17 Jan The Health Benefits of Standing
If you stand 3 hours a day, 5 days per week that’s an extra 750 calories burnt! Start standing now, and by the end of the year you will burn an extra 30,000 calories, or 4 kg’s of fat!
When workers stand instead of sit at work, they have a higher heart rate and their blood glucose levels normalise quicker after a meal to prevent weight gain. Meaning, that standing workers have an average heart rate increase of 10 beats per minute, which makes a difference of about 0.7 calories per minute.
By standing at work, even for just half of your workday, you are burning more calories, helping to stimulate your metabolism. The last thing you want to do is a hard workout, then lose the benefits of the workout by being sedentary the rest of the day at work.
Also if you stand you are actively engaging your leg muscles and your low back muscles. If your lower back muscles are “switched on”, it helps to re-position your upper back and shoulder regions more correctly compared with being in a sitting posture. The knock on effect is that if your shoulders are better aligned, then your neck will be held in a more correct position also.
Stand up workstations are becoming much more common and I definitely am a fan of them. In many cases you can change from seated to standing through the day for some variation. Standing does help maintain upright postural design to simultaneously build Postural Fitness. Standing Up to Slim Down is a win-win!
Upright Ergonomic Tips
| Invest in an adjustable desk allowing you to sit and stand throughout the day while keeping your desk at the appropriate ergonomic height |
| Wear comfortable shoes allowing you to stand for more hours without your feet or back hurting and fatiguing |
| Take a walk, instead of sitting in an office chair checking your emails during breaks, go for a walk to increase your steps per day |
| Schedule some meetings as “walking meetings” where you are walking as you are doing your meeting. This lets you move, be upright, breathe in fresh air and hopefully absorb some Vitamin D |
| Distribute the weight of your body evenly over both hips and legs (avoid shifting your weight to one hip if you feel fatigued) |
| Better posture means better health. Make yourself proud, implement these posture tips, and achieve your desired fitness and health goals |
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