Posts on websites and by social media influencers highlighting the advantages and virtues of working standing up have proliferated in the fight against a sedentary lifestyle in recent years. According to occupational health and prevention experts, some businesses have even completely abandoned traditional desks in favor of high or height-adjustable tables in their offices, and many teleworkers have followed suit in their homes, albeit not always with the necessary resources and expertise.
“Often the desk is chosen for its aesthetics, for its price, but not for the functionality that the worker needs. And what doesn’t make sense is to turn regular workspaces into bad ones, because on top of that, anti-ergonomic postures are acquired: the shoulders are not at the height of the keyboard, the screen is not at eye level,” according to Santiago González, president of the Spanish Association of Specialists in Prevention and Occupational Health (AEPSAL).
Additionally, two recent studies have found no evidence that standing up improves cardiovascular health or counteracts the negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle. The first of these studies found no effect on decreasing blood pressure when employees alternate between standing and sitting at work. It was published in the scientific journal Circulation. The second study, which used data from the UK Biobank of over 80,000 adults and was published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, concluded that standing at a workstation for more than two hours a day can actually raise the risk of developing issues like varicose veins or deep vein thrombosis. It also found that standing at work does not lower the risk of heart failure and stroke.
According to Matthew N. Ahmadi, “Previous studies have examined the health benefits of sitting or standing on cardiometabolic markers such as blood pressure, triglyceride levels and insulin sensitivity. Ours is the first study to attempt to link standing work with the risk of heart disease and orthostatic circulatory conditions (thrombi and varicose veins),” EL PAÍS reported. “Spending a lot of time sitting was associated with an increased risk of heart disease, while standing was not associated with an increased risk, but neither was it associated with a lower risk,” Ahmadi said, citing the data as evidence that standing is preferable to sitting.
As the head of the Cardiology Service at the Toledo University Hospital Complex and president of the Spanish Society of Cardiology (SEC), Luis Rodríguez Padial reflects, “We often recommend that people stand up, but what this study shows is that doing so is not related to cardiovascular mortality, either for better or worse. We could say that with regard to serious cardiovascular pathology, standing up has no impact, so it seems clear that it is not a useful strategy to prevent cardiovascular disease,”
Moving around during the workday is important
According to Ahmadi, his research indicates that merely switching from a seated to a standing position is insufficient to enhance health and lower the risk of heart disease; it is necessary to combine this with activities that need movement. “To improve cardiovascular health, we have to involve the cardiovascular system and activities that make us move can do that,” the researcher explains.
This observation aligns with the findings of other recent research, which showed that even the most sedentary individuals could benefit greatly from brief, intense one-minute workouts during daily routines, which could lower mortality from all causes and heart disease risk by 40%.
“What is advisable is to intersperse short bursts of movement throughout our day, not just get up and stand without doing anything. You have to walk, climb stairs, take advantage of the opportunity to move about while you answer a call… We have data that demonstrate the benefits of this. On the one hand, because these short bursts of movement are a break from a sedentary lifestyle; and, on the other, because for those who do nothing, they are a way to move a little,” reflects Rodríguez Padial.
AEPSAL shares this perspective, emphasizing that movement is essential. “If we’re not moving, there’s no reason to be standing,” says González. The expert notes that prolonged sitting or standing without movement causes blood to pool in the legs, increasing blood pressure to offset poor circulation. It’s the calf muscles’ flexing while we walk or move that creates the muscle contractions needed to push blood back toward the heart and brain. “Veins work with muscle movement. Remaining still for too long can lead to issues like leg heaviness, varicose veins, and in severe cases, thrombosis. This risk is even higher when standing, as blood has a harder time returning to the brain from this position.”
Therefore, if you work standing up, González suggests doing various exercises in the same work position, including standing on tiptoe or shifting your body weight from one leg to the other, in addition to using phone calls or the need to make photocopies to go for walks. “Anything that gives movement to work will be healthy. In the end, the body is dynamic, it is designed for movement, not for standing, and if we do not give it that movement, problems arise,” he says.
