A good stand up

SIR – There is clear evidence that some of the benefits of exercise can be lost if people spend too much time sitting, as is the case in the United Kingdom.

There is now a population of exercising couch-potatoes. Evidence from the British Heart Foundation and research from Loughborough University show that, of the 70 per cent of the population who spend more than seven hours a day sitting, half are exercisers.

Hence the promotion of sit-stand desks. The study which you referred to (report, February 24), from a group in Australia, took 20 people who were sedentary for most if not all their working hours. It is no surprise that, after suddenly changing the way such a group of people work, by getting them to perform their job for two hours standing up at a proper standing desk, they may have minor aches and pains, muscle fatigue and a sense of tiredness. That’s the point of standing up: some stimulation of the body. To this, if performed on a regular basis, the human body is quite good at adapting and getting stronger.

No doubt, if you asked a group of non-exercisers to take a 30-minute brisk walk, as recommended by the Chief Medical Officer, they too would “feel it” in their joints and muscles.

The use of sit-stand desks is “a first step” in avoiding too much sitting. It’s called a sit-stand desk because when you start to feel uncomfortable, you can lower it back down to do your work from a seated position.

Sitting too long brings our metabolism to a halt and can lead to diabetes and possibly some cancers, along with aches and weak joints which contribute to days off work. Professor John Buckley

Director of the Centre for Active Living University Centre, Shrewsbury