A growing body of science suggests that prolonged inactivity, sedentary  or prolonged sitting,  is both widespread and unhealthy. In a representative study published last month in The Archives of Internal Medicine, Australian researchers compared medical records and lifestyle questionnaires for more than 220,0000 Australian adults 45 and older.

They found that the more hours the men and women sat every day, the greater their chance of dying prematurely. Those people who sat more than eight hours a day — which other studies have found is about the amount that a typical American sits — had a 15 percent greater risk of dying during the study’s three-year follow-up period than people who sat for fewer than four hours a day.

That increased risk held true in the Australian study even if the people sitting eight hours a day spent at least part of that day exercising.

But that study and many others examining sitting and health have relied on self-reported measures of physical activity, like questionnaires. A few have used accelerometers to determine how many steps people were taking during the day.

No one, though, had directly studied people’s muscular activity during sitting and exercising, outside the artificial environment of an exercise physiology lab, until the Finnish researchers came up with the idea of embedding flexible electrodes into shorts fabric.

And measurement of muscle activity matters. In earlier studies with animals whose legs were immobilized with casts or traction devices, physiologists noticed swift, dramatic and deleterious changes in the levels of certain enzymes in cells throughout the animals’ bodies that affect fat metabolism and blood sugar regulation. The researchers concluded that the lack of muscular contractions in the animals’ legs had caused a chain of biological reactions that led to the alterations in enzyme production.

In the current Finnish study, after volunteers donned the shorts, the electrodes began constantly tracking contractile activity in the quadriceps and hamstring muscles, two of the largest sets of muscles in the body. The volunteers also completed detailed logs about their activities during the days of the study.

The researchers had hypothesized that they would see considerably less muscular inactivity over all on the days the volunteers exercised, says Taija Juutinen Finni, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland, who led the study.

But the results did not turn out that way. There was, in fact, virtually no difference in how much time people spent being couch potatoes on the days when they exercised compared with days when they did not. On nonexercise days, about 72 percent of volunteers’ waking time, or about nine hours, was spent sitting.

When they formally exercised, volunteers used about 13 percent more energy over all than on days they didn’t exercise. But they still sat 68 percent of the time.

Surprisingly, how much people exercised or what kind of exercise they chose did not change sitting time. Whether volunteers worked out for less than an hour or for more than 90 minutes, they spent an equivalent amount of time the rest of the day being mostly torpid physically.

It seems that after exercising, the study authors concluded, people “substitute either lighter and/or sedentary activities.”

David W. Dunstan, a professor at the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Australia, who has studied inactivity and wrote an editorial to accompany the new Australian paper, says he found the study fascinating. By measuring muscular inactivity using electromyography, he says, “the measurement is getting closer to the heart of the sitting problem, that being a problem of muscular disuse.”

Dr. Finni agrees. Although she and her colleagues did not look directly at the downstream biochemical effects of the inactivity, she says, their results suggest that normal exercise, which fills so few hours of even active people’s days, “may not be enough in terms of health.”

Of course, exercise remains valuable, she and Dr. Dunstan are both quick to add. It reduces risks for cardiovascular disease and other conditions and burns calories.

But exercise paired with otherwise unalloyed sitting should be avoided, Dr. Dunstan says. “It is important the general public become more conscious about what they do in their nonexercise time,” he says. Almost everybody, he says, “should look for opportunities to reduce their daily sitting time and move more, more often, throughout the day.”

Portions of this blog post were derived from an article from  GRETCHEN REYNOLDS

Looking for the best option for an adjustable height desk, standing desk or sit to stand desk ? Move stool  and its unique perching position allows for safe comfortable periods of prolonged standing  in comfort with proper postural support.

Varier has created this simple one page PDF that describes the the major benefits of MOVE:

Varier MOVE

Increasing activity in your working day improves long term health.
Intersperse sitting with standing, safely with a MOVE Stool standing support.

FIDGET TO FOCUS
Increased oxygen supply and freedom to move subconsciously results in improved concentration and ability to focus.

NECK
Kinetic activity in the upper muscles of the neck help reduce neck strain and prevent muscle tension headaches.

CHEST CAVITY
This position, called perching, is similar to walking upright. It frees the lungs and upper organs and allows for deeper breathing.

LUMBAR AREA
Proper spinal curvature is achieved “naturally”. A free torso having to balance itself engages, trains and strengthens core muscles and
reduces tendency to slouch.

