"Sitting is the new smoking"

whatthehell

Requested a standing desk from work or a exercise ball chair -- -both got rejected and they told me I need a dr's note. Sheesh! Going to try and get that, but seems like frequent "health" breaks and working out at lunch seems to help.

Does anyone know the longest recommended time that people should sit down? In other words --- stand up every 30 minutes for 5 minutes?

wes allen

I think most of the research says to stand up and move around a bit every 45-60 minutes if possible. That is what I try to do. There are some apps out there to help remind you, or you can just set a timer or alarm as well.

mjoy

wes allen wrote: »

And, if your read some of the research, it says that even if you are super active outside of work, sitting for extended periods is still a big risk factor.

Stand up and move around every 45-60 minutes for at least 5 minutes if you can - this seams to go a long way toward reducing the risk. Even standing still at standing desks has issues, so the key is movement every hour.

I agree. I try my best to stand up every 2 hours (max). Otherwise, my bottom and back would end up feeling achy. And I don't think I'd be comfortable with the standing desk though since my legs gets tired easily.

RobertKaucher

pert wrote: »

I think the people talking about their exercise routine are missing the point. From a calories burned point of view, standing vs sitting at work trumps virtually ANY form of cardio you are doing after work. Even if you are doing that already, a standing desk would double down on your results.

Studies on the effect of sitting have shown that 8 hours of sitting can counteract many of the benefits of a nightly workout. I will try to find the details on this and post them. But if you don't get up and take a short walk during your work day, it is likely that even a CrossFit style workout at night may not be enough in the long run. Our bodies were built for constant low-level activity through the day punctuated with harder activity.

This isn't just about body weight and percentage of body fat. One can balance caloric intake to fit nearly any activity level. It seems just sitting for extended periods of time takes a tole and we are just starting to understand what that is. If you get up and talk to internal customers, walk to meeting, go to the bathroom, engage in water-cooler chats, then you probably don't have much to worry about from the point of view of the impact of sitting.