If Sitting Is So Bad, Should I Stand All Day?

Exercise. Sitting. Standing.

This blog is the third and final article in the BehaviorFit “Know Your Recommendations” movement series.

In the first article, Do You Need 10,000 steps Every Day?, I covered issues centered around the lofty 10,000 steps per day recommendation. In the second article, But Can I Sit At Work?, I discussed what is to be done about work place sitting. These past articles captured two key ideas:

1. Step count is not as important as intensity of exercise, but serves as a general guideline for today’s sedentary culture, and
2. Reducing the amount of time we sit is crucial for long-term health benefits

Now, I will discuss the in-between: Standing – its risks and recommendations.

STANDING & STANDING DESKS

For the office worker, and many of you reading this blog, you spend a lot of time in front of your computer. Either sitting down, or at a standing desk. Even if you do not have an office job, at some point in time, you will find yourself sitting, lounging, and just hanging out. It’s the world we live in.

Standing desks are popular, but are they just a fad? Are you annoyed that your coworker keeps going on and on about their new standing desk? Popularity aside, a more valuable question to ask is:

Are standings desk really that important?

If you have bought-in to the whole “sitting is the new smoking” thing, then you need to know if there are any recommendations about standing. You may have had similar questions like many BehaviorFit followers such as:

• Are there any risks related to standing at work?
• Should you stand all day? Part of the day? If so, how much?
• Are you allowed to sit AT ALL?!?!
• Is there a right way to stand?
• What standing rules should I follow?

STANDING AS A TOOL

Standing, as it stands, is neither sitting or walking, but should be used as a tool to break up long stretches of sedentary activity.

Exercise scientists have figured out that standing falls in between sitting and walking when comparing energy expenditure (it may be easier to think this as calories burned).

This makes sense because more energy is needed to move more muscle, producing more movement. Dr. Mark Benden highlights in his book “Could You Stand To Lose”, that if you stand 2.5 hours per day, then you can expect to lose 20-25 pounds in a given year (Benden, 2008). Not bad for standing (roughly) for 10 minutes every hour!

In fancy research terms, types of physical activity is categorized using a metabolic equivalents (METs) system.

FUN FACT: It is this system that all physical activity recommendations are based on.

Now, different positions (standing, sitting, or walking) burn a different amount of calories. Exercise scientists have put together marvelous charts (Ainsworth, 2000), and thumbing through we learn that:

• Sitting  =  1.0 METs
• Standing = 2.0 METs
• Walking = 3.0-4.0 METs

These numbers may not mean anything to you, but you can think of the comparisons as: Standing burns 2x as many calories as sitting and walking 3-4x as many calories as sitting.

RESEARCH AND THE RISKS OF STANDING

Long-term Issue: Risks of not standing very much  

The findings in standing research are limited, but are similar to the what the sitting researchers have found: those individuals that stood more (during work or free time) had better health outcomes. They simply lived longer. So, the more people stood during their day, the longer they lived compared to those who stood less (Katzmyrzak, 2014). Most notably, the study said “standing may not be a hazardous form of behavior.”

This is good information to know because the harms of sitting have been clearly established. So, it is also helpful to know that standing is an appropriate replacement behavior for sitting.

However, standing still (static standing) poses it own set of risks too.

Short-term issues: Risks of standing still

Anyone that has worked long shifts on their feet is all too familiar with the aches and pains that come with standing in the same place all day. Think about our factory workers, hair dressers, and grocery store clerks.

A few of the basic risks of standing still are:

• Vericose veins
• Swelling in the legs
• Sore Feet
• General muscle fatigue
• Stiffness in back and neck

These examples are mainly a result of not moving around and getting the blood flowing. So common solutions for these symptoms are:

• Walking to get the blood flowing
• Getting off of your feet and resting legs, feet, and back as needed

When we combine the risks of too much sitting with the above standing research, we have a clearer picture of what our daily activity should include: less overall sitting time, standing for parts of the day, and moving on a regular basis.

