Standing For A Long Time Can Burn Many Kalori? This Is The Doctor's Explanation

Illustration stands on public transportation (Freepic)

JAKARTA - Talking about burning calories, most people immediately think about intense physical activities such as running, cycling, or lifting weights.

However, did you know that standing can burn calories? Even though it looks simple, this activity turns out to have health benefits and can contribute to burning calories in the body.

Some doctors say that a little extra effort, such as standing longer, can help burn more fat. According to experts, spending more time standing can help burn calories, even without the need to move much.

There are many reasons we should stand up more often. According to Dr. Mani Singh, a sports medicine specialist and assistant professor at Columbia University Medical Center, said the average adult in the United States sat for 6-8 hours per day.

Activities that fall into the category of civilary lifestyle (sit too many), include office work, driving, television viewing, or other activities involving sitting for a long time without much movement.

Dr. Shane Davis, a sports medicine doctor at Tufts Medical Center, added that secentary behavior contributes to various health problems such as obesity, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.

"A study shows sitting more than 10 hours per day can significantly increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Another study also states that sitting more than eight hours per day can increase the risk of death similar to obesity and smoking," he explained, quoted by VOI from The Healthy page on Tuesday, February 4.

The good news is that standing longer does not only help reduce the health risk. But it can also help burn calories without extra effort.

According to Dr. Singh, various studies show standing can burn more calories than sitting. This is caused by larger muscle activation while standing.

While standing, more muscles are strained against gravity and support weight. This increases metabolism and body heat production, which ultimately contributes to increasing energy spending," he explained.

Dr. Davis added that the number of calories burned while standing is compared to sitting varying in each individual. Factors such as muscle mass, basal metabolic rate (BMR), age, height, and a person's diet and fitness levels can affect the number of burned calories.

A 2019 study published in PloS One measures the level of participant basal metabolism in three positions, namely sitting, lying down, and standing. The results show that there is no significant difference between the number of calories burned while sitting and lying down. However, standing increases energy spending by about 10% higher than sitting.

As an illustration, research published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology estimates that a person weighing about 65 kg who replaces six hours of sitting time by standing can burn about 54 additional calories per day.

Although this amount looks small, in a year the amount can reach about 2.5 kg of burned body fat, just by standing longer. However, Dr. Davis reminded that standing is not a substitute for sport.

"Even though we replace the sitting time by standing useful, we still need to do physical activity regularly for optimal health," he said.

In fact, research in the Journal of the American Heart Association shows that people who sit more than 11 hours per day have a 57% higher risk of death, even if they regularly exercise.

"Sports are indeed beneficial, but activities throughout the day also greatly affect health," added Dr. Davis.

Dr. Singh suggests combining the habit of standing up with the activities we already enjoy.

"For example, walking casually in the park every day or standing when television ads are played," he said.

Several other ways to increase standing time in a day include:

- Standing during a meeting or receiving a call.

- Standing while doing household chores.

- Using public transportation by standing rather than sitting in a car.

For those who want a more structured approach, the 20-8-2 method developed by Alan Hedge, professor of ergonomics from Cornell University, can be tried. The method suggests that every 20 minutes of sitting, we stand for 8 minutes, then move for 2 minutes, such as walking or stretching.

Use an alarm on your phone or smartwatch to remind yourself to stand up and move more often.