A study was
performed on people who sit for many hours at a time, and the results showed
that those who took short but frequent breaks from sitting had smaller waists
and better metabolism of sugars and fats than those who sat for long,
uninterrupted periods of time. Now,
these people who took many short breaks from sitting throughout the day were
not using these breaks to run laps around their office building. They were simply standing up, stretching,
changing their body position, getting their blood flowing, and sometimes
walking down the hall. And that was all
it took to be healthier than the others.
Relatively
speaking, compared to sitting, standing is hard work. Standing requires you to tense your leg
muscles, engage your back and shoulder muscles, and even shift your weight from
one leg to the other from time to time.
All of this burns calories!!
Now you may be
rolling your eyes and thinking…
Just go to the gym and run if you really want to burn
calories!
… But I’m not
suggesting standing as an alternative for regular exercise. Rather, I’m
suggesting standing as an alternative position to sitting in the workplace. Let
me explain…
You may not realize
it, but standing requires you to actively contract many of the muscles in your
body. Consequently, in comparison with a
sitting position in which most of your muscles are relaxed, standing results in
higher calorie burn and better posture. In
addition, the contraction of muscles while standing triggers the production of
many substances in your body that aid how you use and store sugars and
fats. This is why your metabolism speeds
up when you spend more time standing. As
a result, spending more time on your feet in the workplace can make the
difference between staying slim and gaining weight. The choice is yours.
Even further, I
think that pretty much everyone can agree that when you’re standing in one
place, you’re typically not staying in the same position the entire time. Instead, you’re moving around to a certain
extent and changing your body position without even intending to do so. This explains how standing at your desk, as
opposed to sitting, would encourage healthy movement such as fidgeting, pacing,
and even simply shifting the distribution of your weight between legs. By enabling you to move around more freely,
standing allows for more natural activity throughout your workday and thus more
calorie burn!!! Not to mention, an
increase in healthy movement will inevitably improve circulation, increase
energy levels, and stimulate brain activity.
Now what could be bad about that?!
Furthermore,
studies have shown that switching between a sitting position and a standing
position at work will not only speed up your metabolism, improve your blood
flow, and sustain energy, but it will also reduce stress on the body and, in
turn, significantly decrease the amount of injuries that are caused by too much
sitting. It has also been proven that greater bone density and improved sleep
at night are direct results of workers spending more time standing throughout
the workday. Additional research has
revealed that standing meetings in the office tend to progress much faster than
sitting ones because standing stimulates more active participation and sharing
of ideas. It is this kind of research
that has been driving more and more companies and individuals worldwide to take
interest in the rapidly expanding market for adjustable desk systems that allow
users to alternate between sitting, standing, and, in some cases walking, while
simultaneously getting their work done.
So with all of that
said, as long as you want to be healthy, productive, comfortable, and
injury-free at work, you should keep in mind that healthy movement throughout
your workday is crucial, and you should think about investing in the next
hottest thing in the workplace – the height-adjustable workstation – which will
be the topic for our next post.
Now I just want to
warn you that if you do decide to test out the whole standing-at-your-desk
thing on your own, you may initially experience some muscle aches in your legs
and/or feet. If this happens to you, do not worry!!! This should actually be expected
because you will finally be using and engaging all of the muscles in your legs
and feet throughout your workday – something that you have probably never done before.
If you do experience such muscle aches,
just think of them as a clear sign that you are on your way to becoming more
healthy and active in the workplace! This will get better with time as your
muscles will strengthen and adjust to this change in your work style.
For more
information about a height-adjustable workstation that will give you the
freedom to choose whether you want to sit or stand at your desk at any given
moment, check out the all new Sit Stand
system by Ergotech Group at http://ergotechgroup.com/height-adjustable-systems.html
Written by Julia Cavaliere – Ergotech Group, INC.
August 5, 2013
