Stand during office hours to stay healthy

A lot of us have desk jobs that require us to sit and work for hours at stretch. This implies that our movement is severely restricted. It’s no surprise that we are more prone to inviting health risks in the absence of physical activity.

So how can you increase energy expenditure? One easy way is to make sure that you stand and get more work done. This would allow you to fight the negative effects on your health that arise due to a sedentary lifestyle. Physical activity can substantially help you reduce health risks, especially if you’re a desk-bound office worker. These findings are a part of new study that has been published in the journal PLOS ONE. Compared to sitting, you burn 45 kilocalories more if you stand for about 6 hours.

The lead author  of the study, Francisco J. Amaro-Gahete from the University of Granada, Spain said,  "If we take steps to combat a sedentary lifestyle by making small lifestyle changes, such as spending more time standing, this could reduce the risk of developing diseases such as obesity or Type 2 diabetes.”

The researchers considered a sample of 53 young adults for the study. They were divided into two categories, “savers” and “spenders” of energy. This was done on the basis of the amount of energy spent on switching to standing from sitting or lying.

A prominent factor to consider here is muscle mass, which had a tremendous effect on energy expenditure. People with more muscle mass were found to have an increased energy expenditure compared to those with less muscle mass.

Drawing from the study, the study authors recommend spending more time standing than sitting to avoid storage of fat and increase the usage of energy. Study researcher Jonatan Ruiz said, "If a person were to get up, take 10 steps, and sit down again, it appears that the effects of a sedentary lifestyle would be greatly reduced."