Consider standing while you work!

Is sitting the new smoking? 

 A study published online in July combined information from 5 studies from 2005 to 2010 to conclude that sitting more than three hours a day actually decreases a person's life by two years. The study suggests that, even for someone who works out three hours a day, plopping down in front of the TV for three hours afterward has some of the same health consequences as smoking & obesity! And while TV viewing is a leading culprit, sitting while working at a desk or computer for a total of just three hours a day puts health at a greater risk.

Because U.S. adults spend, on average, between 4.5 and five hours a day sitting down, a significant shift in the population's behavior would be needed to have an effect on life expectancy, Katzmarzyk said. This might be achieved through changes at the workplace, such as the use of standing desks.     From CBSNews.com, July 9, 2012

As a result, standup work stations have become a popular experiment among many freelancers who work at home, as well as some innovative companies. Reports are that office workers are coming away from work with more energy, and those who go to the gym after work report better workouts.

There are four computer workstations in Logue Library that sit on a high table in the center of the lab. We haven't taken the chairs away (yet!) but we encourage you to spend some time working on your feet.

There is a fatigue factor. Ease into the change by taking short sit-down breaks. We hear that after a week of that, standing up is no longer tiresome, even after several hours. And the relief to shoulders and back no longer hunched over a keyboard is such that you won't want to go back.

Read more at JustStand.org