During the recent period, anti-fatigue mats have shocked the industry with the revolutionized approach to floor matting, improving the working and home environment. The new technology brought a breakthrough in the way we live our lives – reducing fatigue, improving posture, and addressing our health problems without going to the doctors.

The recent study concluded at Vermont Department of Education showed that the connection between physical activity and productivity is real and can be improved; the reason well worth the trend of standing desks is so popular. Paired with a number of studies that show that sitting is killing us slowly, researchers have reasons enough to start the anti-sedentary movement.

Is standing better than sitting?

As a natural opposite of sitting, standing became a new trend that spread like wildfire, labeling sitting as new cancer. Products like standing desks and treadmill desks became very popular in the global culture, followed by anti-fatigue products such as mats and insoles. People who spend several hours a day working in a standing position feel the fatigue and pressure in their legs and lower back, but when compared to a sedentary worker, they are much healthier, productive, and have more energy.

Joy Kiviat, Ph.D., MSN, FNP-BC wrote at the University of Arizona Health Sciences that “Sitting takes years off our lives, contributes to obesity and heart disease and makes us feel stressed and unhappy.” Still, the idea of a standing desk usually gets people interested, but not much enthusiastic.

Nevertheless, the workers who spend their working shifts standing usually suffer from several uncomfortable symptoms – leg cramps, lower back pain, long-term pain, and increased fatigue. The standing workday is particularly unpleasant for the workers who do not move. The performance and creativity of the workforce lower with each hour spent standing; blood pressure in the feet and legs ramps up to a level of near numbness, and fatigue starts much faster, especially if unpleasant footwear is included.

The change from sedentary to standing lifestyle and working is healthy, and it should be incorporated into our lives. However, the change is quite unpleasant, especially after an extended period of sedentary working. As a study conducted by US National Library of Medicine & National Institutes of Health shows that if the sitting/standing change is introduced slowly and without pressure, workers tend to adjust to the new way of working with more benefits than issues. Furthermore, advantages of the modification were many – workers were feeling more productive, spendfewer hours watching television, and reported a significant boost of energy during the working day.

As the opposite of sitting, standing has brought the improvements on the creative side, productivity, and overall performance in the workforce. Depending on the type of the job, the chances are that switching to a standing desk will likely bring improvements over time. Still, the transition is particularly painful in the first period, especially if a worker is used to a sedentary position.

Do anti-fatigue mats impact these problems?

These products are made to impact health state of the user and have a particular goal in mind. The inner layers of anti-fatigue mats usually contain polyurethane foam, with different viscosity and softness levels, depending on manufacturer and the product itself. The layers of anti-fatigue mats also contain rubber with differentfirmness, depending on the product class and original intent (home, heavy industry, office). These features are used to increase comfort and lower the pain of standing.

However, a study published by the Biodynamics Laboratory of the Ohio State University showed that there is no correlation between standing on anti-fatigue mats and leg pain. Testing subjects did not report any significant change in leg fatigue while using these products. On the other hand, the impact of anti-fatigue mats on lower back health and fatigue in the lumbar section is significant; test subjects reported anotable change in the posture and blood flow, alongside reduced lower back pain.

The main reason for this effect is aslight sensation of instability that anti-fatigue mats provide to the user; the soft surface of the mat requires engaging of muscles and activation of the tissues and stabilization muscles of the entire body. This sensation of higher activation in micro stabilization muscles is the main reason for core, and lower back fatigue decrease since the person standing on an anti-fatigue mat needs to activate those muscles in order to stand firmly. The posture change is also notable, which adds to the benefits of using the anti-fatigue mats.

 

How anti-fatigue mats affect productivity?

Following the study mentioned above results, anti-fatigue mats are not correlated with any productivity-enhancing factors. Results may vary depending on the industry and kind of work, but the proven fact is that anti-fatigue mats,as products, don’t improve productivity. On the other hand, they significantly reduce lower back pain and stimulate the standing working position, which has proven to boost creativity and productivity in the office-type of work. Standing desk is the main reason behind the productivity and creativity increase, and the combination with anti-fatigue mats provide combined effects to battle fatigue and increase productivity.