I saw a report today from a recent article in the American Journal of Epidemiology (Smith, Ma, Glazier, Gilbert-Ouimet, & Mustard, 2017*) examining “The Relationship Between Occupational Standing and Sitting and Incident Heart Disease Over a 12-Year Period in Ontario, Canada”. It is only one study, but, apparently, standing for work is now bad for you. You might want to rethink the standing desk.
I should have seen it coming. After all, we are quick—maybe too quick—to jump on bandwagons in health sciences. Carbs are good. Now, they are bad. Fats are bad. Fats are good. Eggs… well, you get the picture.
No doubt that sitting all day is not good for one’s health—for many reasons. It stands to reason (pun intended) that standing for prolonged periods would be unhealthy. Circulation is impaired (blood tends to pool in the legs). This can add stress on the veins in the legs. The heart has to work harder (less blood returns to the heart, so the heart has to beat faster). I’ll avoid the physiology lesson. Personally, I never fully understood the standing desk craze.
Sit or stand for work? Doesn’t matter so much. What is important is that we move as much as we can. At work, we need to take frequent breaks to walk a bit (but not to walk to a smoking area). Outside of work? Move. Physical activity is extremely important to those of us with sedentary jobs.
Whether you sit or stand for work at your computer, there are things you can do:
Exercise. Join a gym. Walk, jog, bike, or whatever you “enjoy”.
Don’t be “lazy”. Make yourself more active. Walk when you don’t have to—e.g., park farther from the store, office; walk or bike rather than drive; etc.
Don’t sit when you can walk. If possible, have meetings on the move. Walk and talk. If your business has a company gym. Meet while you exercise.
“Exercise is medicine”, says the American College of Sports Medicine. Exercise is not sitting or standing. Exercise is planned physical activity for the purpose of improving one’s health, performance, and/or personal appearance. If you really need a healthy way to work on your computer, try a treadmill desk. Of course, there are cheaper and less trendy ways to get physical activity. It is possible to plan exercise, no matter how busy your day. No need to go to extremes.
Be creative in finding ways to get your blood circulating. There is nothing inherently wrong with standing desks. Like any desk, keep good posture—even standing at a desk can lead to posture issues. Just move often.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!
*https://www.google.com/search?q=treadmill+des&oq=treadmill+des&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.11719j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
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