Oct. 30, 2024 – After years of scientists warning about the health harms of sitting, researchers in Australia recently reported that standing may not be so great, either – a potentially frustrating finding for the growing numbers of standing desk users worldwide.
The study found that standing more doesn’t reduce the risk of problems like heart disease or stroke, and may even boost the risk of circulatory issues, such as varicose veins or deep vein thrombosis. “Standing desks may be bad for your health,” headlines read.
“Sitting is still bad for you, but standing by itself isn't the magic pill,” said study author Matthew Ahmadi, PhD, deputy director of the Wearables Research Hub and a researcher from the Physical Activity, Lifestyle, and Population Health Research group at the University of Sydney, Australia. “It needs to be mixed in with other forms of activity that actually make you move, because if we want to lower our risk of cardiovascular disease, we have to do activities that actually engage the cardiovascular system.”
Bottom line: Too much stationary time can damage your heart and circulatory system, even if you stand for a while.
But what if you’re tethered to a computer for hours each day? Do you stand? Sit? Find a new job?
The first step is to understand the findings and how they fit with previous research. Then listen to experts who say not to ditch your standing desk but rather to rethink how you use it.
What the Science Says
While this new finding may seem contrary to previous knowledge, it actually builds on growing evidence that standing isn’t the most beneficial alternative to sitting, according to Andrea Duran, PhD, an assistant professor of medical sciences at Columbia University, who was not involved in the study.
“What we've been finding in research, and this paper shows this on a larger epidemiological level, is that standing alone doesn't necessarily have protective effects, and if anything can be harmful when done in excess volumes,” Duran said.
In the new study, people who spent a combined 12 or more hours a day sitting or standing had elevated risks of heart disease, stroke, and heart failure. They also had higher risks of circulatory problems in their legs that can cause swelling, pain, dizziness, and dangerous blood clots.
In people who sat for 10 or more hours per day, each extra hour was linked with a 15% increased risk of heart trouble and a 26% higher risk of orthostatic circulatory disease, including orthostatic hypotension, varicose veins, chronic venous insufficiency, or venous ulcers. That part wasn’t surprising given the mounting evidence linking excess sitting with negative outcomes like obesity, knee pain, cancer, and early death.
When you sit, you bend blood vessels, said Duran. Over time, this compromises their function and increases your risk of getting narrowed arteries, which can lead to problems like heart attacks and strokes. Sitting also burns very few calories, allowing cholesterol and blood sugar to build up in your bloodstream instead of being incinerated.
Compared to sitting, the health risks (or benefits) of standing are less clear, Ahmadi said.
“A lot of the research around standing has been done with cardiometabolic markers or soft endpoints, such as insulin sensitivity, blood pressure, and triglyceride levels,” he said. “We're one of the first studies to look at it with what we call hard clinical endpoints” – like heart disease and circulatory conditions – “things that might lead to hospitalization.”
Ahmadi’s team found that standing neither increased nor decreased cardiovascular risk. And standing more than two hours a day was linked with orthostatic circulatory disease – for every extra 30 minutes spent vertical, risk increased by 11%.
Like sitting, standing is a static posture that can make blood pool, increasing your risk of clots, said Ahmadi. Plus, while standing engages your muscles more than sitting, it doesn’t challenge them the way movement does, said Duran. When you move, your muscles contract. This stimulates your cells to use glucose for energy, helping your body keep blood sugar in check.
As for standing desks specifically, research on the benefits and drawbacks are mixed. A study in Applied Ergonomics suggests that standing at work can help you maintain a healthier spinal posture, but can also lower your performance on tasks that require lots of brainpower.
What to Do
The solution is not to ditch your standing desk but rather to reframe what standing means: Think of it as the first step toward the larger goal of being more active.
“Standing desks are still a great gateway to movement,” said Duran, who uses a standing desk. “I'll stand up, and instead of just standing there, I'll try to stretch, or do some squats, or do something that's allowing me to have skeletal muscle contraction.”
She also has a small set of weights by her desk – good for doing biceps curls during off-camera virtual meetings.
You want to move at least five minutes every hour, said Duran, but anything is better than zero. If you must sit, extend your legs now and then, lifting and lowering them, to stretch and contract your muscles.
Ahmadi keeps a small water bottle on his desk. When the bottle runs empty, every hour or so, he walks to a water fountain for a refill. Then he spends a few extra minutes walking around.
You can even fit in a full-fledged workout by combining short movement bouts throughout the day. Research suggests that three 10-minute walks could boost heart and blood vessel health more than a single 30-minute walk. Short bursts of exercise also help regulate post-meal blood sugar spikes (a heart disease risk factor), perhaps by demanding more energy than longer workouts, other research shows.
“The optimal mix to improve your cardiovascular health is to combine standing with other forms of activity that get you moving,” Ahmadi said. In other words, go ahead and keep your standing desk. Just remember to throw in some movement too.