Standing Mat Ergonomics

There is much more to standing mat ergonomics and ensuring a standing mat is qualified for all-day use than what goes into making a standard kitchen mat or industrial mat, and you’ll find some of the top experts in the field here at WorkWhileWalking. We’ve conducted more testing on more products to separate the best standing mats from the worst than any other reviews site.

A study of anti-fatigue mat performance by Texas A&M found that standing on a quality anti-fatigue mat leads to significantly less spinal compression and significantly reduced loss of sit-reach flexibility than using no mat or a substandard mat, among other benefits.

Generally, these are mats made using 100% polyurethane and molded in a ‘unibody construction’, with very specific buoyancy, surface tension and other vital technical attributes. (These are more commonly found in American-made standing desk mats, not the cheap ones made in China that you’ll find on Amazon.)

Spending hours each day on a proper anti-fatigue mat designed for use with a standing desk can even lead to improved balance, by providing more proprioceptor stimulation to the bone joints in the feet, as compared to the minimal stimulation we get from standing or walking on perfectly flat floors all day.

An anti-fatigue mat also helps reduce ergonomic issues associated with prolonged standing, which can be just as onerous as those associated with sitting disease. Pharmacists, security guards, manufacturing line workers, grocery cashiers, window tellers, morticians, DJs and other people who have to stand for many hours at a time can suffer mightily from foot pain, low back pain, varicose veins and other maladies.

Because anti-fatigue mats can literally triple the amount of time you can work in comfort without sitting down and they’re less expensive than a good keyboard tray or monitor arm, they should be every active workstation users’ first ergodynamic accessory purchase.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out our comprehensive Comparison Review of Standing Mats, and our roundup of Balance Boards for Standing Desks for another standing option at your desk.