A study led by a researcher from West Virginia University found that switching between sitting and standing at work can help reduce time spent sitting but does not seem to lower blood pressure.
In fact, the study suggests that standing for too long without moving can even negatively affect heart health.
The study focused on people with high blood pressure to see if standing more often, with the help of sit-stand desks, would reduce their blood pressure levels. Participants reduced their sitting time by about an hour each day.
This is important because there’s plenty of evidence showing that too much sitting isn’t healthy, and standing up periodically can help with circulation.
However, despite standing more, there was no change in blood pressure, even when it was measured at rest, during daily activities, or through pulse wave analysis.
According to Bethany Barone Gibbs, a professor at WVU and lead author of the study, many people might think that sit-stand desks help lower blood pressure, but this study found otherwise.
Nearly half of adults in the U.S. have high blood pressure, and increasing physical activity is one way to manage it. Experts recommend doing activities like brisk walking or cycling to improve heart health and lower blood pressure.
However, even if people exercise for 20 to 30 minutes daily, they often spend the rest of the day sitting, especially if they work at a desk.
Barone Gibbs and her team have studied how prolonged sitting can harm the heart. Past studies have shown that sitting too long can lead to poor circulation, causing blood to pool in the legs and increasing blood pressure.
For this study, researchers suggested that participants stand for 15 to 30 minutes each hour and take a short walking break every hour.
However, some people ended up standing still for longer periods, which was linked to a slight increase in arterial stiffness—a condition that makes the heart work harder and can be an early sign of cardiovascular issues.
According to Barone Gibbs, long periods of standing still seem to affect blood flow negatively, much like sitting does. This happens because the blood circulation from our legs to the heart relies on something called the muscle pump.
When we walk or move our leg muscles, they contract and help push blood up through veins that have one-way valves. These valves prevent blood from flowing backward. If someone stands still without moving, blood can start to pool in their legs.
This can be even harder on circulation than sitting because it is more difficult for blood to move back up to the heart when standing still.
The study, published in the journal Circulation, involved 271 desk workers with high blood pressure. They were given sit-stand desks and activity trackers that reminded them to take at least 250 steps per hour.
They also wore monitors to measure their activity levels and recorded their routines both during and outside of work. Researchers collected data on their blood pressure and artery stiffness.
Interestingly, the study found that standing outside of work hours was more likely to lower blood pressure. Barone Gibbs thinks this is because, outside of work, people tend to be more active when they’re standing.
For example, if you’re standing at a child’s soccer game, you’re probably moving around, chatting, and watching the game, not just standing still. Moving helps engage leg muscles and improves blood flow.
In contrast, workers who use sit-stand desks or spend long hours standing still—such as cashiers—are more likely to stand in a fixed position for longer, which can cause their arteries to become stiffer over time.
Despite these findings, sit-stand desks can still be beneficial for other reasons, like reducing lower back pain and possibly helping to control blood sugar levels. Barone Gibbs suggests that people using sit-stand desks should avoid standing still for long periods.
Instead, they should keep moving to keep their leg muscles engaged. Her team plans to research small, easy exercises that can be done at a desk, like doing heel raises, using a balance board, or even marching in place. These movements may improve circulation and make standing at a desk more beneficial.
Barone Gibbs emphasizes that more research is needed to provide solid advice on the best ways to improve health while using sit-stand desks. The goal is to help people spend their time at work in ways that support their health.
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies about breakfast for better blood pressure management, and the gut feeling that lowers blood pressure.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how the dash diet helps lower blood pressure, and how to eat your way to healthy blood pressure.
The research findings can be found in Circulation.
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