Sitting at his desk for up to eight hours a day was taking a toll on Evan Donahue. At the end of some work days, Donahue would feel stiffness in his back and joints. Sometimes, his hips would crack.
This didn't seem right to Donahue, who works for an executive search firm in Troy, Michigan. He was only in his mid-20s and physically active. For about a year, he jerry-built a crude standing desk by slipping cardboard boxes beneath his keyboard.
His approach had at least one major flaw: The position of his computer monitor was fixed. "I'd end up looking at the screen at an odd angle (while standing)," Donahue says.
Fortunately, about three years ago, James Philip, the founder and chief executive officer of the firm Donahue works for, stepped in. Philip arranged for Donahue to get a legitimate standing desk that allowed him to set the locations of his keyboard and his computer screen. It's also outfitted with a wireless headset, which lets him take short walks while conducting calls that don't require him to be in front of his computer.
Donahue says the work station has boosted his health significantly.
"It's great," Donahue says. "I go back and forth between standing and sitting throughout the day. I listen to my body. If I've been standing for an hour and my feet are sore, I'll go back to sitting." In a typical work day, Donahue estimates he probably stands and sits an equal amount of time on the job.
Donahue has plenty of company among people across the country who are spending more time on their feet while working. According to a 2019 survey out of the Society for Human Resource Management, a professional human resources membership association based in Alexandria, Virginia, adjustable desk is the fastest growing benefits trend. In 2013, just 13% of employers provided or subsidized stand up desks; 44% did so by 2017. The survey, conducted in April, showed that 60% of employers now provide or subsidize standing desks for their employees.
Many people tend to slouch when sitting at a desk, says Dr. Kaliq Chang, a pain management physician based in West Orange, New Jersey, with the Atlantic Spine Center. Slouching while sitting puts stress on the lower back, he says.
Using a electric standing desk encourages people to spend less time sitting and more time standing, according to a meta-analysis of 53 studies published in the journal Applied Ergonomics in February 2019. What's more, a 2016 study found that call center employees with sit-stand desks were almost 50% more productive than their colleagues who sat in the office.
In addition, using a standing corner desk may help with weight maintenance, research published in the journal Occupational Medicine in March 2017 suggests. Using a L shaped standing desk "provides an opportunity to increase energy expenditure throughout the working day," according to the journal. "Though modest, accumulation of this small benefit over time could be an important part of the public health strategy to prevent weight gain in desk-bound workers."
It's important to keep in mind that, provided your posture is good, there's nothing inherently wrong with sitting at a desk, says Fletcher Zumbusch, a physical therapist at Providence Saint John's Health Center's Performance Therapy in Santa Monica, California.
"The problem is with the number of hours we spend doing it," Zumbusch says. "Using a small standing desk promotes more muscle activity and, thus, better circulation compared to a traditional desk. In addition, spending less time sitting helps keep the hips from becoming tight."
Avoiding hip tightness is important because loss of hip mobility creates undue stress on adjacent joints. The additional stress can lead to the accelerated development of pain in the joints of the lower back, hip and knees. A standing desk can help you avoid these issues, he says.