Sitting for long hours is bad for our health. Standing up may not be much better, though. A large new study of more than 83,000 adults found that standing for more than two hours a day – as many people with standing desks do – didn’t protect against the cardiovascular risks of too much sitting.
Those hours of standing also turned out to have their own downsides, increasing people’s likelihood of developing serious circulatory problems, including varicose veins, abnormally low blood pressure and blood clots, compared with people who rarely stood. “To improve your overall health and lower your risk of heart disease, you have to mix in actual movement,” says research fellow Matthew N Ahmadi. Credit: Getty Images “Standing is generally better than sitting,” says Matthew N Ahmadi, a research fellow at the University of Sydney, who led the new study.
But, by itself, it’s not enough to make us healthier. “To improve your overall health and lower your risk of heart disease, you have to mix in actual movement,” he says. In other words, to undo the health risks of sitting, a standing desk alone isn’t enough.
Lack of evidence behind standing desks For decades, researchers have been telling us to sit less, with studies showing that long hours in a chair contribute to greater risks for heart disease, vascular problems, joint pain, diabetes, obesity and other conditions. In theory, being upright should stave off this harm, since it’s the postural opposite of sitti.