Could Standing Up at The Office Help You to Lose Weight?

You might find yourself sitting at a desk all day, but according to exercise scientist John Buckley, from the department of clinical sciences and nutrition at the University of Chester, pushing away your chair and working standing up is better for your wellbeing, and could help you lose weight.

According to Buckley, if you stand up for an extra three hours a day, you could burn off 8lb (3.6kg) of fat every year. Buckley says, ‘There is no need to sit down so much,’ and leads by example by using a standing desk which is believed to date from the 1940s. Old desks can be set at a height for standing, but you can also get custom-made computer desks if you want to stand as you answer your emails, which Buckley, who is part of an advisory group working with England’s chief medical officer on responses to obesity, advises for anyone needing to work off a little bit of Christmas weight.

Ernest Hemingway championed standing upright, and saw his work improve by matching his vigorous prose by this more physical approach to writing. In a letter he wrote in 1950, Hemingway said, ‘Writing and travel broaden your ass if not your mind and I like to write standing up’. He was not alone in this, as fellow writer Vladimir Nabokov also preferred to stand.

But why is it so beneficial to your wellness? According to Buckley, ditching your chair and standing up improves your circulation, and reduces obesity. Three hours of standing consumes 144 calories, which is becoming more important than ever. ‘People are sitting down at work, then sitting in the car and then sitting down in front of the television’ which causes your metabolic rate to crash to ‘an absolute minimum,’ says Buckley. He urges ‘It isn’t natural. Humans are designed to stand up and keep moving.’

Buckley is not the first expert to warn you about the dangers of being inactive at work and in your own time. Previous studies have shown that there is a strong connection between too much sitting down and an increased risk of diabetes, and that a sedentary lifestyle could be causing as many deaths as smoking. Buckley concludes by saying that you can see long-term improvements from small, regular changes in the workplace ‘It’s little changes in behaviour… such as standing at your desk that can add up to make quite a big difference to your health.’