It is one of the reasons why staff at Facebook, Google and Twitter are all doing it.

Now an iAccelerator resident in Wollongong is developing his own mid-range product for the rapidly growing market.

James Moore, 33, is the co-founder of a startup company called ZestDesk.com which was accepted into iAccelerator last month.

Mr Moore is already putting the finishing touches on his prototype of a revolutionary portable standing desk. The final version, due in two months, will be fully adjustable and can be placed on any desk.

"A differentiator from a functional perspective is that it is portable, so you can fold it up into a little suitcase," he said.

"It means if you are a mobile worker ... you can pack it away. And it is adjustable. Both tiers go up and down so you can find your perfect ergonomic height."

Mr Moore's father, Dr Peter Moore, is an Adelaide GP who built his own standing desk to use personally because of back problems.

Father and son began working on turning that idea into a business about three years ago.

ZestDesk has also used the consulting services of Bulli-based industrial designer Nick Roseby and will be launching the product on crowd-funding site Kickstarter in May.

Mr Moore moved to Wollongong when his wife, Georgia Moore, came to the city after being accepted into post-graduate medicine at UOW.

Mr Moore said some companies were already supplying standing desks to employees and the number of people who preferred to work that way was growing.

In many cases it was not something they want to do all the time and that is why Mr Moore's design has different height options.

During his market research, Mr Moore found Facebook Australia's head of industry, Melinda Petrunoff, had said Facebook employees loved standing desks, which provided a significant return on investment to the business.

There were five reasons for that.

• Fewer sick days caused by back pain. VicHealth estimates this costs the Australian economy $11 billion every year.

• Increased productivity. A recent study by ReadWrite discovered that productivity increased by 10 per cent when people were standing.

• Healthier, happier workers. Prolonged sitting has been linked to problems with blood glucose control, which affects our ability to break down blood fats. A 2013 BBC study found when people stand their heart rate goes up by around 10 beats per minute which converts to around 0.7 calories per minute, 50 calories per hour, or 30,000 calories per year or 4kg of fat.

• Improved focus. When we sit our brain associates it with rest and relaxation, and when we stand it associates that with working.

• Increased life expectancy. A 2012 report by Dr Peter T Katzmarzyk found reducing sitting time by around half can increase life expectancy by up to two years.