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Recommended practices for sitting and standing at your work desk. • The Neutral Position • Recommended desk set up

Standing and sitting at work: • Recommended practices • Do not stand all day • Movement is everything VARIDESK Q & A

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E VARIDESK Health & Well-being The Neutral Position:

• Maintain Neutral Posture. Neutral postures are postures where the body is aligned and balanced while

either sitting or standing, placing minimal stress on the body and keeping joints aligned.

The Neutral Body Posture

The concept for the Neutral Posture chair was developed by Jerome Congleton, PhD, PE, CPE. From our state-of-the-art Neutral Posture® series to our line of N•hancements® accessories, our products are based on the concept of neutral body posture. This natural, stress free position is the body's preferred posture, similar to the free floating posture experienced when you totally relax in a swimming pool, or the posture typically associated with astronauts floating in space. Neutral Posture products were developed to help users emulate the body's preferred position while they work, because it is in this posture that the body achieves equidistant spacing of the vertebrae and an ideal balance in the muscles, tendons and ligaments.

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E VARIDESK Health & Well-being Chair

• Set the height of your chair to allow support of your feet with either a footrest, Fring™ Footrest or if

your workstation height will allow, place them flat on the floor supporting your feet and lower legs only.

• Make sure the angle between your torso and legs is greater than 90°. • Allow 2" – 4" of space between the waterfall front of the seat cushion and the back of your knee. • Relax your shoulders. • Support your forearms while keeping your elbows and wrists in a neutral position with your wrists at

or below elbow height. • Position the backrest nearly upright, or slightly reclined if you have head support. • Fine tune the backrest to provide full support of your lumbar curve

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E VARIDESK Health & Well-being Keyboard

• Adjust the keyboard to keep your arms, wrists and hands in a straight line. Your hands should be slightly lower than your elbows.

• Place the mouse and keyboard at the same height with the mouse close to the keyboard. • Allow sufficient clearance below the keyboard for your knees and legs to move (at least 1" – 2").

Monitor • Place directly in front of the keyboard (centered on "g/h" split of the keyboard) with the top of the

screen at or below eye level (at least 24" from eyes). • Adjust the screen angle to eliminate glare. • Use a document holder to place documents as close to the monitor as possible, preferably at the same

height and viewing distance from your eyes. • Illuminate your documents properly with direct task lighting. • To reduce eye strain avert your eyes from the monitor periodically and focus on distant objects.

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E VARIDESK Health & Well-being Effects of sedentary work and life environment on the human body

• Short 2min TED on the effects on not being active:

• https://ed.ted.com/on/wRrO2FBn

• Sedentary life style hazards: • Sedentary time is associated with an increased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and

cardiovascular and all-cause mortality; the strength of the association is most consistent for diabetes.

• Employees sitting six or more hours/day were more likely to report moderate distress. • Increased blood pressure • Our bodies were made to move not designed to sit all day. • Damage to your muscles • Breathing decreases • Increased absenteeism

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Sitting and standing properly at your desk may help prevent injury.

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E VARIDESK Health & Well-being Movement is key:

In the book, "Sitting Kills, Moving Heals," Joan Vernikos, former director of NASA's Life Sciences Division, talks about research suggesting that 32 transitions in a day helps maintain healthy blood pressure.

Alternate between Sitting and Standing: Do not stand all day! • Standing still for long periods is also thought to negatively affect your leg muscles, tendons

and other connective tissue, and may even cause varicose veins • The research is still in its early stages, but a ratio of 1:1 or 2:1 sitting versus standing time

appears to be optimal for comfort and energy levels, without affecting productivity (2). • That means for every 1 to 2 hours you sit in your office, 1 hour should be spent standing. Try

to alternate between sitting and standing every 30 to 60 minutes.

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Suggested solutions to fight against a sedentary life style: Try the 20-8-2 practice. You can set your watch, phone or even download apps that help you remember when you should be moving. • 20 Minutes of sitting • 8 Minutes of standing • 2 minutes of walking Anti-fatigue mats are commonly used in jobs that require extended periods of standing, such as working on a product line or at a counter. Studies show that people who stand for 2 or more hours per day report less discomfort and tiredness when using anti-fatigue mats. The mats also help with leg problems and lower back pain.

Remember: Take breaks both sitting and standing!!

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Small changes, big results Your desk area set up and office environment is very important and can be designed to help you achieve a more active lifestyle.

• Remove your trash can from your desk. • Companies may help by centralizing all trash cans and placing them in the corner of offices. • Use Bluetooth head sets instead of wired or traditional phones at your desk. • Minimize the number of printers. • One main coffee station and beverage area. • Sit/Stand work stations set the tone for the culture of the company. • Find a coworker that you may partner up with to remind each other to move around. • Wellness/Ergo Committee

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If you are going to implement a sit/stand solution at work, look for the following: Control what goes in your work environment • Easy to use for all employees

• A letter of medical necessity is good to control cost but also equates to allowing your employees to be hurt before they receive help.

• Employees can easily receive a letter of medical necessity. How will you be ready for this cost? • You are responsible for what is in your office. • Your office should look like a controlled environment that is friendly and not filled with random

equipment and furniture.

• Facilities want to install what is easy and fast • Your facilities team should not spend all day installing new sit/stand desk • They should be part of the approval process on selecting what employees can receive • Less is more • Flexibility and easy moving should be taken in to consideration.

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E VARIDESK Health & Well-being VARIDESK: Built on the active office

• Why VARIDESK was created:

• We created a solution that aimed that alive back and neck pain: Findings support the hypothesis that chronic LBP might be improved by the introduction of a SSW in an office environment.

• The market did not offer a solution that was easy, affordable that did not require assembly

• How VARIDESK has grown to help over 2 million individuals • Our first product went to market in 2012. Now we have over 60 product on line • We invested in design, logistics and most of all our employees • Full office design: The Active office • Electronic Desk

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Office of the future: • Flexibility

• Traditional is 80% hardscape and 20% soft scape. Reverse or minimize this • How fast can you set up a new work station or a new division? • Change in environment breaks up the day to day that new generation employees dislike • Same furniture, different purpose

• Design

• Five minute meetings • Huddle spaces that are inviting • Light that adopts and is better for your health • Is your current set up inviting? • Use design to enhance productivity and culture of your company

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Question and Answers Jorge Arriola Jorge.Arriola@varidesk.com M: 281.702.7141 Cites: • http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/06/health/how-to-move-more/index.html • http://www.neutralposture.com/_site/officeErgonomics.php • https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/6-tips-for-using-a-standing-desk#section1