It is being shown that sitting too much in your day can lead to all kinds of health concerns and conditions.  Sitting too much is linked to heart disease, obesity, back and neck pain.  Sitting too much can even cause health problems in people who exercise daily. 

One session at the gym cannot undo all the negatives that sitting causes on your body.  On average office workers sit around 6 hour per day if not more.  It has started to become a trend to have desks in the office that allow workers to stand.  

Standing desks are growing in popularity.  There are a few different kinds of standing desks.  A fixed standing desk is a desk that stays tall for a person to stand at.  There is also a sit/stand desk option, that can be lowered for sitting or raised up for standing.  These come in both electrical or manual options.  The electric option will raise or lower with a push of a button where the manual one you usually have to use a crank. 

 

Health Benefits Of Standing 

Burns Calories

Standing burns more calories than sitting.  Burning more calories throughout the day will decrease the risk of weight gain and obesity.  Weight gain is caused by more calories in than is burned.  Standing can burn an additional 170 calories per day which is an additional 1,000 calories per week.  

Check out Health Surgeon’s Calories Burned Calculator – It can tell you how many calories you are burning in over 100 different activities.

Reduces Back Pain

One of the main complaints of office workers who sit too much is back pain.  Sitting tightens your muscles.  Having bad posture while sitting for so long can also put strain on your back and neck muscles.  People who used a standing desk for just a few hours in their day showed improvement in their back pain.  People who even switched between sitting and standing had improvement in their back pain.  

Lowers Blood Sugar

Another benefit to adding more standing hours to your day is it can help lower your blood sugar.  Standing after a meal can lower your blood sugar spike after eating.  When you sit for extended periods of time this coincides with the body’s effectiveness in regulating glucose in the bloodstream.  This decrease in glucose regulation increases your risk of diabetes.  This causes a decrease in insulin sensitivity.  People who already have increased risk of diabetes should be more concerned with how much they are sitting during the day than how much exercise they are getting.  

Lowers Heart Disease Risk

Standing can decrease your risk of heart disease.  Increased sitting increases your heart disease risk by 147%.  Intense 1hr exercise may not get rid of the negative effects of sitting for too long.  Standing lowers your blood sugar, cholesterol, and decreases weight gain.  All of these raise your risk for heart disease.  

Improves Productivity

Some companies worry that standing desks will lower the productivity of their employees.  The reverse is actually true. In one study people who used a standing desk raised their productivity by about 45%.  87% of people who used a standing desk stated they have increased energy.  They say that being allowed to stand gave them less stress and less fatigue.  Sitting for long times has been linked to an increase of depression and anxiety.  Standing desks also have no increase in errors for people who were typing.  

 

Warnings

Standing for too long can cause some trouble.  Standing for long periods of time can put pressure on your knees, hips, and feet.  Which can cause foot and leg pain.  If you try to take the pressure off of one foot and become unbalanced, you could affect your posture. 

People who stand for more than 6 hours a day have a higher chance of developing varicose veins.  Varicose veins happen when blood collects in the legs usually from standing for long periods of time, and the vein widening to allow the blood to collect.  Standing for more than 6 hours a day increases the likelihood of having to have varicose vein surgery by 2 or 3 times. 

Standing doesn’t replace exercising.  Yes, you will be burning more calories throughout the day, but you still need some formal exercise.  Even if this is just a 30 minute walk around your neighborhood.  Exercise along with standing instead of long periods of sitting can help your overall health tremendously.  

 

Proper Standing Desk Set Up

Experts say there is a proper way to use a standing desk.  That is to make sure it is at an appropriate height.  The head, neck, and spine should be aligned in a straight line when facing the desk.  The elbows should bend at a ninety degree angle where wrists lay flat on the desk.  It is important to wear comfortable shoes when you are going to be standing for an extended period of time. 

When starting out with a standing desk the best thing to do is start with small increments of time and increase that time a little each day.  Experts also say that the best combination is to stand for a few hours, then sit for a bit, and cycle through that during your day.  

 

Takeaway

Sitting for a long time can affect your health.  Standing has been shown to help decrease the chance of diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and pain in the back and neck.  Getting more time to stand during the day can help boost your mood, energy, and even productivity.  

 

 

 

READ MORE:  Metabolism and Weight


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