Once Upon A Time…

Since the 1920s, when the first office designer, Frederick Taylor, introduced the ‘ideal’ office design, it consisted of an open-plan floor, with lots of staff sitting behind rows of desks, and doing so for long periods. One hundred years on and many of us are still doing precisely this, despite the known health risks and that it is slowly, but surely, killing us.

Sitting in poor postures for long periods, with little movement, is negatively impacting our physical and mental health, well-being and reducing our productivity. That is a fact. Marc T. Hamilton, Director of the Texas Obesity Research Center, has proven a direct relationship between sedentary behavior for long periods and health problems, such as weight gain, metabolic syndrome and diabetes.

Even as far back as 1700, studies were done to measure the relationship concerning lack of movement and health problems. Italian physician, Bernardino Ramazini, found that Tailors, who sat for long periods as they worked, had more health problems than Messengers, who moved lots while they worked.

Workplace Ergonomics

Nowadays, everything is almost too accessible, it seems that even our movement outside the workplace is waning. Everything can be purchased from home and delivered straight to you; food, clothing, groceries, thousands of hours of content available for immediate download. So, we go from sitting behind our desk to sitting in the car/train/bus, to collapsing on the sofa to stream the latest boxset.

Ergonomic office furniture is one of the essential elements of the work environment and is now a necessity for most offices. Varieties of high-tech office chairs flood the market with benefits of ‘added comfort’, ‘durability’, ‘recline and swivel ability’, ‘adjustable features’ that can prevent ‘back and circulation problems. They are, of course, more expensive, but companies recognize this as a worthy investment because it is a way to keep their staff sat comfortably behind their desks for prolonged periods.

But the advantages of ergonomic furniture, like reduced lower back strain and relieving muscle and joint stress, are just making us avoid the real issue – that we are still sitting! If we want to find a solution to this unhealthy sedentary lifestyle, then the answers must be those that take us away from our chair and make us move.

The once-trendy treadmill desks offered users the potential to increase activity while working. But physical therapist, Amy Wunsch from California noted that the multi-tasking of writing and walking did not suit everybody. She examined overuse of the machine; problems included foot aches and inflammation. Questioned about treadmill desks, she said, “We’re in a world where computers and technology have taken over. We have just gone along with it and made our bodies fit into the electronics instead of making the electronics fit us.”