The Standing Office

We have reported frequently on the importance of moving — not sitting — regularly at work.

Of course, in some work environments, finding the time or space to move can be difficult (though, of course, we all can take stairs instead of elevators, hold walking meetings, etc.). A new study highlights the benefits of a simple antidote to sitting: Stand.

Reports the University of Pittsburgh: “Alternating positions between standing and sitting while performing deskwork could make the difference in whether the thin red needle in your bathroom scale tilts to the left or the right of your goal weight.”

“A new study from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Education examined the potential weight management benefits of sit-stand desks. Pitt’s researchers found that regular use of a height-adjustable workstation, when combined with other low-intensity activities, is an effective measure for maintaining weight for most people.”

The study, titled “Energy expenditure of deskwork when sitting, standing or alternating positions,” was published by the Oxford Journal of Occupational Medicine.

Said Bethany Barone Gibbs, the study’s lead researcher and an assistant professor of health and physical activity within Pitt’s School of Education: 

“Sit-stand desks are an easy way to get a boost in energy expenditure that fits into America’s current office culture. By combining the act of standing for part of the day with other casual activities—say, opting to walk to the printer farthest away from your work area or choosing to use the restroom that’s located a couple of flights of stairs away—you can achieve a meaningful amount of extra energy expenditure while at work that could aid in weight control. It is important that we understand standing at work isn’t going to burn as many calories as going for a brisk walk or a long run. However, our findings add to a growing field of research that shows the benefits of sit-stand desks, including increases in productivity and energy, and lower pain, blood sugar, and potentially blood pressure.”

The Pitt report continues:

“The study found that if an individual were to stand for half of one hour—30 minutes—they could burn 5.5 more calories than they would have by sitting for that entire hour. Standing for the full hour burned an extra 8.2 calories. Switching evenly between sitting and standing over the course of an eight-hour day—four hours sitting and four hours standing—could result in an energy expenditure of as much as 56.9 calories for men and 48.3 calories for women.”

Pitt’s researchers acknowledge that the actual caloric expenditure from using a sit-stand desk in isolation is modest. Within their research, they point to separate studies that suggest small increases in daily physical activity, just 100 calories per day, would be enough to prevent weight gain in most individuals. When aligned with such advice, researchers believe regular usage of sit-stand desks could be one of many small energy expenditure changes in the work environment that would help office workers to maintain their weight.

“If you sit down more than 11 hours a day, one study suggests, you’re 40 percent more likely to die in the next three years than I am. I’m standing up. I’ve been standing up all day. I’ll be standing up all month, in fact, without a break. I expect at the end of that month I’ll be sore but triumphant, glowing with smug enlightenment,” Dan Kois writes in New York Magazine.

“Reading the research, I’ve become convinced that sitting around all day is the worst thing I do to my body—that, like smoking, plopping down on our collective ass makes us profoundly likelier to die earlier. The effects have nothing to do with regular exercise; indeed, it seems that being sedentary when you’re not exercising eliminates many of its benefits. Sitting all day lowers your good cholesterol and raises your risk of diabetes. Sitting down, you burn a single measly calorie each minute.”

“And so a growing cadre of lean, mean, self-satisfied office workers are exploring standing or even walking on a treadmill at work. They’re trying to maximize their vigor, and also the tiny muscle movements that standing fosters—weight-shifting, stretching, walking around. Sitters, meanwhile, are basically already corpses: Their “muscles go as silent as those of a dead horse,” a researcher memorably told The New York Times Magazine.”

“If sitting at work is terrible for me, shouldn’t I stop? And if I do, shouldn’t I stop sitting everywhere? I decided to spend a month on my feet: 30 days never being a couch potato, an office slug, a sitting duck. The exceptions, agreed upon with my editor: I would sit to drive (but would strive to take the train); I would sit when nature called. I would also sit to put my shoes on, I decided this morning after falling over trying to put on my shoes. I would lie down to sleep, although I surely wouldn’t need sleep, given that I’d be so healthy.”

The risks of too much sitting and not enough standing are much discussed on this blog — what we’ve often referred to as “Sitting is the New Smoking.”

The call to stand also exists overseas: GetBritainStanding.org offers a range of information on the risks of too much sitting, as well as how to address the problem — particularly in the workplace. It also offers a nifty “Sitting Calculator.”

According to the site, “in recent years a variety of major international research (see below) has produced compelling evidence that sitting more than 4 hours each day leads to:

• “The enzymes responsible for burning fat shutting down”
• “Reduced metabolic rate”
• “Stopping of the electricity flow in the legs”

The site further reveals the Top 10 risks from too much sitting, noting that “these risks grow significantly for people who sit longer than 4 hours each day:”

1. Heart / Cardiovascular disease
2. Diabetes
3. Cancer
4. Obesity
5. High blood pressure
6. Muscle degeneration
7. Back ache / Neck pain
8. Osteoporosis
9. Depression
10. Dementia