Take a stand against sitting

By Travis Saunders

If you’ve been following the headlines, you know that sitting is bad for you. People who spend most of their day sitting double their risk of developing heart disease and diabetes, and are about 50 per cent more likely to die prematurely, when compared to people who rarely sit. Even more surprising is that these associations are seen even in active individuals, meaning that your daily run may not completely protect you if you spend the rest of the day on your butt.

Swapping time in your chair for time on your feet is a simple and necessary solution for reducing the risk of chronic diseases. Here are a few ways to sit less and move more at work.

Standing workstations

A standing workstation is the simplest way to sit less at work. Switching to a standing desk can be as straightforward as raising your computer monitor and keyboard (laptop trays are perfect for this), or as fancy as the power adjustable Terra from NextDesk. Anything that allows you to work comfortably while standing will work (the goal isn’t to stand all the time, but to avoid the trap of sitting all day). Standing at your desk won’t burn many extra calories, but it does engage a lot more muscles than sitting, which may help to prevent many of the health problems associated with long uninterrupted periods in a chair.

Pedal workstations

If standing doesn’t appeal to you, then you might want to look into a pedal workstation. There are plenty of inexpensive pedal machines available online which fit easily under an office desk, transforming any cubicle into a miniature fitness centre.

Specialized products like the FitDesk, which is essentially a stationary bike with a foam desk attached to the handlebars, are perfect for those that have the room to set up a full-time solution. The FitDesk allows you to maintain proper posture, engage your core and keep the blood flowing through your legs. If you want to put in a serious workout, it is possible, and your positioning on the bike keeps you from sweating onto your laptop.

Treadmill Workstations

The most appropriate way for runners to reduce their sitting time at work is with a treadmill workstation, which is exactly what it sounds like – a treadmill with a desk at the front. Specialized treadmill workstations start at about $500, although they can get quite pricey. Of course, it’s also possible to build one with a basic treadmill and a stable table, although it’s difficult to find one at the appropriate height.

Sure, walking while you work won’t improve your 5k PB, but it will keep you from spending hours hunched and motionless over a keyboard. You can even throw in a lunchtime run without missing an email. Ernesto Ramirez, a researcher and inventor of the Active Desk, used his creation to walk more than 1,100k while getting his PhD at the University of California, San Diego. “I was once at a conference talking about my treadmill workstation,” Ramirez said, “and someone came up and said, ‘I could never do that. How can you get any work done?’ So I went back and analyzed the data. Sure enough, my walking coincided with some of my best work.”