Increased Energy With A Standing Desk
To set the scene you’ve been sitting down doing nothing all day. Absolutely nothing apart from lazily flicking through the 100 plus channels on your new cable T.V. package and spooning liberal amounts of junk food into the cement mixer which also cunningly doubles as your mouth – a quite brilliant disguise. Now due to this day of supposed relaxation and unrelenting feeding, you muse that this was a great way of revitalizing yourself and that you should think about doing it more often. Suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, the doorbell rings. You make to stand but a crippling fatigue sets in. How can this be? You’ve been sitting all day and you are now somehow unable to muster the physical and indeed mental energy to make a short sortie to the front door and exchange unwanted pleasantries with the 7th day Adventists lurking with intent outside it. I suppose every cloud has a silver lining but in your tender mid thirties you surely shouldn’t feel this fatigued.
Of course the reason for this follows thus:
Cortisol
When you sit, unannounced to your psyche, you naturally become less energetic. A slow buildup of stress hormones such as cortisol become present, and these are not only an accessory to decreased energy but also to the instigation of depression. Generally sitting down (unless of course we’re relaxing in front of a movie with the family at the end of the working day) is not the best of pastimes. So if you are one of the many people who work in an office environment , and I daresay you’re sitting down as you read this, you may want to rethink your strategy. It is of course only natural that come the end of the day you feel in a complete state of lethargy even though you have physically done nothing whatsoever, bar a frantic five minutes of report typing.
Get your juices flowing again by opting to work at a Standing Desk. The idea may initially come across as a little daunting. After literally having been joined at the hip to your omnipresent swivel chair for so long, seemingly joined in holy matrimony – it is time to break free of the shackles of your seat and look forward to greener pastures.
You will find with your new stance in the workplace that you not only benefit with concern to your posture, core strength and general physical well being, but also gain a brand new psychological outlook.
Possibly the most important of the mental attributes you will attain is that of highly improved energy levels.
Endorphins
By using a Standing Desk you will find that your endorphins increase. Endorphins are hormones which are released whenever the body is in a state of physical activity. Upon the release of these hormones the brain and body become more alert and energy levels rise in correlation to the endorphins released. Therefore this means that when you are standing as opposed to sitting that even the slightest movements will increase your energy. Whilst sitting at a desk you tend to become stale, so to speak, as no feel good chemicals whatsoever are being conjured from your brain.
Improved blood circulation goes hand in hand with endorphin releases which also promote a general feeling of well being and if the body is exerted enough, feelings of euphoria can be experienced. I’m obviously not suggesting that you’ll be dancing around the office in a state of delirious jubilation all afternoon, but your mood as well as your energy levels will certainly become elated.
Transitioning
The transition from sitting to standing may sound a little daunting initially. But of course there are no written rules regarding how fast or slow you make the alteration. For those who have been married to their chairs for a long period of time and are reluctant to split-up, let alone divorce, then the move can be made slowly. Just an hour each morning or afternoon will eventually and effortlessly become a few hours a day, and as you find your energy levels and therefore productivity increasing, a full-time move will be made before you know it.
Soon you will be a new person. You won’t be slumped in a far corner of your office of a working day, a mere drone spewing stats and entering data. You will be the beau of the workplace, standing proudly at your new Standing Desk, with energy oozing from every pore. You will become infinitely more approachable, the standing desk is a fantastic way of socializing, and your relationship with your superiors and/or subordinates will become less stressful and more creative and friendly as your new found energy levels increase productivity around the office.
Don’t delay. Your new Standing Desk is waiting patiently for you to take advantage of.
A friend of mine told me about the cortisol and sitting. Never heard it before, but it is true the days when I am up all day I am indeed way more energetic. But beware when I get home ;-).