Sitting is the new smoking!
According to the WHO sedentary behaviour now ranks among the ten leading causes of death.
Sitting for too long leads to an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, dementia, obesity and cancer.
If you look at time spent sitting of the majority of the working population, you will find that most time spent sitting is preformed while at a desk.
According to research the average office worker spends an average of 6 hours per day sitting at their desk.
The average adult spends at least 9-12 hours a day sitting.
Research has found that if this can be reduced by just 10% it makes an immediate impact on mortality.
Overall, sedentary jobs have increased 83% since 1950 and physically active jobs now make up only about 25% of our workforce, which is 50% less than in 1950. On top of that our average working week is now longer. As well as time spent sitting in the workplace, on average, we spend 7 hours sleeping and 4 hours of watching television or on our personal devices/computers a day.
Benefits of Standing vs Sitting at Work
1. Reduces Your Risk of Obesity and Weight Gain:
While exercise is the most effective way to burn off excess calories, choosing to stand over sitting will burn more calories.
You will use 20 to 50 extra calories per hour using a standing desk as opposed to sitting.
Calories burned per hour for the following are
Sitting 50-70
Standing 85-110
Walking 180-280
Bicycling 200-300
2. Standing May Reduce Your Risk of Heart Disease, Lower Blood Sugar, and Reduce Cholesterol:
Choosing to stand rather than sit lowers blood sugar, cholesterol, and weight which in return lowers your risk for heart disease.
When your body remains sedentary for too long it loses its ability to efficiently use blood sugar.
3. Standing Desks Help Low Back pain
Sitting in an office chair for long periods of time can lead to back problems and other orthopaedic problems.
These effects of sitting are made much worse by incorrect posture and an increase in the use of computers.
A study was preformed where 23 office workers of varying ages and body masses used a sit-stand desk where the alternated between sitting and standing throughout an 8-hour work day. The study found that the participants reported a 31.8% reduction in standing desk back pain when compared to sitting for the entire work day.
Using a standing desk reduces your risk of obesity and heart disease, lowers blood sugar, reduces cholesterol, alleviates musculoskeletal aches and pains, increases productivity and creativity, improves mood states, and increases energy levels.
To take these benefits one step further, integrating a treadmill desk or bike deskwill provide additional health benefits and enhance upon the benefits of standing while working. .
Where to buy Sit/ Stand desks
www.posturite.co.uk
www.backcs.co.uk/standingdesks
www.electricstandingdesks.co.uk
www.officefurnitureonline.co.uk
refs- lifespanfitness.com
Replacing sitting time with standing or stepping: associations with cardio-metabolic risk biomarkers by
Genevieve N. Healy, Elisabeth A. H. Winkler, Neville Owen, Satyamurthy Anuradha, David W. Dunstan