Standing?

lebbyloses

I know it's not really exercise, but I'm wondering how much of a difference it makes to stand instead of sit. My office recently started offering us the option of a standing desk, and I have had one for a few months now. We still have chairs (high ones) in case we want to sit. Some days I stand a lot, some days it's 50-50. Some days, like this week, I sit all day. I'm not counting any of it as official exercise, I'm just curious how much of a difference it might make. Also, I'm a foot tapper. When I sit, I fidget. When I stand I don't, though of course I probably do shift my weight around, take steps back and forth a bit, etc. does that even out?

Note: I wanted the standing desk because sitting all day is correlated with a higher risk of many bad things, even if you go home and exercise. So it's not like I'm switching back. Just curious.

sarah456s

I read a fitness book (I can't remember which one it was in though - may have been The First Twenty Minutes by Gretchen Reynolds) that said that standing or walking very slowly were one of the few ways that you could actually lose weight by "exercise". This is because other forms of exercise typically raise your appetite and thus you eat more, or cause you to be subconsciously less active during the rest of the day. Standing causes such a low increase in calories burned, that the body doesn't really register it, so doesn't compensate for it. Of course, it's going to be a very gradual additional loss, but standing is so good in so many other ways, that overall it's very beneficial.

I wouldn't count it of course, like you. But it made me happy that I stand a lot in one of my jobs. In your case it may even out with the fidgeting, I don't know.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/04/the-surprising-shortcut-to-better-health/?_r=0

_Waffle_

I sit all day at a desk. Just exercise before or after work. Don't over think this.