ARMS
Movement helps prevent
problems of the upper and
lower arms; brachiaglia,
tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome.

CORE
With the feet firmly planted, the quadriceps
are engaged. Constant micro muscle
movements help to strengthen your core.

ABDOMINAL
Continuous movement burns up to 450
additional calories
per day.

FORWARD TILTING
SADDLE SEAT
The forward tiliting saddle seat seat rotates the hips forward, opens the angle between upper and lower body and decreases damaging compressive loads on the low back. It is a safer, more comprehensive solution than
an exercise ball.

FEET
The feet are the ignored extremities
of ergonomics. They have the
responsibility for moving us in all
situations. Having a sitting device that responds to and is controlled by the feet increases sensory input and
improves proprioceptive feedback.

STANDING SUPPORT
Standing desks need standing
support. Research shows that long term static standing is no better than sustained sitting. A standing support like MOVE stool is essential for any sit to stand workstation or standing desk.

CONVEX BASE
The convex base prevents static postures and stimulates movement allowing a range of postures
necessary to spinal health.

Move
Design by: Per Øie

Made in Norway

Varier has created this simple one page PDF that describes the The major benefits of Variér seating, including:

FOCUS
Increased oxygen supply and freedom to move
subconsciously results in improved concentration
and ability to focus.

NECK
Kinetic activity in the upper muscles of the neck help reduce neck strain and prevent muscle tension headaches.

LUMBAR AREA
Proper spinal curvature is achieved “naturally” eliminating the need for a
backrest. A free torso having to balance itself engages, trains and strengthens core muscles and reduces tendency to slouch.

CHEST CAVITY
This sitting position, similar to walking upright, frees the lungs and upper organs and allows for its deeper breathing.

ARMS
Movement helps prevent problems of the upper and lower arms; brachiaglia,
tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome.

LEGS
Because the design permits movement, circulation in the legs is improved and heaviness and swelling from static sitting decreased.

ABDOMINAL
Continuous movement burns up to 320 additional calories per day.

FORWARD
TILTING SEAT PAN
The specific slope of the seat rotates the hips forward, opens the angle between
upper and lower body and decreases damaging compressive loads on the low back.

ROCKING BASE
The curved runners prevent static
postures and stimulate movement allowing a range of postures necessary to spinal health.

SHIN SUPPORTS
To keep the body from sliding forward, part of the load is transferred
to the shins, (not knees). Keeping one leg extended helps control
motion. Alternately extending each leg periodically allows for extended sitting.

In 2010 the average workspace allocated to a worker in North America was 225 square feet, in 2012 it is 176 square feet and in the next 5 years it is projected to fall below 100 square feet.

What’s behind the shrinking cubicle?  The truth is a few things.

• Increased collaborative and team oriented space
• Increased use of open floor plans and office hoteling programs
• An increase in the practice of telecommuting
• Desire to Reduce Real Estate Overhead

At the same time, while the average workspace environment is shrinking, the average worker is expanding.  Obesity is becoming an epidemic, literally.

It is a parallel trend – which is to say the observation  that we have  become  and increasingly sedentary society  and that prolonged static seating seating is not good for you.

Does this spell the death of the conventional office chair?  Large 5 star base? Big bulky or mesh backrest?  Probably not, but it does signal a paradigm shift and change is underway to workplaces that are smarter, more efficient, and dare we say more healthy to the average American worker.

Varier Furniture makes seating that is ideally suited to this evolving American workspace.  The Move stool, with a footprint of a mere 15 inches  is the ideal companion to a sit to stand work desk.

The Variable balans is so compact -  it can tuck completely under a standard desk when not in use.

The Peel Club is the ideal EZ meeting chair, perfect for any collaborative environment.  Its unique organic shape is ideally suited to this function.

The new Active, familiar yet distinct could become the most most popular office chair ever created.

Varier furniture has always been a pioneer in the challenge to conventional thinking about seating.More than just smaller profiles, Varier seating incorporates movement – which is now being understood to be an essential missing component of the workday.

If you are charged with the task of creating a new more efficient, or more healthy workspace environment for your company or organization, explore the innovative solutions offered by Varier.

A change is underway – is YOUR workplace ready?

Read as Mr. Opsvik shares his candid insights about sitting, and that as a whole, we as a society now do far too much of it. This post first appeared on our site in late 2008, herewith it it presented again in it’s entirety.

I know that you have made seating and how we sit a dominant aspect of your design career, when did this start?

