Experts have long said that standing is healthier than sitting – but a grueling experiment undertaken by one man has revealed that it may not be as beneficial as we thought.
In a YouTube video that has garnered nearly four million views, Lucas Ball, a self-certified "stuntman" from the US, decided to not sit down for five days to test the health benefits of standing.
For 16 hours each day, he stood on his feet and was only allowed to rest during sleep, for which he had set a strict timer of eight hours.
However, there were some exceptions – for example when he was sitting on the toilet or when he had to drive the car – but he would not let his back touch the seat.
"So, I'm on my feet. I can't sit down anymore. This journey has begun," he said at the beginning of the experiment, GazetaExpress reports.
Commenting on using his standing desk, Ball said he initially saw promising results, as this position made him feel "productive" without many opportunities for distraction.
“I had so much energy and I didn't even want to sit down,” he said.
In the video, he is seen watching TV, eating dinner, and doing physical exercises like weight lifting – all while standing.
But from the third day, the experiment began to take its toll: his posture deteriorated and he began to gain weight.
"On the third day, it hit me hard in my lower legs and feet; I felt very tired and sore. In addition, I was extremely hungry," adding that eating distracted him from the pain.
"Maybe I was hungry from burning more calories, but what I noticed is that when I ate, my attention shifted from standing. Because of this, I ate all day long without stopping."
"When I got to the end and started to relax, that's where the real fatigue and pain set in," he added, indicating that even when he was in bed, he found no comfort due to the pain in his legs.
"It's been hard to wake up, get up, walk around."
At the end of five days, he said his posture had worsened – his upper back was more curved forward in a hunched position.
In addition to joint pain in his knees and hips, he added a pound (about 0.45 kg) on the scale.
He said: “My hips and knees are starting to hurt in a way that’s not just muscular.”
"It seems like I'm heading in a negative direction in terms of this experiment, but I've experienced a lot of new things and a lot of eye-opening moments."
However, there was also a positive side.
At the end of the experiment, his lower back felt "extremely good" and less tense.
Additionally, he developed an additional arch in the lower spine, which is known to improve balance and flexibility.
The YouTuber also noticed that his digestion was "faster and easier," as gravity helps food pass through the stomach more quickly.
People in the UK spend an average of around nine hours a day sitting.
This comes as a study recently published in the International Journal of Epidemiology found that standing more than sitting does not reduce the risk of heart or blood vessel problems.
Australian researchers, who tracked the physical activity patterns of more than 80,000 people in the UK, found that standing for two hours a day did little to reduce the chances of developing circulation problems.
Dr. Matthew Ahmadi, a population health expert at the University of Sydney and lead author of the study, said: “Prolonged standing does not compensate for a sedentary lifestyle and may be dangerous for some people in terms of circulatory health.”
"We found that standing more does not improve cardiovascular health in the long term and even increases the risk of circulatory problems." /Express newspaper/
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