4 Keys to Proper Body Mechanics When Implementing Standing Workstations at Your Company

Research has come out of late about the benefits of having a standing workstation. Facebook, GroupMe, Color Labs, Zoosk, and Venmo are some of the companies that use standing desks or allow it as an option.

We have long known the health risks of prolonged sitting…

Increased risk for high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, abnormal cholesterol as well as triglyceride levels.

These conditions are collectively known as metabolic syndrome, which is detrimental to our health.

Recently, some companies such as the ones listed above have been adopting standing workstations as a way to combat these health risks. Not only does a standing workstation improve health, but Steven Yu of StandDesk actually sites that a standing workstation can improve productivity by 10%.

However, switching to a standing workstation can be a health risk if the proper body mechanics are not used. Since this is the case, we need to look at some key tips and tricks to follow to ensure the safety of our employees.

Enter Kelly Starrett…

Kelly Starrett is a physical therapist and mobility expert popular in the CrossFit community. He highlights one of the main problems with prolonged standing as the bodies natural tendency to pull the hips into extension putting strain on the lower back. Below I will sum of some of his key tips to use to maintain proper posture. You can also see Kelly’s full explanation of the standing workstation here.

Keys to Proper Standing Posture

1. Keep the Feet Pointed Forward

Many folks have a natural tendency to stand “duck footed” or point their feet outward. This puts valgus stress on the knee which forces our hips into extension and we lose our ability to maintain a neutral spine. Pointing the feet forward is a way to ensure our hips stay stable and don’t creep forward.

2. The Desk Should be Set at Elbow Height

An easy way to figure this out is to stand upright with our arms by our side and our palms facing forward. Then all we need to do is rotate our arms and place our palms on the desk. Once our palms are on the desk our elbow joint should be at about 90 degrees.

3. Maintain Tight Core Muscles

As I said above, when we stand for longer periods we tend to let our hips move forward more and more into extension. In addition to pointing our toes forward we also want to ensure our core is tight and the ribcage pulled down (to pull your ribcage down just flex your abs). This is another way we can maintain that good neutral spine position and avoid over-extension.

4. Have a Foot Rail

Having foot rest can be a big help. Think about when you walk into a bar, there is usually a rail running along the bottom of the bar about 6–12 inches off the ground. Resting one foot on this bar allows us to get into the Captain Morgan’s pose which naturally pulls our hips back into flexion and keeps us stable. If you don’t have a bar available, a tall chair with a foot rest on the bottom will suffice.

Standing workstations are definitely the way to go if possible. Some folks will argue that these workstations can also be harmful to our health but as we have found, this is only the case when poor body mechanics are used. Implementing these workstations using the tips above will ensure proper safety and improve the health of our employees in the long-term. They say that sitting is the new smoking. Therefore as long as your employees practice proper body mechanics, standing workstations can do wonders in combating some of the most detrimental health risks.

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