to improve your health? How have you seen your workplace change once these programs are in place?

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Learning how to have productive habits and keep them up for the entire workday is an art form. Of course, moving from sitting to standing can be your biggest productivity booster. But there are other productive habits to have that keep your workday flowing.

Productive practices like limiting email replies to one minute, and even eating healthy foods throughout the work week can have major effects on how much work you get done in one day. You can even have a routine wardrobe and wear the same thing on a daily bases, although if you choose to do this we recommend buying multiples of the same shirt—no one wants to be the smelly guy, no matter how productive he is.

For more tips on how to keep up productivity during the day, check out this infographic from Entrepreneur:

See the original article from Entrepreneur, here.

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The study was published in the journal Circulation: Heart Failure. Researchers discovered that men who sat for five hours a day at minimum (outside of work), and didn’t exercise regularly were twice as likely to experience heart failure than men who were physically active and sat for less than two hours a day.

Based on statistics from the American Heart Association, 1 in 5 Americans ages 40 or older will develop heart failure at some point during their lifetime. Heart failure occurs when the heart cannot support proper blood flow.

The researchers studied health records of more than 82,000 male participants ages 45 to 69 over 10 years. The subjects recorded the amount of prolonged sitting they experienced outside of work as well as their physical activity level. The study included men of all shapes, sizes and races.

After the end of the study, researches came to the conclusion that men who were not physically active were 52 percent more likely to develop heart failure than their more active counterparts.

“The results of this large study of a racially and ethnically diverse population reinforce the importance of a physically active, and importantly, a non-sedentary lifestyle for reducing the risk of heart failure,” Deborah Rohm Young, the study’s head and researcher at the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation, said. Take it from the lead researcher herself: A non-sedentary lifestyle is essential to reduce the risk of heart failure and poor heart health.

James Levine of the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix gives even more insight to the detriments prolonged sitting has on health. “If you’ve been sitting for an hour, you’ve been sitting too long,” he said. “My gut feeling is you should be up for 10 minutes of every hour.” Although he wasn’t directly involved with this particular study, Levine has made great strides in revealing the harmful effects of sitting.

Of course this isn’t the first study to shed light on the negative health effects of prolonged sitting. If you follow the Xdesk blog, we posted a study from Cornell University that revealed sedentary behavior (as defined as sitting for more than 11 hours a day in this scenario) is directly related to a 12 percent increase in premature mortality in women. To learn more about the health study, click here.

This study was originally reported in the International Business Times. To see the full article, click here.

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Besides poor health, sitting also causes cankles! When you sit, blood is unable to effectively pump from the legs back to the heart, creating high pressure in the veins in the lower legs and feet. This pressure may leak into tissues and cause inflammation. Extended sitting can cause the problem to escalate, with hardened skin, leg ulcers and brown stains on the lower extremities. What’s worse, the decreased circulation in the legs can raise the risk of blood clots.

Raised blood sugar is another negative health effects of sitting too long. Insulin resistance is a step before type 2 diabetes. Insulin helps regulate glucose (sugar) in the bloodstream, and the muscles in turn store the sugar. When the muscles aren’t moving, they become less skilful at absorbing glucose from the bloodstream and actually become insulin-resistant.

This resistance can happen after just one day of prolonged sitting, according to a study from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. But making small, consistent movements like sitting and standing throughout the day can help lessen the risk.

You may not be aware, but immobility has the potential to cause constipation—yikes! As you sit, the body has fewer contractions that push along the contents of the gut, which causes the bowel to become dry. Low impact exercise is a sure cure for lowering this risk, like taking the stairs or walking around the block during lunch.

A sedentary lifestyle also causes heartburn. Not moving after lunch causes the stomach to empty slower and produce more acid to aid in digestion. The acidity leads to a burning sensation in your chest and mouth, so don’t forget to stand and move after a meal.

Migraines and decreased cognitive function are other negative effects of prolonged sitting. Hunching at your desk causes the neck to strain backwards as you stare at the computer screen. This in turn affects the nerves in the neck, which can result in a severe headache. Moving muscles encourage good blood flow throughout the body and to the brain. So if you’re moving regularly, you’re getting enough blood and oxygen to the brain, to boost overall brain function.

This last fact is surprising, but a sedentary lifestyle causes joint and muscle pain. Prolonged sitting leads to obesity and a large body mass creates pressure on the joints, and weak muscles from lack of use. Some studies claim that muscle weakness leads to osteoarthritis in the knees, since the knee wasn’t meant to be bent in a sitting angle all day.

See the full article, here.

The post The Daily Mail’s Negative Health Effects of Sitting appeared first on Xdesk Blog.

The study found that back pain, muscle and joint aches were relatively equal among different regions, and between men and women. The place where people experienced the most discomfort was the back, with the shoulders and neck coming in at a close second.

People are going to great lengths to cure the unbearable pain they’re experiencing, so much so that last year American’s spent 50 billion on lower back pain treatment alone.

Medication, hot and cold treatments and massage were all common methods of management, but most forgot about prevention. Paying attention to posture and ergonomics is essential to help prevent the risk of serious pain, and a standing desk can help you get there.

