Standing: a New Model for Physical Activity

You may not realize it, but the average American sits anywhere from 7.7 to 15 hours a day without moving. Think about it. From the time we spend in the car commuting here and there, to the time we spend at our desks each day, and the time we spend in front of a TV screen or sleeping at night… we’re sedentary. A lot.

Researchers are beginning to uncover the impact these long periods of sitting have on our health. They’re finding that sitting for longer periods of time significantly increases our risk for disease. Some are now calling it “sitting disease.” The Mayo Clinic now claims that regularly sitting for up to three to four hours at a time is equivalent to smoking a pack and a half of cigarettes a day!

Studies at The University of Missouri-Columbia discovered that sitting for periods of three to four hours at a time shuts off our body’s ability to burn fat efficiently and stimulates disease-promoting processes.

The misconception is that hitting the gym for a daily workout will compensate for all of this sedentary time we engage in. Not so. Research has shown this is not enough to tip the scales in our favor and that what we do during the rest of our day is just as important. This is because lack of exercise and excessive sitting do not affect our health in the same biological ways.

Apparently, standing and regular movements throughout our day stimulate those fat-burning enzymes in our bodies and help optimize metabolism. So, while we should continue to strive for regular exercise (at least 30 minutes, 5 times per week) it’s just as important to break up that time we spend sitting, every 30 to 60 minutes, with simple changes in our daily habits.

Here are 8 ways to reduce your risk of sitting disease:

1. Walk More. Park farther away from the building at work or at the mall. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Take a longer route to the restroom, mail room or conference room. This is one I do regularly.
2. Set a timer. A timer, at your desk or on your phone, can remind you to get up and stretch every 30 minutes. Pace a little. Pick up your desk. Small movements make a big difference.
3. Stand up while you talk on the phone. Pace your office as you chat. I often do this as I talk with coaching clients.
4. Chat in person. Don’t send an email to the person three desks away. Walk over and talk to him or her in person.
5. Standing commute. If you ride public transportation, stand instead of sit.
6. Stand and watch. Stand or exercise while you’re watching television. Experiment with using a balance ball. Even just get up and move during commercials.
7. Ditch the remote. The TV remote may be convenient, but it’s not helping you move more! Put it away and get up to change the channel. Just like I did when I was a kid!
8. Adjustable workstations. Check with your employer to see if they will provide a standing workstation or adjustable desk. These are becoming more common in workplaces.

And let’s not forget regular daily activities like household chores, shopping, and yard work. These are often underestimated because they are intermittent and don’t take as much effort as an exercise workout. However, researchers say that the amount of energy required to hold up the body’s weight allows standing to almost double a person’s metabolic rate.

The moral of this story? Simply stand up more. Stand up and move more frequently. Even if, because of your schedule or a physical impairment, you’re unable to get regular exercise workouts, improving the quality and frequency of what you already do everyday will have significant benefits for your health.

Learn it. Apply it.

• How much time do you estimate that you spend sitting or otherwise sedentary each day?
• What are some subtle shifts you might make, in your daily routine, to incorporate more standing or simple movement? You can probably think of more than just those listed above.
• How will you remind yourself and create habits out of these new practices?