After some years working as a designer of “mainstream” furniture I saw that enough products with mainstream qualities had already been designed. I then started working on creating products at either end of the spectrum of styles. At one end, you have chairs where rational and ergonomic aspects are the focus – taking care of the human body’s requirements in situations that involve extended sitting, while at the other end of the spectrum, you have objects where the most important criterion is expression.

What served as the inspiration for the original Variable balans Chair?

A Norwegian, Hans Chr. Mengshoel initiated experiments on sitting devices with supports under the shins, and for me this served as the inspiration for the Variable and indeed a collection of “kneeling” chairs, that is to say chairs with shin rests.

Which aspect of the chair was the most challenging to overcome and why?

Every posture feels wrong after extended periods of time, including the kneeling posture, so for all my different chairs with the brand “balans”, it was important to consider kneeling as just one of several postures that can be assumed in a chair.  I saw it as my job to design chairs that allowed as many different sitting postures as possible and to make it easier to move and change frequently between them.

 Another aspect that always is challenging is to combine the functional concepts such as the kneeling posture, which for some may seem unconventional, with a good and acceptable visual form.

 
Did your thought process evolve — or did you know right from start what you would end up?

Attempting to overcome our stereotypical sitting habits by creating healthier unconventional seating solutions evolved, and is still evolving.

The Variable balans Chair has enjoyed tremendous success around the world, with a heightened popularity in the US in the 80′s.  Almost everyone knows someone who owns or owned one.  What are your thoughts to see this iconic design return to the US market?

When I meet someone in the US that believes they own a Variable, they more than likely own a knockoff manufactured in Taiwan. The most popular copy has no movement! (straight rail) and one instead of two leg supports. That means that the copy is not made for movement and variation of posture.

I believe that these copies may have contributed negatively to the  “kneeling concept” in the US.  I guess it may have been better for the reputation of the concept if the copies were exact and incorporated the functional qualities of my original design. That being said, I am elated that the Variable is returning to the US and hope to see it flourish again. We have last year (2007) added a backrest which makes possible even more variations of posture.

What would you say to the whole new generation of Americans about the importance of sitting and about your seating solutions in particular.

Importance of sitting?   Well, I have two thoughts:

The first is to spend less time sitting;

That being said, it is no secret that people are in fact spending more and more time sitting, in front of computers especially.  So if one must sit, it is of prime importance to introduce more movement and variation of posture into our sitting.

 Although the first solution is clearly preferable, it is only the second one that I have any capacity to influence in my profession.

 Our industrialized part of the world has turned into a society of sitting human beings. “Homo sapiens” has become “Homo sedens”.  Information technology has introduced some additional challenges to our life of sitting: the keyboard, mouse and screen demand active fingers, eyes and brain with the rest of the body in stand-by mode. This not only entails that we spend even more time sitting, but that our sitting has become even more static.

 
When you design — it appears as though you are thinking about function and then form, although your designs make such a statement, it’s hard to imagine that form does not come first.  Can you comment on how you weigh function and form.

Regarding my chairs, where rational and ergonomic concepts are the primary focus, I start with function, which means that it is necessary to work harder to create good form

When one designs from form first, you often end up with pieces that have visual interest but do not serve a practical purpose, and are often outright uncomfortable.  But all sitting devices don’t necessarily need to be functional.  My chairs are functional and meant for situations where we sit over long periods of time.

How much do types of materials come into play when contemplating a design?

If the function is the most important aspect of the design, then it is important to choose materials that fulfil this need in the best possible way.

If the needs of the designed object can be satisfied by use of renewable resources, I prefer that, but I am not fanatic about using only renewable materials.  

Which of Mother Nature’s designs most intrigues you and why?

I am fascinated to observe how nature always uses a minimum of material to achieve a maximum of strength.  If you try to break a branch from a tree, you never know where it will break, Observe how it widens out where it meets the trunk.

How much does sustainable design impact your work? 

It varies a lot, I prefer to develop lightweight wooden based furniture but I think my contribution environmentally has been in attempting longevity.

Longevity is a significant contribution to the concept of sustainable design.

 When I am designing products with an unconventional functional solution, they have naturally enough also ended up with a distinctive visual form.  I have experienced that such products can experience longevity without being labelled as unmodern because they avoid following the patterns of short-term trends and fashions.

 I am bold enough to use my own chair designs – the Tripp Trapp 1972, the Varier  balans ® Variable 1979 and the Varier Gravity 1983  as examples that prove advanced age is not necessarily synonymous with outdated appearance.

