Lately there have been a lot of studies floating around about how sitting can actually increase your risk of cancer and about how even exercise won't guarantee a cancer-free life if you're sitting all day. But not even we knew how much sitting really mattered until we read this article. Did you know that just two hours of sitting will completely cancel out 20 minutes of exercise? Even if you hit the gym for an hour before work just six hours sitting at your desk will completely negate all that hard work... Seems crazy right? We wish it were.
The study published by Mayo Clinic Proceedings says that sitting has a strong negative effect on an individual's fitness level regardless of whether they exercise regularly or not. Researchers studied the cardiorespiratory fitness level average daily exercise and sedentary behavior of over 2000 participants ranging from 12 to 49 in age. Although none of the study subjects had a history of heart disease asthma or stroke the researchers still found that the risk of cardiovascular issues still greatly increased with a primarily sedentary life.
"Previous studies have reported that sedentary behavior was associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular outcomes." Said Dr. Jarrett Berry in the report. "Our data suggest that sedentary behavior may increase risk through an impact on lower fitness levels and that avoiding sedentary behavior throughout the day may represent an important companion strategy to improve fitness and health outside of regular exercise activity."
With all of this bad news there is some good news too. The study also found that even if you're stuck sitting at your office desk all day there's still hope.
"We also found that when sitting for prolonged periods of time any movement is good movement and was also associated with better fitness." Says Dr. Jacquelyn Kulinski. "So if you are stuck at your desk for a while shift positions frequently get up and stretch in the middle of a thought pace while on a phone call or even fidget."
That's some handy advice... And you know what could be even more handy? Working at a standing desk. For one thing even if you're tied to your desk all day if you're standing throughout most of your time at work you'll be more likely to do some of the "fidgeting" that doctors suggest. Practice a bit of standing desk yoga to keep your body flexible. Take a quick walk around the office to keep your body in a steady state of movement... Not to mention boost your creativity. Even if you need to lower your stand up desk to sit at certain points throughout the day having a height adjustable desk like our new SquaredUp or UpWrite Midnight will allow you to maximize the health potential of your regular exercise and make the most of your time at work.