Work and Sitting
Galen Cranz
Studies on physiological research show that learning is improved with physical activity.
Not all kinds of work involve learning, of course; some are repetitive to the point of boredom, which only underscores the need for movement. Changing positions is essential for the health of our spinal discs.
They don’t have veins, so they must get their nutrition via process of diffusion, which depend on a pump or sponge mechanism. This requires alternately overloading and underloading the spine through movement (this means that external disc pressure, which you will recall some ergonomic researchers used as a negative indicator of spinal stress, is actually a necessary and good thing in the right rhythm.)
Practically speaking, the worker should sit and stand alternately. The irony is that employers ordinarily view such activity as “counterproductive”. Employees are expected to be virtually immobile all day and then make up for this on their own time by a short burst in the gym or by jogging.
Excerpt from:
The Chair: Rethinking Culture, Body and Design, W.W. Norton, 1998