Sitting for long periods of time is bad for your health. This is something that researchers have know for quite some time now and may be impacting your health in more ways then one.
In terms of definition, we describe human structure as bipedal walking and standing on two legs. This definition does not assign the adjatiave of sitting. Human structure is designed to move more than standing, and not designed to sit. Unfortunately that is the workplace environment, or station, that most of the population of working adults in the United States
The amount of time that you sit can have poor affects on your overall health in more ways than one. Your body is designed as one, functional unit intended to transfer load and gravity throughout and down. Prolong sitting leads to abnormal stresses placed on structures of the body not designed to take the slow, content weight of your body. What’s your body’s way of telling you this; stiffness and pain resulting in structural overuse or outright injury to sensitive structures such as spinal discs. More over, it has been found that repetitive habits of sitting for long periods can promote a sedentary lifestyle which in and of itself comes with health risks.
How long should I stand at work?
Researchers found the an ideal ratio between sitting and standing lies somewhere between 1:1 and 1:3.
Does that mean that mean I should go right straight to standing all day at work? Not necessarily. Having trained your body to sit for long periods of time, it might be equally hard on the body to start to stand for long periods of time. As an example, research at the University of Waterloo showed that laboratory subjects developed lower back pain over time from moving to a standing station. The researchers suggested that a level of “training to stand” as well as periodic movement could be an effective way to try and prevent pain caused by moving to a standing station before it happens.
If you have transitioned to a home work stations, you may be thinking this question knowing that standing is better than sitting. It’s a good question with an answer that might surprise you. This is a great article I found discussing briefly the health risks of sitting, but also some strategies to help transition to a more standing, movement focused work day.
https://uwaterloo.ca/news/how-long-should-you-stand-rather-sit-your-work-station#:~:text=Sitting behind your desk all,hour to get health benefits.
Pro Tip: Standing is better than sit, frequently movement in conjunction with standing is recommended. Recommended that a resistance program using body weight should be used to help reduce the effects of moving from always sitting to more standing at work.