It’s true. Too much sitting not only can make you sick, but has been linked to a higher risk of heart disease, cancer, depression, diabetes and obesity.
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Many offices now offer the option of standing desks, but what about universities where students often sit for long periods of time throughout the week?
UCLA is one university that has addressed the health dangers of students sitting too long, according to the UCLA Newsroom.
UCLA dance professor, Angelia Leung, partnered with Burt Cowgill, an assistant adjunct professor with the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, to find ways to help students stand up, such as standing desks and breaking up long periods of sitting with movement or stretching at least once an hour.
If you’ve been sitting for an hour, you’ve sat too long. At minimum, you should not sit for more than 50 minutes out of every hour. This is difficult for the average American office worker, who typically sits for 13 to 15 hours a day but, sadly, the more time you spend sitting, the shorter your life expectancy.
Lack of activity is to blame for more than 5 million deaths each year. Compare that to smoking, which kills nearly 7 million annually. To remain healthy and lengthen your life span, you need to make an effort to establish a weekly workout regimen and move as much as possible throughout each day.
As mentioned, workplaces are catching on to this, with some companies offering standing desks and walking meetings, and even treadmill desks! Another plus of standing desks is that, since they’re already standing, people tend to walk over to talk to their co-workers rather than sending an email or text. Two people working and standing up also tend to naturally keep walking while talking.
Inactivity such as sitting increases your risk of poor balance and the possibility of falling. However, standing up for 15 minutes every two hours effectively counteracts the ill effects of sitting. Other data suggests standing up once for a minute or two every 20 to 30 minutes is a good countermeasure.
The driving force behind the initial standing desk trend was to help you burn more calories, but the best way to use a standing desk is to promote more movement throughout the day since prolonged stationary standing may be as challenging to your body as prolonged sitting.
Be aware that prolonged stationary standing also comes with risks. It could increase your risk for preterm birth, chronic venous insufficiency, carotid atherosclerosis and musculoskeletal disorders.
So, prolonged sitting is bad and prolonged standing is bad. What’s a tired office worker to do? The point is to sit less and move more. Movement and physical activity reduce your risk of heart disease, back pain and obesity and have a positive effect on your mental health as well, which, in turn, improves your productivity.
So, get up. Walk around the office. Walk down the hallway. Spend your lunches and breaks walking and eating outside, if possible. If you’re talking on a cellphone — you guessed it — walk the talk.
Intermittent, low-intensity but high-frequency movement is another powerful, inexpensive and highly effective strategy for health and longevity that can get you moving.