Standing Desk Update
Jan. 20th, 2008 03:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sinanjuSince I'm sure that everyone who reads my journal has been waiting with bated breath for an update on the standing desk experiment, I thought I'd fill you in.
To recap: the lovely and talented![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
snippy forwarded me a report on a study which demonstrated that (surprise, surprise!) people who are more active burn more calories and don't gain (or will lose) weight more quickly than those who sit on their butts.
This isn't exactly news, of course, but the study, uh, studied people who didn't get real exercise. One group sat a lot more than the other, which consisted of people who stood a lot more and "puttered" around. The latter group tended not to gain weight as quickly (or as much) as the former. After all, using your leg muscles for several hours a day will burn more calories than sitting on your butt. Plus, it turns out that sitting on your butt for long periods tends to shut down the 'fat burning' processes in your body; getting actively again, even briefly, tends to get them going again. So sitting on your butt for sixteen hours a day is a recipe for gaining weight, getting up frequently and moving around may not give you that much more exercise, but it tends to keep you in 'fat burning' (or at least 'non-fat-accumulating') mode.
So I swapped out my standard computer desk at home for a standing work station. I haven't noticed any weight loss yet, but I know I'm a lot more active than I used to be. I don't just settle into a chair and sit there for hours. I move around. I wander away from the computer frequently to do other things. I dance in place while I netsurf. Which is a lot more activity than I was engaging in before.
It's not real exercise--but it's an improvement.
The only drawback is that I find it more difficult to compose while standing. I'm not sure why, though I suspect it's purely psychological. No doubt as I get used to standing while I write this issue will fade away. But it is an issue at the moment, and unexpected. Overall, though, it's worth it.
To recap: the lovely and talented
snippy forwarded me a report on a study which demonstrated that (surprise, surprise!) people who are more active burn more calories and don't gain (or will lose) weight more quickly than those who sit on their butts.This isn't exactly news, of course, but the study, uh, studied people who didn't get real exercise. One group sat a lot more than the other, which consisted of people who stood a lot more and "puttered" around. The latter group tended not to gain weight as quickly (or as much) as the former. After all, using your leg muscles for several hours a day will burn more calories than sitting on your butt. Plus, it turns out that sitting on your butt for long periods tends to shut down the 'fat burning' processes in your body; getting actively again, even briefly, tends to get them going again. So sitting on your butt for sixteen hours a day is a recipe for gaining weight, getting up frequently and moving around may not give you that much more exercise, but it tends to keep you in 'fat burning' (or at least 'non-fat-accumulating') mode.
So I swapped out my standard computer desk at home for a standing work station. I haven't noticed any weight loss yet, but I know I'm a lot more active than I used to be. I don't just settle into a chair and sit there for hours. I move around. I wander away from the computer frequently to do other things. I dance in place while I netsurf. Which is a lot more activity than I was engaging in before.
It's not real exercise--but it's an improvement.
The only drawback is that I find it more difficult to compose while standing. I'm not sure why, though I suspect it's purely psychological. No doubt as I get used to standing while I write this issue will fade away. But it is an issue at the moment, and unexpected. Overall, though, it's worth it.