Apple is a prominent advocate for the advantages of standing periodically throughout the workday.
The tech giant promotes standing every hour through alerts on the Apple Watch, and has equipped its Apple Park campus with sit-stand desks as a standard feature. CEO Tim Cook has even controversially remarked that “sitting is the new cancer.”
This remark faced widespread backlash for allegedly exaggerating the dangers of sitting and overstating the benefits of standing, leading to considerable debate regarding the medical evidence supporting either claim.
Research indicates that the primary issue is not merely whether we sit or stand, but rather how much time we remain still.
However, as reported by Wired, a recent large-scale study appears to validate the belief that spending part of your workday in a standing position offers health advantages.
The researchers monitored the health data of over 83,000 individuals in the UK for an average duration of about seven years. During this period, participants wore wrist accelerometer devices for a minimum of four days. These devices were designed to track when they were sitting, standing, walking, or running throughout their waking hours. By analyzing this data, the researchers connected their periods of sitting, standing, and total stationary time with health outcomes recorded in their medical histories.
The findings revealed that prolonged periods of being stationary significantly raise the risk of orthostatic circulatory disease, regardless of whether a person is sitting or standing. Yet, the risk associated with standing was lower, and while sitting was linked to an increase in cardiovascular disease risk, standing did not show such a correlation.
The study demonstrated that when participants’ total stationary time (a combination of sitting and standing) exceeded 12 hours daily, the risk of orthostatic circulatory disease increased by 22 percent for each additional hour, while the risk of cardiovascular disease rose by 13 percent each hour.
Specifically, for sitting alone, risks escalated each hour beyond 10 hours: the risk of orthostatic circulatory disease increased by 26 percent for every hour after 10 hours, and cardiovascular disease risk climbed by 15 percent. For standing, the risk of orthostatic circulatory disease began to rise after just two hours, increasing by 11 percent for every additional 30 minutes of standing. Notably, standing had no effect on cardiovascular disease at any point.
To summarize, it’s beneficial to keep moving – but if you’re at your desk for extended durations, incorporating some standing time is a safer option.
Additionally, lower disease risks aren’t the only advantage of using a sit-stand desk; I discovered three unexpected benefits after making the transition, and I wouldn’t want to go back.
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