Will sustainable design become a mainstay for all designers — or will only a subset embrace it?

Industrial products distributed globally can hardly be honestly described as truly sustainable, but I hope all designers will do their best to develop products that harm the environment as little as possible.

What is currently on your drawing board?

Mostly refinements or redesign of earlier concepts.  In 1977 I developed a School desk where the different pupils/students could adjust to own measurements in seconds”

Now I am redesigning it and trying to find a licensee to manufacture and distribute it.

I have also been working on a kick-scooter with electric drive for urban transportation. 

What would you build if you could build anything — without regard to physics or commercial viability?

A “perpetual mobile” or “perpetual motion” device that could provide us with clean energy

Among all the things you have created or have contemplated, do you have a favorite design and/or one that you are most proud of?

This is impossible for me to answer……You may as well be asking which of your children do you prefer?

 18^th of November  2008             Peter Opsvik

If this is you, then take a serious look at the PEEL recliner by Variér. When used correctly, this recliner is healthy for your back, comfortable for your body and appealing to your eye. That makes the PEEL recliner a rare find in the after office hours seating world. Why is it rare? Because Variér seat design is about health based on fact, not myth.

Myths about comfortable seating

• To be comfortable the upholstery has to be soft as a cloud
• To be comfortable I have to resemble a reclined letter C
• Once I’m floating on my cloud I won’t have to move
• All those rules about comfort and sitting in the office don’t apply after work, because I can’t hurt my back sitting after I leave the office

Why is the PEEL recliner healthy and comfortable?

The PEEL recliner has upholstery specially designed to maintain support of the body. You’ll float, but you won’t sink and bottom out, trapped in feathers without support where it’s needed. You won’t need a rainbow of cushions to shove in your back for lumbar support, or behind your neck for neck support. You won’t want to slouch because the very design of this recliner offers utter comfort while maintaining healthy postures. The design of the PEEL recliner is such that to maintain the natural curve of the low back you just need to sit your buttocks right back in the chair, adjust the recline to the position you want, the neck rest to support your neck in neutral, and put your feet up.

You will indeed feel that you are floating. But because the upholstery of the PEEL recliner offers constant support, you will find it easy to change positions. Movement is further facilitated by a double spring system that ensures the chair moves smoothly with you, simply by shifting your body weight. No levers. Movement is essential to maintain the body’s health, and this is particularly relevant to the spine. Movement is essential to maintain the health of the discs, the joints, the ligaments and muscles of the spine.

The discs are fluid filled cushions between the spinal vertebrae. The discs act as shock absorbers. If you sit immobile then disc pressure builds up and this pressure forces the fluid out of the discs. Changes of posture create changes of pressure that allow fresh fluid and nutrition to come into the discs, and waste products to be removed. So by maintaining hydration with movement, the discs retain their shock absorbency function.

Movement also assists in the health of the joints on either side of the vertebrae. Apart from allowing movement, these joints take some of the load of the body off the discs, muscles and ligaments. However if you sit in one position, these joints get stiff, just as happens if you keep your fingers clenched for a period of time. Constant load on joints from lack of movement also causes seepage of fluid from the joints, which leads to impingement of joint surfaces and resultant pain.

And as discussed in a previous post, the muscles and ligaments also need movement to maintain their protective role of the spine, by creating stability. One of the best ways to use back muscles when seated is to use a rocking chair.

JFK’s physician, Dr Janet Travell, quite rightly recommended a rocking chair to treat his low back pain. She reasoned that a rocking action instigated via the feet, causes alternating relaxation and activation of the deep back muscles. This is a very beneficial form of seated movement. By using the footstool to initiate the rocking action, you can turn the PEEL into a rocking recliner.

So being able to move in a chair is very important. In the PEEL recliner, movement is assisted by the supportive upholstery, by the recline mechanism of the backrest and the use of the footstool.

Reclining is a natural posture when relaxing. However, when you try to use a normal sofa as a recliner by half sitting, half lying along it, legs outstretched, regardless of whether you put a pillow in your back, your spine will resemble a banana. This is because your hamstrings are attached to your pelvis at one end and run down the back of the leg to attach below your knees at the other end. By sitting bent at the hips with the knees out straight along the sofa, the hamstrings are on the full stretch, and will pull your pelvis backwards causing your low back to slouch, reversing the natural curve. SLOUCH over time equals OUCH.