STANDING RECOMMENDATIONS

While there are no official health policies regarding standing, sedentary behavior authorities recently published an expert statement (Buckley, 2015). Their recommendation is to:

• Add 2 hours of standing time to your day
• Break up periods of static standing (every 20-30 minutes)

Vernikos (2016) describes that what is most important are the number of times you stand up, not necessarily if you go walk around. So with seated computer work, meetings, and conferences, simply standing up every 30 minutes is the valuable behavior to engage in.

BEHAVIORFIT QUICK TIP: If you are stuck in a meeting or lecture for a long time and cannot walk around, do your body a favor and at least stand up. Yes, it will be weird. Be the healthy weirdo! (after awhile people will start to join you — if not share this blog with them!)

Check Out BehaviorFit’s Standing Initiative to learn how standing helps modern desk jockeys!

HOW TO STAND AND WORK

The field of ergonomics does a tremendous job of figuring out how to put your body and limbs in an optimal position with the least risk for musculoskeletal diseases (carpal tunnel, back pain) while you work.

In general, you want to keep everything in front of you and avoid any type of awkward angle. For example, if the monitor is too high and off-center, then it will create a pain in your neck! So, put the keyboard under the monitor, place the monitor directly in front of you, and have a document holder or secondary monitor at a similar viewing angle…things like this. (See the inforgraphic below for help with your workstation)

In his book Deskbound, Dr. Kelly Starrett, an expert in exercise and human movement, describes a series a movements to help stabilize your body so you can work in an optimal position.

While you can follow certain ergonomic guidelines and movements to be any optimal position, you should not be in the position for too long (see static standing issues above). Working at a computer should be a constant back and forth between getting into an optimal position and bouncing out of it again — by stretching, walking around, or doing something else.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON STANDING

After a long stretch or entire day of standing, give your legs a break, they’ve earned it. Go ask any bartender if they need to sit down at the end of their shift! We all do important work on our computers and smart devices, but walk away from that position. Leave your desk periodically (I covered these issues in-depth here: BAD DESK: The dangers of a standing desk).

When we work at our computers all day, it is essential to have some of the basics covered on how the working environment should be set up. By just covering the basics, we can increase the odds of a happier, healthier, and more productive workday.

I created a helpful infographic as a supplement to this article to help you set up your workstation if you start standing and working more. Click the button below to download.

BEHAVIORFIT TIPS FOR YOUR WORKSTATION INFOGRAPHIC

The key factor is this: Healthy outcomes is not about sitting or standing, or any optimal position, but frequent movement.

And remember this: IT IS OK TO SIT DOWN! Just not all day and not for extended periods.

I sometimes catch the stink-eye from my colleagues when they observe the “standing guy” going to sit down. GASPS fill the air. What is he doing!?!? Blasphemy! It’s ok people, my legs need a break too! What they didn’t see was that I had a heavy “leg day” at the gym, worked all morning at my standing desk, walked my dog, and walked to the office.

There is a shaping process for building more activity in your day. It takes time for your body to adapt and get used this new world standing and frequent movement. We all have to start somewhere. Add one thing, then another, until you are happy with your results.

Keep moving my friends,

Nick

P.S. Contact me if you have any questions or need help setting up your workstation!

REFERENCES

Ainsworth, B. E., Haskell, W. L., Whitt, M. C., Irwin, M. L., Swartz, A. M., Strath, S. J., … & Jacobs, D. R. (2000). Compendium of physical activities: an update of activity codes and MET intensities. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 32(9; SUPP/1), S498-S504.

Benden, M. E. (2008). Could you stand to lose? Weight loss secrets for office workers.

Buckley, J. P., Hedge, A., Yates, T., Copeland, R. J., Loosemore, M., Hamer, M., … & Dunstan, D. W. (2015). The sedentary office: a growing case for change towards better health and productivity. Expert statement commissioned by Public Health England and the Active Working Community Interest Company. British journal of sports medicine, bjsports-2015.

Starrett, K., & Cordoza, G. (2016). Deskbound: Sitting is the New Smoking. Simon and Schuster.

Vernikos, J. (2016). Designed to Move. Quill Driver Books.

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