Sitting behind your desk all day is bad for your health and experts have long been advising people to stand at their workstations for about 15 minutes an hour. But a University of Waterloo professor says his research shows that people should be standing for at least 30 minutes per hour to get health benefits.
Prolonged standing is defined as over 8 hours of standing per day without a lot of movement and walking around. Jobs that require standing all day are commonly associated with lower back pain, issues with leg muscles and tendons, and chronic venous insufficiency.
Experts have found that you should try to stand for at least 2 hours per day, but up to 4 hours per day could be optimal. This might seem like a lot, but there are lots of ways you can fit standing into your day.
As much as prolonged sitting is harmful to your heart, so is prolonged standing. When you stand for too long, your blood tends to pool in your legs, unable to properly circulate around the body. In effect, the veins have to work doubly hard to distribute the blood evenly to parts that need it.
Health officials called for 10,000 steps a day, but the new findings may be easier to track. The magic number is two hours of standing or moving around instead of sitting per day, University of Queensland researchers say.
Risks begin to manifest for those who stand more than four hours per day. What constitutes “too much” standing can also change based on the circumstances. For instance, it is recommended that pregnant women avoid standing for prolonged periods of time.
Advocates of standing desks point to studies showing that after a meal, blood sugar levels return to normal faster on days a person spends more time standing. And standing, rather than sitting, may reduce the risk of shoulder and back pain.
Generally speaking, sitting or standing in the same position for more than 20 minutes per day is detrimental to your health.
How often should you take breaks? Every 30 minutes is often suggested, especially for people who spend most of their day sitting or are otherwise inactive for a significant portion of the day.
The Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) says that working frequently in a standing position can cause foot pain, leg swelling, and the development of varicose veins. Varicose veins develop when faulty valves in your veins allow blood to flow in the wrong direction, or pool in your legs.
When standing occurs continually over prolonged periods, it can result in inflammation of the veins. This inflammation may progress over time to chronic and painful varicose veins. Excessive standing also causes the joints in the spine, hips, knees and feet to become temporarily immobilized or locked.
Yep. According to new research, it turns out that “prolonged standing” is bad for us, too. The study — which was conducted by scientists from Curtin University in Australia — found that adults who stood for 2 hours while working experienced an increase in whole-body discomfort and a reduced mental state.
If that seems like too much, consider this — most experts agree that the majority of people should be able to stand for at least two hours during an 8-hour workday.
Standing all day is hard on the body. You may have already realized that after a long day of standing, your legs and feet can become swollen and fatigued, or your back may begin to hurt. This is because your body is being strained by remaining in an upright position for a long duration of time.
Multiple studies have shown people typically burn more calories standing than sitting. One study showed that adults who weigh 143 pounds burn 0.15 more calories a minute when standing versus sitting. If you stand for six hours per day instead of sitting, you burn around 54 additional calories.
It strengthens leg muscles and improves balance. It burns more calories than sitting. It is also a great antidote to the formation of blood clots deep in the legs. When you sit for long periods, blood flow slows through the legs.
Medical research studies show that standing as little as 30 minutes a day can lower your risk of death from cardiovascular disease. Standing for 90 minutes can lower that risk by more than 33%. The more you stand, the more the benefits add up.
– Standing instead of sitting for six hours a day could help people lose weight over the long term, according to a Mayo Clinic study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
Though standing definitely is a better habit than sitting, walking is better than standing. For an average adult, standing would burn about 190 calories in an hour while sitting would only burn 130 and would also contribute to fat storage. On the other hand, walking can burn up to 320 calories in the same time.
A growing amount of research suggests that just standing -- even if you don't walk around -- can have health benefits. To get the right balance, sit 20 minutes out of every half hour at work, standing for eight minutes and moving around for at least two minutes.
It is best not to sit in one position for more than 20 minutes, or to stand in one position for more than 8 minutes. If prolonged sitting in the workplace is required or desired, individuals should gradually transition to significant periods of standing.
But this new research suggests that standing may be an effective form of exercise to add to this mix. Why is standing good for you? Researchers think it's because standing exercises muscles in your abdomen, butt and legs that are necessary to keep you upright for an extended period.
Purpose. Prolonged standing at work has been shown to be associated with a number of potentially serious health outcomes, such as lower back and leg pain, cardiovascular problems, fatigue, discomfort, and pregnancy related health outcomes.
Indeed, studies show prolonged standing not only stresses your legs, knees and lower back, it can also lead to varicose veins, joint damage and circulation issues.