Standing desk companies are expected to steadily increase their revenue over the next decade. One study suggests that standing desk companies may not help reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease. It turns out that standing for more than two hours a day can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. problem.
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A few months into the pandemic, my husband bought me a convertible standing desk. We both work from home, and when we weren't jogging together every day, we spent hours hunched over in our respective work rooms.
All of a sudden, more co-workers are strutting their stuff on Zoom calls. We made small talk about how our new standing desks would improve our posture and make it so much easier to sit all day.
This trend is not slowing down yet. Market research firm Global Market Insights estimated that the standing desk market could be valued at $7.8 billion in 2023 and grow by 5.5% annually over the next 10 years. Top retailers such as Autonomous, FlexiSpot, and Uplift generate millions of dollars in revenue each year. “By promoting movement, these desks help you stay active and prevent pain,” Autonomous suggests in its brand literature.
But after a while, I realized that instead of hitting the button to raise my desk after my morning workout, I just sat there all day. Some of my co-workers found that standing at a desk for three hours gave them a boost of energy, but I didn't.
The study published Thursday hit me with a conundrum. After all, if you're using a standing desk to feel more active and promote better health, the trick is to actually use it to stand or sit more often and move more. It suggests that it is something to do.
Using data from more than 80,000 adults in the UK, researchers found that just standing up doesn't necessarily improve blood circulation. They also suggest that standing all day without moving around can increase your risk of circulatory problems.
Sitting or standing for more than 2 hours may not be good for your health
The team, led by researchers from the University of Sydney, studied data on 83,013 adults from the UK Biobank, a large database containing information about people's genetics, lifestyle and health. Participants wore accelerometer devices on their wrists that tracked their movements for a week.
The authors concluded that sitting 10 to 12 hours a day is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases such as varicose veins and orthostatic cardiovascular disease.
Standing for two hours a day is not associated with a lower risk of heart disease, such as heart failure, stroke, or heart disease, and does not appear to have much of an impact on cardiovascular health.
The study found that standing for two hours straight increases the risk of orthostatic cardiovascular disease, which increases by 11% for every additional 30 minutes. The authors suggested that standing for long periods of time every day can lead to long-term blood circulation problems such as venous ulcers and swelling of the veins.
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It's best to move all day long
A desk that allows you to switch between standing and sitting, such as a standing desk converter, allows you to change the way you work without being stuck in one position all day. Home office upgrades like an under-desk treadmill can also make it easier to move your body throughout the day.
Other researchers recommend 22 minutes of walking a day, which can be incorporated into housework or taking the stairs, to offset the health risks of prolonged sitting.
And for those of us who feel guilty for never actually lifting our standing desks (me), we miss out on huge health benefits if we just take the time to step away from our chairs each day. You can feel that it has been proven that this will not happen. .