The backrest recline in the PEEL lessens the tension in the hamstrings. By positioning the footrest so that your knees are slightly bent, your hamstrings are no longer taut. Indeed they are as relaxed as you are. Therefore the hamstrings are no longer pulling the spine into a slouch. And if you have correctly positioned your buttocks as far back in the seat as possible, then the natural curve of your low back is comfortably maintained. Now adjust the head rest so your neck is supported in line with the rest of your spine, not flexed down or bent back. You are now totally relaxed and the care that you have taken looking after your back at work, will be maintained by excellent seating at home. All that remains is to pick up that book, or switch on the TV.

References
1. Adams, M. A., Green, T. P., & Dolan, P. (1994). The strength in anterior bending of lumbar intervertebral discs. Spine, 19(19), 2197–2203.

Adams, M. A., McMillan, D. W., Green, T. P., & Dolan, P. (1996). Sustained loading generates stress concentrations in lumbar intervertebral discs. Spine, 21(4), 434–438.

Callaghan JP., McGill SM. (2001) “Low back joint loading and kinematics during standing and unsupported sitting”. Ergonomics, 44(3):280-94.

Dolan, K. J., & Green, A. (2006). Lumbar spine reposition sense: The effect of a ‘slouched’ posture. Manual Therapy, 11(3), 202–207.

McGill, S. M., & Brown, S. (1992). Creep response of the lumbar spine to prolonged full flexion. Clinical Biomechanics, 7, 43–46.

Solomonow, M., Baratta, R.V., Banks, A., Freudenberger, C., & Zhou, B.-H. (2003a). Flexion-relaxation response to static lumbar flexion in males and females. Clinical Biomechanics, 18(4), 273–279.

Solomonow, M., Baratta, R.V., Zhou, B.-H., Burger, E., Zieske, A., & Gedalia, A. (2003b). Muscular dysfunction elicited by creep of lumbar viscoelastic tissues. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology, 13(4), 381–393.

Solomonow, M., Hatipkarasulu, S., Zhou, B.-H., Baratta, R., & Aghazadeh, F. (2003c). Biomechanics and electromyography of a common idiopathic low back disorder. Spine, 28(12), 1235–1248.

Solomonow, M., Zhou, B.-H., Baratta, R.V., & Burger, E. (2003d). Biomechanics and electromyography of a cumulative lumbar disorder: Response to static flexion. Clinical Biomechanics, 18(10), 890–898.

Udo, H., Fujjimura, M., & Yoshinaga, F. (1999). The effect of a tilting seat on back, lower back and legs during sitting work. Industrial Health. 37(4), 369-81.

Williams, M., Solomonow, M., Zhou, B. H. E., Baratta, R. V., & Harris, M. (2000). Multifidus spasm elicited by prolonged lumbar flexion. Spine, 25(22), 2916–2924.

Midwife, Jean Sutton, and Pauline Scott, an antenatal teacher, in a theory they developed called  ‘Optimal Foetal Positioning‘ (OFP) [1], found that the mother’s position and movement could influence the way her baby lay in the womb in the final weeks of pregnancy. Many difficult labours result from ‘malpresentation’, where the baby’s position makes it hard for the head to move through the pelvis, so changing the way the baby lies could make birth easier for mother and child.

If your baby is persistently posterior, Sutton recommends using a special kneeler-rocker chair for the last few weeks of pregnancy, specifically the Variable balans, originally made by Stokke, which is now Varier.

The Variable balans sits you in a helpful upright position with knees lower than your chest, but it has rockers underneath it. The combination of upright posture and rocking movement encourages the baby to rotate.

Much has been written about the benefits and comfort of using a kneeling chair during all stages of pregnancy.

If one can afford it the ultimate best chair for pregnant women is possibly the Gravity balans.  This chair is one of the most unique and remarkable seating products ever developed. Its unique 4 positions take you from the kneeling position (like the Variable) all the way back to zero gravity reclining, all in one chair.

Kneeling chairs like the Variable balans and specialty chairs like the Gravity balans can assist and ease discomfort for all types of sitters in general, but can be especially helpful for persons in special circumstances like people suffering from existing back pain, pregnancy as mentioned here, in an upcoming post you will learn how a kneeling chair like the Variable balans can assist with prostate pain.

[1] ‘Understanding and Teaching Optimal Foetal Positioning‘ by Jean Sutton and Pauline Scott, in New Zealand: Birth Concepts, 1995.

