No Thanks, I’ll Stand

The human body was meant to sit. Our legs bend at the knees, allowing us to move downward toward a chair in a smooth fashion. Our behinds are cushioned (some more than others), allowing for prolonged sitting periods. And when we sit, the invariable “Ahhhhh…” comes out of our mouths – the body’s way of telling those around us it’s happy when it’s relaxed.

But many of us, myself included, relish the ability to stand, especially when we’re forced to sit for long periods of time. I’m an antsy person by nature, so to say that I don’t particularly care for non-stop flights, road trips or watching 2 ½ hour-long movies at the movie theater is a major understatement (thank goodness for DVDs and the “pause” feature).

While this may seem like an oddity to some of you, we antsy folk are apparently on to something. For according to research published in the journal Diabetes, prolonged periods of sitting can actually encourage the body’s fat-burning mechanisms to take a break themselves.

As with most studies, this one also used rats as its specimens. All the rats used were injected with radioactive fat, some kept stationary while others were able to move around freely. The researchers observed that the fat injected into the rats was stored in their bodies differently, depending on whether or not they were stationary or active. Among the active rats, the fat was transported through the blood vessels and stored in the muscles. But among the stationary rats, the fat was stored in adipose tissue. Adipose tissue is basically fatty tissue that surrounds vital organs and is primarily found in the abdominal region, providing protection to vital organs like the kidneys. When fat is transported and stored in the muscles, fat is burned off quickly, as the muscles are what make the body move. But if fat is stored in adipose tissue, fat burning slows down significantly.

Based on the researchers’ results, our active or restful lives determine how fat is processed in the body. Granted, how fat is stored in rats and how fat is stored in humans doesn’t necessarily translate. However, when the researchers performed a similar study on humans, they found that fat-burning enzymes were similar to that of rats – slowing down to a crawl when stationary, revved up when active.

So what does this all mean? Should you abandon the chair at the office? Start watching movies standing up? Request the standing room only section at a baseball game? Of course not. However, if you want to keep fat-burning enzymes active, it pays to get up and move around for a minute or two if you’ve been sitting for several hours. In other words, increasing the number of minutes you spend on the treadmill will not translate to greater fat-burning efficiency at the office if you’re constantly sitting.

So now, when your boss asks you why you’re away from your desk, you can give him a legitimate response: you’re being a responsible employee, keeping your body active so you have the energy to finish the day strong.