Sitting or Standing? What’s Your Position?

It’s one of the great office debates: Should we be sitting or standing while we work? 

Today, standing desks may feel like a modern workplace trend, but the idea is actually centuries old. In fact, some of history’s most famous thinkers, writers and leaders were apparently members of Team Stand long before adjustable desks came with buttons and memory settings. 

Standing desks have been around for a while 

During the Renaissance, standing while reading, writing and thinking was fairly common. Leonardo da Vinci is often mentioned as a supporter of working upright and is said to have believed standing helped stimulate his creativity and ideas. 

A few centuries later, Napoleon Bonaparte reportedly preferred to stand while studying maps and planning military strategy. He believed staying on his feet helped keep him alert, energetic, and focused rather than becoming sluggish from sitting for long periods. 

By 1797, English Presbyterian minister Job Orton was offering some direct workplace advice of his own, warning against the effects of a sedentary lifestyle and recommending that people keep their bodies upright while reading and writing. His solution? Get a standing desk. 

And the list doesn’t stop there. 

Thomas Jefferson was known to use a tall writing desk, while Benjamin Franklin, Charles Dickens, Winston Churchill and Ernest Hemingway have all been associated with standing while they worked. 

Apparently, the sit versus stand debate has been going on much longer than any of us realized.

So, when did everyone start sitting?

The modern seated office really took hold after World War II. 

As office work became increasingly automated, workplaces filled with typewriters, calculators, telephones and other heavy equipment. Mass-produced steel desks became common, and the fixed-height desk, usually around 29 inches, quickly became the corporate standard. 

There was just one obvious problem: people don’t come in one standard size. 

Workers spent long days adjusting themselves to their furniture rather than the furniture adjusting to them. Hunching, reaching and remaining in the same position for hours contributed to discomfort and workplace ailments. 

That helped push employers, designers, and researchers to take a closer look at a field we now hear about all the time: ergonomics. 

Ergonomics isn’t exactly new either

Ergonomics is essentially the study of how people interact with their working environment and how tools, furniture, and workspaces can be designed to improve comfort, safety, and performance. 

Its roots go back thousands of years. In the fifth century BC, Hippocrates wrote about how a surgeon’s tools should be arranged for maximum safety and efficiency. 

The field became increasingly important during the Industrial Revolution, when researchers began studying how workplace design could improve productivity. Around World War I, ergonomic principles were also applied to cockpit design, helping determine better placements for controls and displays and reducing the likelihood of pilot error. 

Today, ergonomics plays a major role in the modern office, helping employers address common issues like back pain, neck and shoulder strain, fatigue, and carpal tunnel syndrome. 

Which brings us right back to the big question. 

Is standing actually better?

Not necessarily. 

By the 1970s, standing desks were gaining attention again. Public figures such as Donald Rumsfeld famously used them, and in more recent years, business leaders including Apple CEO Tim Cook have spoken about the benefits of giving employees the ability to stand during the workday. 

But simply replacing eight hours of sitting with eight hours of standing isn’t necessarily the answer. 

Prolonged static postures, whether sitting or standing, can lead to fatigue and strain.   U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidance also emphasizes the importance of avoiding awkward or prolonged positions that can put stress on the back, neck, and shoulders. Standing for long periods can create its own challenges, too.   

In other words, Leonardo may have enjoyed working on his feet, but he also wasn’t spending his day switching between a laptop, dual monitors, keyboard, mouse and Teams meetings. 

The real answer might be movement 

More ergonomic guidance points to the same idea: the problem isn’t necessarily sitting or standing. It’s staying in one position for too long. 

In a HealthCentral article titled “Is Standing Really Better for Your Health Than Sitting?”, April J. Chambers, PhD, associate professor of health and human development at the University of Pittsburgh, puts it simply: “Your body is designed to move.” She notes that movement has been associated with better sleep, improved mental and physical health, and reductions in pain. 

In other words, sitting may be sedentary, but standing in one position all day isn’t necessarily better. Regularly changing positions throughout the workday can help reduce fatigue and discomfort. 

The Cornell University Ergonomics Lab has long encouraged workers to incorporate frequent posture changes and movement into the day rather than simply trading a chair for a standing desk. The exact timing matters less than the habit: sit, stand, stretch, walk, and change positions regularly. 

So maybe the great workplace debate doesn’t need a winner after all. The better answer may simply be more flexibility and more movement throughout the day.

At TFX, you don’t have to pick a side. 

Whether you’re firmly Team Sit, Team Stand, or somewhere right in the middle, The Furniture X-Change has an option for you. 

TFX offers remanufactured fixed height desks, ergonomic seating, workstations, and adjustable sit-to-stand desks that give employees the flexibility to do both throughout the day. 

Sit for a while. Stand for a while. Move around. Then switch it up again. 

Because when it comes to the modern workplace, the best position may just be your next one. 

Ready to find the right solution for your workplace? Reach out to us at inquiry@tfxfurniture.com.