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Standing desk devotees may want to sit down for this news.
A new study finds that over the long term, standing doesn’t improve cardiovascular health compared to sitting and could actually increase the risk of circulatory issues, such as varicose veins and blood clots in the deep veins.
“The key takeaway is that standing for too long will not offset an otherwise sedentary lifestyle and could be risky for some people in terms of circulatory health,” said lead study author Matthew Ahmadi from the University of Sydney in Australia.
Ahmadi’s team followed 83,000 UK adults free of heart disease at the start of the study for seven to eight years. Researchers monitored heart condition incidence and collected circulatory disease data from smartwatch-like devices participants wore on their wrists.
The authors noted that the study focused on the effects of standing for a long time but not explicitly on standing desk usage.
The researchers found no health benefits to standing more — but before you take a seat, the team also determined that sitting for over 10 hours a day increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and orthostatic hypotension, a sudden drop in blood pressure that happens when standing up after sitting or lying down.
“For people who sit for long periods on a regular basis, including plenty of incidental movement throughout the day and structured exercise may be a better way to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease,” said University of Sydney professor Emmanuel Stamatakis.
Over the summer, Stamatakis and Ahmadi reported that just six minutes of daily vigorous exercise or half an hour of moderate-to-vigorous workouts could help lower the risk of heart disease even in people who don’t move much for half the day or longer.
“Take regular breaks, walk around, go for a walking meeting, use the stairs, take regular breaks when driving long distances, or use that lunch hour to get away from the desk and do some movement,” Stamatakis advised.
The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans say that adults should aim for 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity and two days of muscle strengthening a week.
The new study findings, published Wednesday in the International Journal of Epidemiology, follow an August report that predicted the value of the global standing desk market will rise from $7.8 billion to $12.6 billion in 2032.
Much of the growth is being driven by innovations in Germany and China, where “traditional” office spaces are being transformed into “more modern, flexible environments.”