SIT. STAND. CHANGE. RECOVER.

Sitting is the new smoking, doctors tell us, and being creatures of habit we find it equally difficult to give up the former, as well as the latter. Following the Industrial Revolution people began to spend more and more of their time sitting down. And this trend continues to grow. Today, in the context of the knowledge economy, we are looking to analyze the advantages and disadvantages and to provide people with choices. In this case the choice concerns our position and the possibility to change it – to work sitting down, standing up, or in between, to distribute our weight in different ways, to balance. The study which identified this problem for the first time was conducted in England in 1953. It established that the number of bus conductors suffering from heart disease was much smaller than the number of bus drivers with the same complaints, even though they all worked under the same conditions. The only difference between the two groups was that during working hours drivers were sitting down, whereas conductors were standing or moving.

What do these numbers represent? They show the calories burned per hour when sitting, standing and walking, respectively. We can see that the difference between calories burned while sitting and standing is negligible – only 8 calories. Therefore, standing alone cannot save us from the extra weight or make us fit – that Holy Grail. In that case, what was the reason behind the so-called standing revolution and what does it really mean?

Generally speaking, sitting is the antithesis to movement, i.e. the most natural state of the human body. It creates a feeling of wellbeing and if we become absorbed in our work it is only too easy to “forget“ that we are sitting down instead of moving and in a way become “addicted“ to sitting. However, spending hours on end sitting down results in shoulder pains, back pains, stiffness caused by ligament strain, swollen feet, varicose veins, and in the long term – heart disease, diabetes, and in some cases even cancer. Sitting slows down and disrupts circulation of blood putting a strain on certain organs and leading to poor perfusion of nerve endings which can causes the abovementioned diseases as well as a feeling of lethargy and fatigue. Sitting is the most comfortable way to work, but in the long run it causes physical and psychological problems. Sitting is like sugar – it brings pleasure, but in large quantities it becomes a silent killer. Smart chairs which intuitively respond to and even encourage the natural posture and movement of the body can help up to a certain extent, but they cannot solve the problem entirely.

If we were to imagine the standing revolution as the ritual burning of the chair – the embodiment of the wicked witch – installing a standing desk and strutting proudly behind it all day long, we would be going down the wrong path. Standing up for such a long time can cause just as much damage as sitting down for 8 hours a day. In other words – spending the whole day standing up is no alternative to sitting all day long. Because standing for prolonged periods of time also causes poor blood circulation, stress to the heart, back pain, varicose veins and swollen feet. This cannot be avoided, unless we somehow manage to do away with gravity. When we stand we activate the muscles around the spine and blood circulation which supplies the entire nervous system, tones and regenerates it. From a psychological point of view standing enhances awareness, helps us to be more dynamic and makes decision-making more effective. In terms of concentration it makes little difference whether we sit or stand. Some people may find one position more effective, whereas others will prefer the other.

If we look carefully at old prints we will see that as far back as the Middle Ages scriptoria were equipped with work surfaces that allowed people to write either sitting or standing. The longevity of the Japanese people from the Okinawa region is attributed to the fact that they prefer to sit on the floor rather than on chairs and switch between sitting and standing roughly 30 times a day, which makes them the healthiest people on earth. Thus we may conclude that the most important thing is the change of position and the movement involved – more important indeed than the position itself, because neither sitting, nor standing can produce 100% good results. The key is to alternate and gradually – like training sessions at the gym – to build up the habit of standing up. We start with 5 minutes and gradually work up to 15 minutes, some even advise up to 30 minutes per hour. Until we reach a 2:6 or4:8 hours stand/sit ratio. The transition from one position to another helps to optimize the body’s chemistry and to improve general physical and mental wellbeing. This in turn has an impact on performance, creativity and decision-making. Of course everyone must decide for themselves what their optimal ratio would be, but the important thing is to change positions.

A while back a Japanese architect’s firm designed an apartment with built-in obstacles created on purpose. The objective was to introduce dynamic situations for its inhabitants and by doing so to improve their health, fitness, wellbeing and happiness. We do not know whether they have succeeded, but one thing is certain – contemporary design devotes a lot of thought to encouraging movement and offers many good and smart solutions.

They include sitting alternatives such as balancing balls and perch stools which adopt a position halfway between sitting and standing. Both types of chairs aim to take people out of the comfort zone offered by good traditional work chairs, and to introduce a certain element of instability forcing them to balance and in doing so to activate their abdominal and leg muscles.

Adjustable height desks – both electric and mechanical – allow quick change of position from sitting to standing while working. Shortcomings associated with the electric type include some distracting noise and the time needed to adjust the height, which is around 12-15 seconds. From a psychological perspective, it takes the human brain 7-8 seconds to accept or rejects a given action. That is why it tends to favor the quicker performance of mechanical adjustable desks. The most frequently asked question in this respect concerns the right height of the desktop. The practical rule is that it should reach up to the elbows when the arms are bent so as to form a 90 degree angle.

If a company has recently invested in fixed-height desks, there are solutions that can be used to transform a fixed desk into an adjustable-height one. This involves the use of mobile desktops which despite their smaller size can fit a keyboard, a mouse and possibly a notebook and allow their user to enjoy the experience of changing positions, to stand up and to work standing for a certain period of time.

Ergonomic mats make standing more comfortable by relieving sore feet. They can be used either with or without shoes, which makes them especially welcome to ladies who can rest if only for a while from the exhausting demands of their beautiful shoes.

A while back a Japanese architect’s firm designed an apartment with built-in obstacles created on purpose. The objective was to introduce dynamic situations for its inhabitants and by doing so to improve their health, fitness, wellbeing and happiness. We do not know whether they have succeeded, but one thing is certain – contemporary design devotes a lot of thought to encouraging movement and offers many good and smart solutions.

They include sitting alternatives such as balancing balls and perch stools which adopt a position halfway between sitting and standing. Both types of chairs aim to take people out of the comfort zone offered by good traditional work chairs, and to introduce a certain element of instability forcing them to balance and in doing so to activate their abdominal and leg muscles.

It is normal that people should get carried away by the comfort of sitting. As anything that brings comfort it is addictive. This is why it is useful to have discrete and caring “mentors“ who help us to remember to change positions. This is where high tech comes to the rescue in the shape of sensors built into desks, desktops or buildings, monitoring the time we spend sitting down and sending us reminders when it’s time to switch to standing for a while or to go sit on a balance ball.

For better or for worse we are creatures of habit. But when our habits starts to harm us something needs to shake us out of complacency and show us the other perspective. This is also true in the case of adopting a healthy and effective working position. The most important thing remains the need to vary between different positions because neither one alone can offer a satisfactory solution. Of course, everyone has to find what works best for them, to decide whether sitting or standing helps their decision-making, which position improves their imagination and makes their thinking faster, but what we really need is change. If for example we spend a lot of our time sitting in meetings, then we would be justified in selecting a standing position for our personal desk. We must consider our individual lifestyle and decide how best to integrate change into our daily routine.