The title says it all. Is it really just a big (profitable) fuss or is there some truth and benefit behind it? It is a well-known fact that sitting at your desk for hours on end is detrimental to health and well-being. But for the many millions of office and computer workers out in the world, there isn’t much in the way of alternatives. Unless you consider a standing desk.

Much the same as a normal desk, except that instead of sitting down at it, you stand at it. Many assumptions have been made and circulated around the standing desk, one being that it is far healthier to stand at your desk than sit. “Healthier how?”, you may ask. Well, the common knowledge says that you expend far more energy to stand than to sit. And at face value, that seems about right. However, some clever people did a study which was published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health where they tracked the calorie expenditure of 74 subjects while sitting at a desk, standing at a desk and walking. The results were a little lacklustre:

1. Sitting at a desk burned about 80 calories an hour
2. Standing a desk burned about 88 calories an hour, only 8 calories more
3. Walking burned a whopping 210 calories per hour

So the take-home from the above results is that it is better to get up and go for a walk during lunch rather than rushing out to replace your desk.

But, I’m not done. The risks of a sedentary lifestyle (which includes the countless hours sitting at a desk) are real and therefore there are some (assumed) benefits to standing desks such as a decrease in risk of lifestyle diseases. While the benefits of standing desks have not been proven, it makes sense though, that not sitting all the time is a much better option.

So make sure you’re spending a good portion of your day “not sitting”…and you’ll benefit in the long run!

PS – “not sitting” could be standing, walking, pacing, running – just as long as you’re not sitting.