“Sitting is poison” is often said and so tall desks are now very popular, whether at home or in the office. The goal is for those who stand to avoid the negative consequences of sitting for long periods of time. When it comes to circulatory disease, prolonged standing isn’t much better than sitting, according to a recent University of Sydney study in Australia.

The study authors collected data from more than 83,000 British adults over seven or eight years. Those who participated in the research for the study wore special devices on their wrists that recorded their movement data. The participants also did not have any heart disease at the start of the study.

Research questions the benefits of high offices

“The report’s findings indicate that increasing standing time does not reduce the risk of major cardiovascular disease,” according to the study’s authors. In other words, standing cannot compensate for a sedentary lifestyle.

Conversely, prolonged standing can have many negative effects. Anyone who stands for more than two hours a day has an increased risk of sudden drop in blood pressure, cramps, chronic venous insufficiency and venous thrombosis.

Therefore according to the study: “Strategies that simply recommend replacing long periods of sitting with standing and introducing tall desks may not achieve their goal.”

So is sitting better than standing?

No, anyone who sits for more than ten hours a day can experience exactly the same problems. In addition, prolonged sitting increases the risk of serious cardiovascular diseases, especially coronary heart disease, heart failure and strokes.

One of the authors of the study, Matthew Ahmadi, and other scientists had already published another study on sedentary lifestyle this summer.

In another report of more than 73,700 adults, researchers looked at the effect of a sedentary lifestyle on the risk of death from cardiovascular disease. They concluded that people who sit a lot are at greater risk.

Exercise, exercise, exercise

The team also wanted to know how much physical exercise is required to reduce this risk. They concluded that physical activity can indeed help, but of course it also depends on the duration and intensity of the movement. Specifically, the researchers identified the following types:

Anyone who has a sedentary job, but every day

– exercise physically for at least six minutes,

– is intensely physically active for at least 30 minutes,

– is moderately physically active for at least one hour,

– or at least has mild physical activity for more than an hour and a half,

reduces the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases.

People who sit for a particularly long time, i.e. at least eleven hours a day, generally need to move more, and walking or cycling to the workplace is much better than a high desk.

Edited by: Maria Rigoutsou