NPR:
Too much sitting increases heart failure risk and disability risk, and shortens life expectancy, studies have found. But according to an analysis published Wednesday of 20 of the best studies done so far, there’s little evidence that workplace interventions like the sit-stand desk or even the flashier pedaling or treadmill desks will help you burn lots more calories, or prevent or reverse the harm of sitting for hours on end.
“What we actually found is that most of it is, very much, just fashionable and not proven good for your health,” says Dr. Jos Verbeek, a health researcher at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.
Standing desks are very trendy right now (I have one from Oristand I’m testing for review) but always seemed to me to be one of those “too good to be true” things. Turns out, I may be right. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t stand, or at least, not sit for 10 hours a day but it seems the health benefits have been overblown.
Standing has “not proven good for your health” but too much sitting has been proven to be bad? What’s the other option if sitting is bad, lying supine? I don’t get it. It’s like with organic food when they say it hasn’t been proven to be better for you (though is better for the environment) because they can’t prove it’s better. I’ll keep standing and eating organic. Also don’t just stand there, walk around when you can especially at lunch.
I see sitting the same way smoking: Prolonged exposure could lead to health risks, a lack of exposure avoids those risks (but avoidance may not offer any benefits on its own). However, if the risk of sitting isn’t from the sitting position but from being sedentary then the risks still apply to standing desks, not so much to treadmill desks.
But, as the article notes, more research is needed.
This was a pretty bad article by NPR. It focused on the straw man of standing desks as some mythic calorie-burning, cure-all, when that’s not what I think anyone seriously believes them to be. The people I know who get into standing desks do so as part of healthier lifestyle. Sitting for long periods is bad for us (an idea proven out by studies). Standing desks are the only sane alternative to the issue of sitting too much for those of us who are desk-bound for our work. Those who favor standing desks are also the ones who consider biking to work, exercise regularly, eat well, drink plenty of water and generally care about their bodies. Of course there are going to be exceptions, but it is not helpful to attack a straw man.
“What’s the other option” As the article says, moderation of both.
“that’s not what I think anyone seriously believes them to be.” I’ve seen lots of people make those claims.
Do we need studies to know those people are idiots?
Believe me no one stopped sitting completely. Jesus.
I always assume these dopey “study” stories are funded by the competitors. It’s so difficult to prove anything has benefit to the human body because the studies take so long and are hard to control for.
In general the benefits are over sold. Still reminds me of a Slate article about how the benefits of coconut water are oversold and the product is as “expensive as a Starbucks coffee”. You don’t see a lot of articles arguing for people to forgo Starbucks though. Even though that’s expensive and bad for you.(Coconut water does have electrolytes).
That’s what she said!
I manage to get in several walks a day – hourly trips to the coffee machine. (These in turn prompt occasional trips to the mens room, increasing the overall exercise level…)
The best work position is the one you are not in. Or your next one position. Meaning that we were meant to move. Standing all day can be just as bad for you as sitting if that is all you are doing. So move. Take a walk, stretch, squat, sit, jog, lift something heavy, stand. Do it all, do it often.
This is why I ignore the VAST majority of health reporting. It’s clickbait trash. “Sitting will KEEL YOU!!!” “But not sitting isn’t proven to be better!!!”
People, take a damn logic course. You can’t tell me sitting is bad but not sitting might not be good. If i start from a baseline and sitting moves my health below that and not sitting doesn’t move me back toward the baseline… Oh never mind. See first sentence.
Sure, that’s optimal but if I need to finish coding, I can’t do exercises and do that too. You just can’t jog, do squats, etc etc all while doing your job unless you’re a fitness instructor. So we compromise. I sit, then i stand up and walk away a bit, then I sit.
Well, I don’t mean it as if you need to continuously move, just that you should strive to achieve as wide a variety of movement as possible throughout the day. I’m a video editor, and am in much the same position as coders. I set a timer for 30 minutes so that I get up at least for 2 minutes every 30 minutes to move. (the app Break time) Whether that means I’m walking to get a drink and go to the restroom, or sit in a deep squat for a couple minutes or whatever. And I also try and vary my sitting positions as much as possible, so that I’m not in one position all day. That’s really the issue here. Do your best to avoid a singular position. Whether it’s sitting or standing, if you don’t break out of that position and move your body, then you fall under a variety of health risks.
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which is still standing. any non-sitting is standing (assuming no laying prone at work).
the article is bunk. sitting is bad, we know that. standing is the alternative.
there are still advantages to standing over sitting — less organ squish, and more hip flexor activity, which is good for back pain.
agreed, the caloric differences are not the point and is a straw man
where, Shawn? no one I know is into standing for caloric reasons. no, everyone I know who stands does it for one reason — to avoid sitting. and sitting, even by this article, is linked to heart disease and decreased life expectancy.
Yes. The vast majority of health reporting is really, really bad. Even when the reporting comes from very reputable journals. When people refer to sitting as the new smoking, people automatically assume that you should avoid sitting at all costs. Not true. At all. Sitting is a perfectly fine position for humans. It’s just not good when you do it for hours at a time w/o a break. Just like if you only ate spinach. Spinach is a perfectly healthy food, but you are missing out on a number of other nutrients when you don’t include other foods. If you only sit, you are missing out on many other movement “nutrients” that are vital for human health. (Unless you are really in the zone and need to get the work done.) but that should be the exception, not the rule… 🙂
If I’m not mistaken, what I’ve seen from research and good health reporting, any sedentary position, whether it’s sitting or standing or lying down for more than 45 minutes or an hour at a time has negative health consequences. None of these positions are bad for you unless you never break out of them…
The secret to life is moderation!
I know standing is better for my back. And I can shift position a lot more freely. I mix it up during the day.
I tried standing for work and noticed a marked difference. As a sufferer of back pain (degenerative disc disease), I gained a certain amount of very welcomed relief.
During a recent move, my home made desk riser was left behind and the pain has returned.
Can’t afford the commercial solutions, which seem like they are taking advantage of people, so I will try to build another one. Not very pretty, but I think effective.