Remember when our moms kept telling us that “if you sit for too long, you’ll end up being a couch potato,” or in other words, fat? Yes, we have all been there. Many of us were advised to stop being lazy and try standing for a long time.
We have grown up and realized that the part about sitting for far too long does impact the health. A study showed that sitting for longer periods of time builds up visceral fat (i.e. fat around our internal organs). This type of fat is the one we should avoid since it raises the risks of contracting cardiovascular disease and diabetes in later stages of our lives.
Another study conducted in 2016 showed that sitting down for more than 3 hours every day causes more than 430,000 deaths across 54 countries.
Since we have clearly established that sitting for longer periods of time, without any break, is bad for your health, does this mean that standing for far too long has the same results?
Is Standing Bad Too?
You must have heard of a ‘standing desk’. Basically, this kind of desk has a higher base, and can only be used by you for doing work if you are standing.
Previous research over the use of standing desks showed that they are a good productivity tool and also cuts down on the ‘couch-potato mentality’.
However, new information has come to light that standing for prolonged periods of time might not be so good after all.
The Study
This study was conducted by Leon Straker, who led a group of researchers from the School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science at Curtin University, and studied the effects in the human body as it stands for a couple hours in a day.
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20 adults participated in this study. They were asked to work while standing for 2 hours straight.
Although standing did increase the creativity level of the participants, they also experienced some discomfort as well as a reduction in mental reaction times.
The participants reported an increase in discomfort by 47% in the entire body, mainly in the lower back or lower limbs. They also reported swelling in the lower limbs.
The study concluded, based on the results, that “prolonged standing should be undertaken with caution.”
Tips
Below are some tips that you can use while standing.
- Maintaining the correct posture
- Vary your standing position- keep changing your positions. Use a footstool to help.
- Get an anti-fatigue mat
- Choose your shoes wisely – avoid wearing high heels
- Vary between sitting, standing, and walking
- Stretch a few times throughout the day.
Helpful! Going to bookmark!
Maybe the study was done on lazy people who were not used to standing for long periods. People in office environment usually become not used to exercising.
Any link to the study?