Beating sedentarism with functional furniture

I began writing Occupational Safety and Health Principles and Practice at the beginning of February. Since then I have spent long days and weeks at my desk chasing deadlines, conducting research and chipping away at what was to become a 500 plus page manuscript.

Ergonomics has become a bigger focus globally of Occupational Safety, Health and Wellbeing in the past couple of years. Specifically in South Africa the Ergonomics Regulations promulgated in 2019 has brought this aspect of the workplace into sharper focus. My work-load being skewed towards the office I have become keenly aware of how my work station has been impacting on my health and productivity.

I began my consulting business in 2021 and over the years I have therefore tried to set up a more ergonomic working environment. I went from sitting in an old rocking chair in my lounge with my MacBook on my lap to getting a laptop tray and mouse or alternatively frequenting coffee shops to then taking a big step of renting an office space. I invested in an ergonomic office chair, a large desk and a 21 inch screen. The investment paid dividends immediately, I felt a lot more energised at work and my body a little less tense at the end of a days work.

My profession in general sees me splitting my time between the office and site, which to some extent naturally gives my body rest from sitting but this writing project demanded that I spend 100% of my time at my computer. Any health gains I had made by renting an office and setting up a more ergonomic workstation had all but disappeared by the end of the first week; my neck a pillar of cement and my back an old sailors rope of knots. At that time I suffered an athletic injury, tearing three ligaments in my foot. I was seeing a physiotherapist for this but soon these sessions turned to focus on the issues I was having with my back and neck.

My physiotherapist gave me a regimen of exercises that I needed to do daily and encouraged me to stand every 45 minutes to help alleviate the pressure on my neck and back. I was relatively committed to this but sometimes three hours of writing and research would pass before I realised that I had not stood up. My back, neck and now my butt and thighs would remind me of this fact.

Sedentarism, coined the new smoking of disease, is the habits and routines associated with relatively low levels of activity and movement that lead to health related problems like mental health issues, type 2 diabetes, obesity and other life threatening chronic diseases. In fact, according to a study of 13 publications sitting for more than eight hours without any physical activity is associated with a mortality risk comparable to that caused by smoking or obesity.

In 2010 The World Health Organization (WHO) revised a 2004 report which listed sedentary behaviour as the fourth greatest risk factor for mortality (6% of deaths recorded worldwide). More recently a report estimated that physical inactivity is responsible for:

• 6% of the burden of disease from coronary heart disease (CHD).
• 7% of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2).
• 10% of breast cancer.
• 10% of colon cancer.
• 9% of premature mortality.

With this knowledge at the forefront of my mind as I wrote Occupational Safety and Health Principles and Practice and with my body rebelling against me I knew I had to make a positive change to my working environment and that I needed to invest in a sit stand desk.

I did my research and found that there were numerous options available from various suppliers but ultimately chose the Ergo Office Two Standing Desk Frame with Top Combo from Ergonomicsdirect because it had very good reviews and because it matched my requirements - ie, it had to be long and broad enough to comfortably fit my screen, 16inch MacBook, piles of reference books and a cup of coffee and it had too be durable to ensure that my investment would last a long time.

The order was placed and I received my boxed desk within a week. Setting the desk up was relatively simple. I found the following review on youtube quite useful in making my decision to purchase from Ergonomicsdirect and as a guide when setting the desk up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBv1PbOOruQ

I assembled the desk myself but it being a solid metal frame with a black melamine top spanning 1500mm x 800mm and being 32mm thick I could have done with an extra set of hands to help put it together and move it into place.

Besides the requirement for the desk to be spacious enough to fit everything I needed, I also required the motor to be powerful enough to lift the load. I therefore chose the Ergo Office Two model because it comes with two motors as opposed to the one that the Ergo Office One unit is shipped with.

I chose to add the optional Ultra-Slim Under Desk Storage Drawer to my unit and have been very happy with that decision; it adds a touch of extra elegance to the unit and is very functional: I am able to store my small stationary in the drawer and it is lockable.

I love the way the desk looks in my office but more importantly I love the way it works. The unit comes with a control box that allows you to set up and store three preset heights, a manual adjustment button and an alarm that you can set to remind you to change position.

I have only set up two heights, a sitting height and a standing height. With the desk having a range of 625mm – 1250mm, it is perfect for both my sitting and standing position; I am 6 foot 2 so was worried that I would not fit my lanky knees under the table when sitting and that it would be too low for me to be able to stand up upright. As mentioned before it is perfect for me and I was worried for nothing. Going from sitting to standing and vice versa is as simple as pushing a button; it takes 12,47 seconds to go from 67,3 cm to 116.0 cm and without making much of a noise.

At the end of the day however I did not buy the desk for its beauty or functionality as much as I bought it to address my health and wellbeing at work. Thabiso mentioned in his review that he needed to ease into standing but I did not have the same issue. I was immediately able to stand and work at my desk for 60 minutes, not a problem. I just made sure that I moved a lot, moving from side to side and alternating the weight from one leg to the next. My feet however did protest a little but I soon became used to the standing. I began to incorporate some of the exercises my physio gave me while I was working, which was a game changer.

I immediately noticed an improvement in my focus and productivity at work. I tend to be distracted quite easily when working at the computer but alternating between sitting and standing really helped me to address this problem. I set the alarm reminder for 40 minutes but as soon as I found I was being distracted or started to feel sleepy I would just? push number two on my control panel and continue working standing up; with a renewed vigour and focus.

It took about 3 weeks for me to begin noticing an improvement in my posture and a reduction in the effect of the cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs) I was suffering. My back was not as knotted nor my neck as rigid and overall my general mood and feeling of wellbeing improved considerably.

A strange thing however began to occur after a couple of weeks of use; I began to experience a strange discomfort and heat running down my left thigh. This warm feeling would come and go at various times of the day and would continue for shorter and longer periods. I had a feeling that it was as a result of my body being readjusted back to normal and speaking to a physiotherapist he confirmed that it could have been an irritated nerve “auto-correcting” as my body adjusted to the change in posture and positioning.

This auto correcting lasted for a couple of weeks and then stopped at about the same time I really began noticing the improvement in my health.

I have been using the Ergo Office Two Standing Desk for four months now and I have nothing but good to say about it. It has exceeded all my expectations and I only wish that I had invested in myself by buying this desk earlier on in my life.