One of our dealers in Milwaukee Wisconsin just sold 8 Gravity balans chairs to an 85 year old senior citizen. She is a long time (20 yr) proud owner of a Gravity and it is her most precious possession.  She is headed into a nursing home and is aware she has not much time left.  She wanted to do something special for her individual children and grandchildren.

Realizing how much pleasure the Gravity has brought to her, she felt she wanted to impart that same happiness onto them as a parting gift. It is for us a very moving story and we are delighted to be able to share it.

Seat designer Peter Opsvik is well ahead of the field with the design of perches. He designed his innovative Balans Supporter in 1982 (see left). The possibilities for support are many, and the concept quite brilliant. Opsvik takes inspiration for his innovative designs from his close observation of the postures people assume as they go about their daily living.  Opsvik observed that when standing for periods of time, people sought support, be it with one knee on a ledge, using the desk to support the pelvis, or resting their back on the wall. From these observations came his series of supports, including a support to enable perching.[i]

Such a simple design for a perch is not new.  Indeed, the perch support has been known since 1100 AD.  The first extant examples may be found in Exeter Cathedral, dated 1200 AD. These first perch supports were small semi-oval hinged seats attached to the back of choir stalls, where the monks stood to pray. The stalls and their perches were known as Misericord, which when translated means “act of mercy”. Given that these perching seats supported the monks who prayed from 3.00am to 11.00pm, it was an apt name indeed.  They were also known as “nodding seats” because the comfort afforded often induced sleep. However, when a monk fell asleep his bodyweight fell forward, the seat collapsed and he slipped off, [ii] no doubt affording light relief to the congregants.

Falling asleep at your desk will not afford your employer amusement. One way of maintaining motivation is to move. The long term health benefits of continual small movements throughout your waking hours are discussed in Working from a Stand-up desk?   But as Peter Opsvik points out “we should be alternating between actively using our muscles and relaxing them all the time… the need to alternate between activity and relaxation while we sit is often neglected.”[iii]

In today’s work world where the ergonomic advice is changing from “eliminate muscle activity where you can” to “use muscle activity where you can”, Opsvik’s comment remains very relevant. If you choose to stand to work you can take time out to lessen the load and change your posture by either perching or supporting your upper torso.

Perching is the natural instinct the body has to transfer weight to a seat in order to relax muscles and decrease compressive forces.

While the above balans Supporter was a concept piece, not meant for production, the innovative MOVE stool  is available in stores.  Widely viewed as one of the most simple yet innovative designs in production, MOVE is the ideal companion to any sit to stand desk.  Hydraulic lift adjustment can accommodate sitting and perching  in the one device.  Moreover, the base of the MOVE is a convex disk that not only encourages movement, but  exercises spinal and abdominal muscles in order to maintain balance, thus avoiding  unhealthy extended periods of  static standing.

The Move Stool avoids the problem that will arise if you use a chair which elevates to accommodate the height of a stand-up desk, but leaves your legs swinging in the breeze. Such a situation creates pressure on the thighs and compresses the blood vessels in the legs, causing swelling and decreasing blood supply.[iv]  The MOVE stool avoids such ill effects.

Trunk support is an alternate approach, with the objective being to lighten the load of the trunk rather than restrict trunk posture. In static standing when a support was used for the upper torso, similar to that seen in the picture on the far right, Damecour and colleagues reported a 60 % reduction of activity in the spinal muscles.[v] Muscles in the low back and buttocks are able to relax when weight is transferred to the support. Without the support, spinal loading increases when the trunk is bent forward from the upright position. Even small amounts of forward bending from the upright position without support magnifies loading on the spine because of muscle activity and resultant increased compression in the low back.[vi] The result is PAIN.  Standing and resting the pelvis against the desk for support relaxes some of the big thigh muscle but does not relax the back muscles. Using the table as a method of support could be acceptable for very short periods, but not if it means you must bend over your work to access it. Sustained flexed postures, either in sitting or standing, are a surefire way to give yourself a dose of backpain (see Your ergonomic chair may not be the cause of your back pain).

By alternating from supported and unsupported standing, you are alternating between activity and relaxation, and avoiding load and shear stresses on the structures of the spine, and that is essential to short term back health. Providing you are moving when standing, you are also interspersing incidental activity in your day, essential to longterm systemic health (see Working from a stand up desk).

So intersperse your standing with a rest on a perch support like a Move Stool.  That way you are looking after both short and long term health.