Xdesk was designed with ergonomics in mind, and comes with other options so you can achieve the best standing and sitting position. And don’t forget to use other accessories as well, like an anti-fatigue floor mat and comfortable shoes to give even greater support.

Check out the infographic below to learn more about the statistics surrounding widespread pain.

[Infographic via]

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The women completed surveys in 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2010 based on sitting time, physical activity and depressive symptoms. The results were studied in 2011 and published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

The researchers looked for an association between all three of the topics surveyed and found that women who sat for more than seven hours a day had a 47 percent higher risk of depression symptoms than women who sat for four hours or less a day.

The study went on to reveal that women who didn’t participate in any physical activity (such as prolonged sitting and no exercise) had a 99 percent higher risk of developing depression symptoms than the women in the study who exercised.

The amount of exercise was based on 30 minutes per day according to guidelines set by the Australian government. Women who sat for long periods of time and didn’t exercise were three times more likely to have depression symptoms than women who sat less and were more physically active.

The study couldn’t pinpoint an exact association of whether depression causes a person to sit more and exercise less, or if sitting too long makes a person depressed. However, the women who sat more were much more likely to feel depressed in the present, but prolonged sitting didn’t predict depression years later.

The researchers concluded that more physical activity could actually alleviate present depressive symptoms and possibly prevent future symptoms later in middle-aged women. And reducing the amount of sitting time daily could relieve current symptoms of depression.

With this information, it just gives even more reason to stand up! Stand, stretch, adjust your desk, and move around to stay mentally alert and upbeat. To learn more, you can read the abstract from the study, HERE.

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The health study went on to reveal that even women who exercised regularly were at risk of early death if they spent most of the day sitting. More than 11 hours of daily sitting or sedentary time led to a 12 percent increase in premature mortality – this may seem like a small amount, but the sedentary group also experienced an increase of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease and cancer by 13, 27 and 21 percent.

The nutritional scientist who led the health study reported that being physically fit and active every day was not enough to protect women from the negative health effects of sitting.

Sitting for a longer period of time made it harder for women to regain their physical strength. Women started to lose muscle mass at age 35, which led to an earlier onset of menopause. Daily exercise is ideal to keep the risk at bay, but more movement throughout a women’s day is key to maintaining health.

“In general, a use it or lose it philosophy applies,” the nutritional scientist said. “We have a lot of modern conveniences and technologies that, while making us more efficient, also lead to decreased activity and diminished ability to do things. Women need to find ways to remain active.”

Women with desk jobs aren’t getting the amount of movement they need to stay active during the day, but middle aged women and younger should start adopting changes to make a difference.

The scientist recommended getting up and moving around frequently at the office, and to take breaks between computer and reading time. She suggested retired women should find time to move around inside and outside the house.

“Some earlier studies found a more dramatic effect on mortality risk from [sitting] time, and others are similar to our findings,” she said. “Collectively, this adds to the growing body of research linking inactivity to poor health outcomes.”

Beyond linking sitting time with poor health, this is one of the largest and most ethnically diverse health studies of its type. The women ranged in ages of 50 to 79, and were observed for over 12 or more years.

See the full article from the Cornell Chronicle, HERE.

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The adjustable desk project was funded by a non-profit organization in the community. Two teachers were awarded six stand up desks for their classrooms. The desks are specifically designed for students, and are equipped with a swinging footrest that encourages movement and a natural fidget. Now students can move freely without feeling restless and trapped in their seats.

“Just asking the kids about [the desks] brings a big smile to their faces,” the principal said. “The fidget bar is a great invention. Students who need to do something physical while at their desk finally have something that is not disruptive to those around them.”

The teachers reported that the students were much more engaged at the standup desk, and constantly moved their feet back and forth with the fidget bar. Students didn’t ask to use the bathroom or water fountain as much, and the height allowed them to see the board better.

The desks were designed by teachers and an ergonomic manufacturer to help students focus more in schools. Researched showed that basic fidgeting burned 100 to 800 calories a day, and children are less disruptive and more productive since they have an outlet for their energy.

According to the book, Fidget to Focus, the authors explained that fidgeting is a natural reaction and actually stimulates focus. Adults are able to take breaks and change tasks, while students are forced to remain in their seats in traditional classrooms.

Of course the desks included a stool, so the students could easily rest their legs once they needed to take a seat. But they weren’t used as often, since students were happy to use the swinging footrest and stand. The result was so positive that the teacher’s wanted a full classroom of standing desks.

But because there were only three in each room, students rotated between using the standing desk and the traditional desk. “Students who are not using the standup desk continue to sit on their knees, stand and fidget at their desks,” the teacher said. “I don’t see these distractions from the students who use the standup desks.”

Since this was an experiment to test standing desks in schools, the teachers assessed student’s behavior and compared actions like slouching, eye contact, and hand and seat fidgeting. If the results are substantial, the elementary school will most likely add more desks into the classrooms.

What do you think about adding standing desks to a classroom? Would you encourage your local schools to get behind the movement?

See the full article from The Progress, here:

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If you noticed a drop in productivity last year, read through this Infographic from Entrepreneur about how to have a more productive office. Studies found that employees who work an average of 45 hours a week spend 17 of those hours being unproductive or distracted.

The Infographic shows statistics that music, breaks and better communication have the power to create a productive work environment.

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