Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Calorie burner: How much better is standing up than sitting?

bbc.co.uk

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 40 posts

Re: Calorie burner: How much better is standing up than sitting?

#11

Post by henrik_w »

Cor wrote: post #6

Good article. I've always wondered how many more calories are burned while sitting versus standing. I'm quite surprised by how much of a difference standing makes, to be honest. Unfortunately, for the moment, I simply cannot use a stand up desk full time. I spend around 8 months out of the year travelling. At home, I have a stand up desk, and I really love it. When I'm travelling, though, I spend most of my time sitt…

Taking a break every hour or so is also good for avoiding RSI. I had RSI pretty bad several years ago, but have recovered completely. Part of the solution was using a break program to help me remember to take breaks for stretches. Currently (OS X), I'm using RSI Guard, which does what I want. More details on my RSI problems and solution here: http://henrikwarne.com/2012/02/18/how-i-beat-rsi/

Re: Calorie burner: How much better is standing up than sitting?

#12

Post by powertower »

> and some studies suggest that those who sit all day live around two years less than those who are more active.

Considering that truly unhealthy and sick people (who will soon die) probably sit more then they stand, if you remove those people from the dataset, wouldn't the interpretation become that sitting is actually extremely beneficial for the average person who will end up outliving a non-sitter person by several years?

Re: Calorie burner: How much better is standing up than sitting?

#13

Post by a-priori »

aestra wrote: post #9

If you're going to be standing all day, stand on an anti-fatigue mat. They are used in industrial settings to reduce strain from standing, and they do make a big difference.

I use a standing desk full-time and find that two anti-fatigue mats stacked on top of each other are better than one. But one is far better than none.

Haven't tried three yet. :)

Re: Calorie burner: How much better is standing up than sitting?

#14

Post by aestra »

nodata wrote: post #10
aestra wrote: post #9

If you're going to be standing all day, stand on an anti-fatigue mat. They are used in industrial settings to reduce strain from standing, and they do make a big difference.

For anyone wondering what these are, this was the best page I could find: http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/ergonomics/mats.html

Sorry, OSHA guidelines advocates them in certain jobs.

Guidelines for Retail Grocery Stores

Ergonomics for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders

U.S. Department of Labor

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

OSHA 3192-06N

https://www.osha.gov/ergonomics/guidelines/retailgrocery/ret...

Use footrests and anti-fatigue mats in areas where workers stand for prolonged periods. Standing on anti-fatigue mats, as compared to bare floors, provides a noticeable improvement in comfort.

There's a few designs. They usually look something like this: http://images.newpig.com/wcsstore/NewPigUSCatalogAssetStore/...

or behind a bar or in a kitchen they usually look like this: http://www.madmatterinc.com/images/comfort_flow_thumb_8vhy.j...

If you ever watch Bar Rescue with Jon Taffer he gets really upset if he goes into a bar and there isn't anti-fatigue mats behind the bar.

A lot of people put them in their kitchen for when they are on their feet preparing food or doing dishes.

http://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Joe-Anti-Fatigue-Beveled-3-Fee...

They are not well known enough. The difference you feel standing on bare floor all day vs an anti-fatigue mat all day is the difference between night and day.

Re: Calorie burner: How much better is standing up than sitting?

#15

Post by a8da6b0c91d »

jsilence wrote: post #7

While not doubting the general findings I'd like to add a pointer that it is not a high level of glucose that raises the risk of getting diabetes II and heart disease, but fructose. See this lecture of Dr. Lustig on sugars and how they are being metabolized in our body: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

A lot of smart nutritionists and biochemists seem to think Lustig is full of it.

http://www.andrewkimblog.com/2013/02/quick-commentary-on-dr-...

Re: Calorie burner: How much better is standing up than sitting?

