Take a Stand Against Sitting Disease

A new American Heart Association advisory warns that sitting too much is hazardous to your health.

How hazardous? A sedentary lifestyle such as sitting at your desk at work for long periods can lead to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and even early mortality. Hence the name “Sitting Disease.”

Why Is Sitting Too Much So Bad?

According to the American Heart Association, prolonged sedentary time is bad for your body even if you are physically active and exercise regularly. When we have a highly sedentary lifestyle, our bodies see an increase in fat tissue, which also increases the chance of greater inflammation of the heart and blood vessels.

One study from the American Journal of Epidemiology found that men who sit six or more hours a day are 50% more likely to die from a chronic disease, compared with those who sit three hours or fewer.

Stand Up to Sitting Disease

Though a sedentary lifestyle may have affected your health already, it’s not too late to turn things around! It’s pretty simple: SIT LESS AND MOVE MORE. Pace while you’re on the phone. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Go for a walk after lunch. And if you sit during your workday, get a sit-stand desk.

This is perhaps the biggest way to impact your overall health and alternating your posture throughout the day can actually make you more productive!

Not only have studies shown that using a standing desk can benefit your work output, decrease back pain and fatigue, and increase calorie burn, but alternating a sitting and standing posture throughout the day with a Sit-Stand Desk can result in overall posture improvement. After sitting for hours, you can become so engrossed in your work that you don’t even know that you’ve been hunching over, causing pressure points throughout your back that will eventually cause pain. Alternating standing makes you more aware of your body and naturally helps avoid slouching while sitting.

The newest sensation in standing desk options is the Teeter Sit-Stand Desk which makes alternating seating and standing work easy and convenient. The Sit-Stand Desk is ergonomically designed to work with your body and not against it, with numerous adjustment features that accommodate a range of angles, positions, and heights to maximize comfort and productivity. With its stool that simply rotates out of the way, no other option is as compact and convenient.

¹ Gregory Garrett: Call Center Productivity Over 6 Months Following a Standing Desk Intervention. IIE Transactions On Occupational Ergonomics And Human Factors. Vol. 4 , Iss. 2-3,2016
² Pronk NP, Katz AS, Lowry M, Payfer JR: Reducing Occupational Sitting Time and Improving Worker Health: The Take-a-Stand Project, 2011. Preventing Chronic Disease. 2012;9:E154.
³ Thorp AA, Kingwell BA, Owen N: Breaking up workplace sitting time with intermittent standing bouts improves fatigue and musculoskeletal discomfort in overweight/obese office workers. Occup Environ Med.2014;71:765-771.
⁴ Buckley JP, Mellor DD, Morris M: Standing-based office work shows encouraging signs of attenuating post-prandial glycaemic excursion Occup Environ Med. 2014;71:109-111.