Is it better to sit or stand all day?
Dangelo Miller
2025-06-28 03:46:51
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Sitting and standing for long periods have their pros and cons. A worker who sits for eight hours per day has a higher risk of developing some cancers, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. The risk of developing Type 2 diabetes is almost two times higher if you sit for a prolonged time during the day. But standing for long periods isn’t ideal either. A professor at the Institute for Work and Health found that people who stand throughout the day at their jobs have a 2.2 times higher risk of developing heart disease than those people who sit during the day. Spending several hours in the same position, whether seated or standing, isn’t ideal. The greatest health benefits come from moving throughout the day. So if you are still debating the pros and cons of standing vs sitting at work, your best chance of a healthy lifestyle is to mix it up. Alternate between standing and sitting and move throughout the day.
Kieran Nikolaus
2025-06-18 18:41:28
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: 11
The key takeaway is that standing for too long will not offset an otherwise sedentary lifestyle and could be risky for some people in terms of circulatory health. Standing still for prolonged periods, as opposed to sitting, does not improve cardiovascular health and could increase the risk of issues such as varicose veins and deep vein thrombosis. Instead of replacing long periods of sitting with long periods of standing, including plenty of incidental movement throughout the day is recommended. Take regular breaks, walk around, go for a walking meeting, use the stairs, take regular breaks when driving long distances, or use that lunch hour to get away from the desk and do some movement. Avoid prolonged static standing, which may be as harmful as prolonged sitting. Employees should also alter their posture and undertake light walking to alleviate possible musculoskeletal pain and fatigue as part of the adaptive process. The use of standing desks should be combined with light exercise and sitting throughout the day.
Anita Boyle
2025-06-13 01:57:53
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While sitting, study subjects burned 80 calories/hour — about the same as typing or watching TV. While standing, the number of calories burned was only slightly higher than while sitting — about 88 calories/hour. Walking burned 210 calories/hour. In other words, use of a standing desk for three hours burns an extra 24 calories, about the same number of calories in a carrot. But walking for just a half hour during your lunch break could burn an extra 100 calories each day. Advocates of standing desks point to studies showing that after a meal, blood sugar levels return to normal faster on days a person spends more time standing. And standing, rather than sitting, may reduce the risk of shoulder and back pain. Other potential health benefits of a standing desk are assumed based on the finding that long hours of sitting are linked with a higher risk of obesity diabetes cardiovascular disease cancer (especially cancers of the colon or breast) premature death.
If you're going to stand at your desk… Keep in mind that using a standing desk is like any other "intervention" — it can come with "side effects." For example, if you suddenly go from sitting all day to standing all day, you run the risk of developing back, leg, or foot pain; it's better to ease into it by starting with 30 to 60 minutes a day and gradually increasing it. It's also true that certain tasks — especially those requiring fine motor skills — are more accurately performed while seated. So, a standing desk may not be a good answer for everyone who sits a lot at work.
Dell Swaniawski
2025-06-04 08:59:21
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: 8
To reduce our risk of ill health from inactivity, we are advised to exercise regularly, at least 150 minutes a week, and reduce sitting time. Sitting for long periods is thought to slow the metabolism, which affects the body's ability to regulate blood sugar, blood pressure and break down body fat. The UK Chief Medical Officers' Physical Activity Guidelines report recommends breaking up long periods of sitting time with at least light activity. However, there is currently not enough evidence to set a time limit on how much time people should sit each day. It is thought excessive sitting slows the metabolism – which affects our ability to regulate blood sugar and blood pressure, and metabolise fat – and may cause weaker muscles and bones. Adults aged 19 to 64 are advised to try to sit down less throughout the day, including at work, when travelling and at home. Stand on the train or bus, take the stairs and walk up escalators, set a reminder to get up every 30 minutes. Place a laptop on a box or similar to work standing, stand or walk around while on the phone, take a walk break every time you take a coffee or tea break.
Pete Abshire
2025-06-04 08:29:48
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: 11
Standing for about three hours per day can help us live longer. The biggest push is to get people to stop sitting for long periods of time. Recent research suggests that adults spend eight hours a day being sedentary and that’s just your workday, that’s not including your commute and when you get home. Standing has a significantly larger impact on our longevity than sitting. Some health benefits to standing include greater muscle activation, higher levels of sugar burning, improved insulin sensitivity and long-term heart health benefits. Standing can help fight neural aging issues like medial temporal lobe deterioration, which is the area of the brain that houses memory. Standing alone can be enough but you can always add in some exercise too, think lunges, calf raises, squats, dips on the chair, incline push ups on the desk or stretching especially if you aren’t working out outside of that. Always start with a shorter duration, such as 15 minutes per hour, and build up from there.
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