#16

Post by kawsper »

krmmalik wrote: post #2

I really like the idea of standing desks and have loved many of the other articles previously posted on this subject, too. I don't know what it's like for others but being a freelancer going from hot desk to hot desk, client to client and doing most of the travel by car or train - This is very hard to maintain since everything has been designed for sitting. I might try standing on the tube from now on though but i mi…

I was going from Mile End to Barbican which takes around 20 minutes, and was standing up the whole way, sometimes the tube was empty.

No one looks weird at you.

Re: Calorie burner: How much better is standing up than sitting?

#17

Post by yetanotherphd »

powertower wrote: post #12

> and some studies suggest that those who sit all day live around two years less than those who are more active. Considering that truly unhealthy and sick people (who will soon die) probably sit more then they stand, if you remove those people from the dataset, wouldn't the interpretation become that sitting is actually extremely beneficial for the average person who will end up outliving a non-sitter person by sever…

No, you can't just reverse the causal effect by guessing the bias caused by reverse causality :-)

If what you say is true (studies tend to try to account for these things, e.g. they can show that the effect of sitting exists even after accounting for exercise/activity on the job) then the correct interpretation is that we don't know the causal effect.

Re: Calorie burner: How much better is standing up than sitting?

#18

Post by lambda »

powertower wrote: post #12

> and some studies suggest that those who sit all day live around two years less than those who are more active. Considering that truly unhealthy and sick people (who will soon die) probably sit more then they stand, if you remove those people from the dataset, wouldn't the interpretation become that sitting is actually extremely beneficial for the average person who will end up outliving a non-sitter person by sever…

The studies most often cited to support this finding are studies of London bus drivers vs conductors (ticket takers) on the double decker London busses. They tend to be from similar socioeconomic backgrounds, start at similar young ages, and so on, controlling for many confounding factors, but the drivers spend all day sitting, while the conductors spent most of the day on their feet.

However, when trying to find the actual study to see if they had controlled for any pre-existing conditions, I found this paper: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1008580/pdf/brji... which seems to indicate that in fact, people of heavier builds were more likely to become drivers than conductors, and conductors with heavier builds were more likely to switch to becoming drivers.

So actually, it seems that the original study may be flawed, in the way you describe. While it did study people from a young and healthy age, it hadn't considered pre-existing weight or genetic differences between drivers and conductors, and it looks like that may actually play a substantial role in the difference in findings.

Re: Calorie burner: How much better is standing up than sitting?

#19

Post by throwit1979 »

henrik_w wrote: post #11
Cor wrote: post #6

Good article. I've always wondered how many more calories are burned while sitting versus standing. I'm quite surprised by how much of a difference standing makes, to be honest. Unfortunately, for the moment, I simply cannot use a stand up desk full time. I spend around 8 months out of the year travelling. At home, I have a stand up desk, and I really love it. When I'm travelling, though, I spend most of my time sitt…

Taking a break every hour or so is also good for avoiding RSI. I had RSI pretty bad several years ago, but have recovered completely. Part of the solution was using a break program to help me remember to take breaks for stretches. Currently (OS X), I'm using RSI Guard, which does what I want. More details on my RSI problems and solution here: http://henrikwarne.com/2012/02/18/how-i-beat-rsi/

On the topic of anecdotal RSI cures, I was symptom-free after starting a strength training program focusing on heavy compound lifts and olympic lifts. No rest periods or ergonomic quackery required.

Re: Calorie burner: How much better is standing up than sitting?

#20

Post by pfortuny »

krmmalik wrote: post #2

I really like the idea of standing desks and have loved many of the other articles previously posted on this subject, too. I don't know what it's like for others but being a freelancer going from hot desk to hot desk, client to client and doing most of the travel by car or train - This is very hard to maintain since everything has been designed for sitting. I might try standing on the tube from now on though but i mi…

You do not look weird on the tube. I do not know about the US but certainly, on the tube, there is no way to look weird, whatever you do. Or do not do.

Try it, you will find that sometimes it is much more fun to stand than to be seated.

Post reply on HN