You’ve likely heard things like, “sitting is the new smoking” and other comments about how sitting for extended periods of time everyday is bad for your health.
With so many people working jobs that have them at a desk all day long, it is no surprise that we are finding that there are some issues with this type of sedentary lifestyle.
Fortunately, there are some options to minimize the risk, including taking regular breaks and using a standing desk.
One YouTuber, however, decided to take it to a whole other level.
Pigmie (the YouTuber’s account name) announced that he was going to attempt to go seven days without sitting.
This means he would stand to eat, stand to work, stand to get to work, and yes, even stand when going to the bathroom.
As the days went on, he realized that this was going to be more difficult than anticipated. While he got used to being able to ‘squat’ when going ‘#2’ pretty quickly, his body did not adapt to being constantly upright nearly as fast.
In fact, within days of starting the experiment he found that he was developing a very noticeable upper body slouch (or kyphosis if you want to get technical).
Not surprisingly, his legs and back were also getting quite sore, and he got fatigued as each day went on.
He even gained about one pound of weight, which may have been because he ate more frequently, possibly as a distraction.
There were some benefits to the constant standing. He found that he was about 30% more productive while working, though most of that benefit was during the morning and it tapered off as soreness and fatigue set in.
There was an improvement in the curvature of his lower spine as well. Perhaps most notably, his bowel movements improved. He said:
“I felt like my digestion was so much better with more standing up in the day. It just seemed like things got moving faster and smoother.”
By the end of the video it seems clear that he would not recommend this to anyone. In fact, he couldn’t make it through the full week himself. He stopped after five days of standing.
If you’re interested, you can watch the full video of his experiment here:
Sitting for fewer hours per day is healthy, but don’t take it to extremes.
If you found that story interesting, learn more about why people often wake up around 3 AM and keep doing it for life.