Burn 50 More Calories an Hour Just By Standing While You Work

I love science, but if we're being honest, a lot of the time it can be a real buzzkill. For example, there was the time they found that the sun didn't revolve around the Earth, which dealt a big (if not completely irreparable) blow to my belief that I'm the center of the universe. Or what about the time they discovered that ice cream isn't a superfood, capable of curing obesity, cancer, and acne?

But, for once, there's a new scientific study that isn't a total bummer. In fact, we're pretty excited to read more about the benefits of mixing some standing into your work day. As reported by the BBC, Dr. John Buckley at the University of Chester asked a group of volunteers to stand for at least three hours a day, using an accelerometer to track the amount of movement each person experienced per day, as well as heart rate and glucose monitors to measure the subjects' pulse and blood sugar. What they found was surprising, even to a standing desk evangelist like me!

It turns out that standing while you work burns 50 more calories per hour than sitting! Now that may not seem like more than a bag of pretzels from the convenience store, but over the course of a year it adds up. How much? Well, if you stand three hours a day, five days a week, then over the course of a year you would end up burning the equivalent of 10 marathons' worth of calories beyond what you burn by sitting.

Simply put, there's no better way to combat the negative health effects of inactivity and sedentary living than standing throughout portions of your workday. Most people, including the younger, more innocent me, thought that all you needed was occasional exercise. And while exercising does a lot of good for the body, it isn't enough by itself if you still spend 18 or 19 hours per day sitting or lying down.

That may seem extreme, but think about how many hours you spend seated each day. Eight hours at work? Plus another hour or more commuting? And then when you get home, are you standing while you watch TV or read a book? Add in 7 hours of sleep per day and you can easily be spending 18-20 hours in a sedentary position. And that's a problem because, as the article puts it, "our bodies...need the constant, almost imperceptible increase in muscle activity that standing provides" to stay healthy and combat the health problems that arise from too much sitting, like heart disease or diabetes.

Of course, you don't want to stand all day either, just like how only eating celery wouldn't be that much better for you than only eating ice cream. The key is to get moving by mixing standing, sitting, and perhaps even a little walking into your day. And if you've decided you're ready to start burning 10 marathons' worth of calories per year, there's nothing better to get you past the starting line than the UPLIFT Height-Adjustable Standing Desk. With the sturdiest frame and quietest motor on the market, the UPLIFT is the perfect tool to help you leave that old-fashioned sedentary lifestyle behind once and for all. And with an astonishingly low price, good health is accessible even to those on a budget. In fact, you could say that the UPLIFT is the center of the standing desk universe. Take that, science!

If you’re new to the world of sit-stand desks, visit TheHumanSolution.com to get help from our team of ergo experts!

Related Reads:

• Infographic: How Much We Sit, How Much We Hate It, and What Can Be Done About It
• Why UPLIFT is the #1 Standing Desk
• Standing Desks: What are the Health Benefits of Using a Stand Up Desk?