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Is Standing the Way to Weight Loss?
SharePublished in the ‘European Journal of Preventive Cardiology’, the study set out to see if we burn more calories standing than sitting. But it revealed much more than that: it also showed how standing can even keep cardiovascular disease and other health issues at bay.
"Standing not only burns more calories, the additional muscle activity is linked to lower rates of heart attacks, strokes, and diabetes, so the benefits of standing could go beyond weight control," said senior author Professor Francisco Lopez-Jimenez.
The nitty gritty
The research team looked at data from 46 studies, with 1,184 participants. Their average weight was 65kg, while their average age was 33 years old. A total of 60% of the people studied were men.It was found that standing burns 0.15 kilocalories per minute more than sitting – that’s 54 extra kilocalories burned over six hours. And that means an ‘average’ person could lost 2.5kg a year – or 10kg over four years.
And the research team says the weight loss could go even higher:
“Our results might be an underestimate because when people stand they tend to make spontaneous movements like shifting weight or swaying from one foot to another, taking small steps forward and back. People may even be more likely to walk to the filing cabinet or trash bin.”
How to stand more
Question is – if you have a desk job or sedentary lifestyle, how can you make the switch to standing more often?Standing desks are one idea, as they get you off the seat and on your feet during the work day.
Take it from Lopez-Jimenez: “It's important to avoid sitting for hours at a time. Standing is a very good first step – no pun intended – to avoid this mindset of sitting interminably without moving. Who knows, it may also prompt some people to do a little more and take up some mild physical activity, which would be even more beneficial."
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