Finding and adopting good working practices significantly improve our health both in the workplace and at home. Especially for those of us who live in the big cities where working long hours behind computers is the norm, a bit more comfort is required to enjoy the digital working environment. If you’re familiar with the furniture market, you’ll agree with me that a height-adjustable desk is one of the trending furniture designs that helps with this. I find them very useful myself because they make it possible for you to maintain different postures while you work.
As we take a look at this set of furniture, you’ll be surprised to discover that there is more to this type of furniture than the mere desk surface function role they play in offices. Many of us are not aware about the multi-functional value they bring besides placing an object, a computer, or documents to work on them.
Interestingly, regardless of the various designs, you will find all height-adjustable desks to have some features in common.
Features of Height Adjustable Desks
Ergonomic Design
The summary about height adjustable desks is ergonomics.
Ergonomic design entails constructing the workplace to meet the worker’s demands rather than forcing them to adapt to the workplace’s design. If you want productivity and optimal performance in the office, this is what you should work towards achieving as an employer. You can adjust them to fit your needs whether you choose to stand, sit or keep to a particular posture while you work, the choice is yours.
Adjustable Height
The phrase “height adjustable” in the name is not just for the fun of it. It is all that the desk stands for. By the press of the button or a pull on a knob, you can lower, raise, or adjust the height to fit your requirement. How quickly and easily you can adjust the height depends on what type you have. You’ll get to know more about this later in this post.
Adaptation to Different Environments
One good reason why I am a loyal fan of adjustable height desks is the ability to use them in virtually any environment you can think of. They are designs that may be used in a variety of settings, from private offices to home offices, collaborative spaces, and conference rooms. They’re simply adaptable to what you want them for. You can raise them to fit a discussion table, just decide what you want.
Minimalistic Design
If there is any feature you will see almost immediately with any adjustable height desk, it is the general minimal and portable nature by which they are designed. I particularly admire the space around areas where these desks are set up. The amount of space you have in the room may not necessarily be a limiting factor. Even their accompanying chairs are minimal designs. But if you have more space to play with, you can maximize the many advantages of the height-adjustable desk as much as you are free to.
Types of Height Adjustable Desks
Crank Powered Design
For the crank-powered height, adjustable desk manual operation is the mode. This is a design that allows manual adjustment through a crank handle. You’ll make some turns on the crank to arrive at the height that is fit for you. In most cases, the crank handle is located on the front side of the desk. The user simply raises and lowers the work surface with the crank handle applying a measure of effort.
Pneumatic Design
The Pneumatic design adopts the Pneumatic systems principle where mobility and flexibility is the ultimate goal. They are lightweight and fit perfectly to most home layouts owing to their portable design pattern.
These height-adjustable desks use a lever mechanism. One of the designs I come across only requires you to press a knob while pulling it up to increase the height and pressing it down from the top to lower the height, much like my swivel office chair.
Though they are not operated on electric power, they adjust swiftly with minimal application of pressure. Many come with lockable casters to enable you to move them around to a location of choice in the room.
Electric Powered Design
These desks are, without a doubt, the simplest and most adaptable solution for height adjustment. They are people’s favorite as their mode of operation does not require much effort as do the manual designs.
You get them to a sit or stand posture with just a press of the button. If there is anything worth mentioning about the electric height adjustable desk, it is the customization capability that comes with them. You can have a great deal with automation with this design. Some are available with a memory height controller.
Treadmill Design
This design may not be popular as the electric-powered designs for some reasons bothering on cost and probably size.
Treadmills are known for mobility exercises and this is the sole reason for this type of desk. It is a more sophisticated design than any of the height-adjustable desks discussed in this post. They bring a whole lot of automation into it. It consists of a work surface and a simple treadmill below. If you desire to mimic walking or running mode while working, this is the desk for you. But I find that the issue with this design is that you can’t be in a mobility mode all the time. For this reason, they are used in conjunction with other static desks for better efficiency.
Health Benefits Facts of Height Adjustable Desk
An active mind requires a change of posture. The human body is designed to move, yet in the workplace, a sedentary lifestyle is a norm, leading to stiffness and joint wear and tear. It is generally documented that ergonomic office chairs are necessary for office life, and it is also important to stand up often during the day. Below are benefits you will derive from using adjustable height desks.
Cuts down heart disease risk. Heart health is very important. It is a fact that standing up while working is good for health. Extended sitting has been found to harm the cardiovascular system. Studies show that sitting reduces high-density lipoproteins (HDL) cholesterol levels, increasing the risk of a heart attack. Using height-adjustable desks and appropriate exercise throughout the day may significantly impact this area on a positive note.
Boost Healthy Muscle. Standing up all day, though, is good but shouldn’t be all through the day. When the spine and muscles move frequently, they remain flexible. Sitting for too long is no doubt a bad practice that we’ve all naturally adopted in the modern world of office life. It’s vital to get up often and move around. Long hours of sitting may lead to muscle breakdown and cause harmful effects on the muscles. In the worst-case situation, bone deterioration occurs. With height-adjustable desks, regularly switching between sitting and standing positions helps to relax the back, legs, and neck muscles.
Minimizes body pains. A height-adjustable desk reduces back, ankle, neck, shoulder, and joint pains. Quite often, it is established that acute back pain may be caused by stress. This can result from sitting too long. Others are emotional issues, and in our particular case keeping too long with bad posture on the seat.
Improves mental health. Experts say standing up improves brain activity to a great extent in humans, resulting in quicker and better decisions. A height-adjustable desk also makes workers more fit, open-minded, and adaptable. We all need mental clarity to stay healthy and productive in our everyday life activities and the workplace.
Prevents obesity. People who sit all day at the workplace are often known to grow fat or become obese. This is particularly the case with most career women. If you can afford the treadmill adjustable height desk, you can burn as much fat every single working day since walking burns so much fat from the body. If you can’t go for the treadmill, the regular adjustable height desk is sufficient to help you cut down some weight or stay out getting fat altogether. Adjustable height desks promote good health and productivity while preventing weight gain.
