What is better: a sitting desk with an ergonomic chair or a standing desk?
I get this question at least once a month when treating patients. Even more so when so many of us have shifted to working from home. It should be a simple answer and it mostly is. The answer is that they are two completely different beasts. Both have advantages and both have drawbacks. So lets go through each of these.
First, let's talk about standing desks. The single biggest advantage with a standing desk is that you will burn more calories with a standing desk. Standing desks are not sedentary. Sitting for long periods each day contributes to weight gain, obesity, higher cholesterol, and heart disease. (No, I did not do this research. It came from various sources including a recent study from European Journal of Preventative Cardiology in 2017). There are two down sides to a standing desk though. The first is that they are not that comfortable. The second is that if you have flat feet, your knees and back are going to get sore if you do not have proper support in your shoes.
A desk with a good ergonomic chair will actually help the curves in your back. And they are far more comfortable than a regular chair or standing for long periods of time. What is the down side? Well, you do have the problem of being sedentary as listed above. (You are going to need some kind of exercise break to counter this.) The second problem is that you also need a good ergonomic set up. We can help you with that in our office if you are interested.
A third option is to go for a sit-stand desk. These set-ups let you alternate between the two options by raising and lowering the desk. What is the disadvantage of these? The price. Still, they may be a worthwhile investment if you wan the best of both worlds. You will still likely need an ergonomic chair anyway.