Sitting on your arse all day, everyday is equally bad for your health. I’d probably argue even worse, you can’t get PPE to help protect you from sedentary working conditions.
you can’t get PPE to help protect you from sedentary working conditions
Wrist braces, chairs that encourage you to sit upright, risers for your monitor, a standing desk, etc…
You can also choose to be active in your time off, or during breaks or while waiting for something to load. If you work a physically demanding trade, no amount of elective sedentary behavior in your free time will compensate for the damage and strain you’re putting your body through at work.
Also, this is all without mentioning the fact that some people have disabilities that prevent them from doing many trades.
Yeah you can. Adequate breaks for eyes, standing desks, under desk elliptical/treadmill, etc… not that most employers will supply or allow it, but it can be overcome.
It’s not even close. When I went from 50:50 lab/office to 10:90 lab/office I gained like 12 kg and outgrew all of my pants in a year. Granted a bit of that was stress with my asshole bosses but I believe that just working on my feet a couple of hours versus being sedentary made a massive difference.
Nah, I got the meaning of your post. Standing at the desk, even with a treadmill, is not the same as natural movement. Taking breaks from a physically passive activity is not tge same as being constantly physically active.
You probably weren’t burning significantly more calories. What happened is you likely started eating or drinking more calories at your desk where before you were too busy. It’s like a thirty minute jog to work off an oreo, it’s unlikely you were actually burning that many more calories. But then most people still think exercise and metabolism have a lot of control over your weight when it’s almost exclusively how much you’re eating and drinking. Nobody is breaking the laws of thermodynamics.
I absolutely did not eat at my desk. In fact I had way more sweets in the first role, the culture was different at the lab. I know about thermodynamics, but I don’t think it’s that simple. Moving around helps a ton with stress and digestion which affects your metabolism and insulin resistance. It’s not about moving to “burn off” fat, it’s about moving to not synthesize the fat around your organs in the first place.
I don’t think that’s how that works. It’s all calorie in calorie out, and once acclimated to a new routine most people within normal activity levels settle in burning around 2000kcal a day, that’s sedentary and active people. Metabolism has way less impact than most people think and outside of heavy labor or semipro athlete you’re probably settling in around that 2000kcal maintenance level. Unless you were doing strenuous labor or working out daily your maintenance level probably didn’t change that much.
It absolutely is not all calorie in calorie out. Or rather, how calories are stored and burned depend on your metabolic health. There’s a massive amount of literature on this.
Yep… Certain trades are worse for your bones and joints, but not much is going to be worse for your systemic health than sitting for half the day.
As someone who’s worked in construction and now works in orthopedics and rehabilitation, I think the biggest issue with a lot of people in trades like residential construction is that they don’t really learn how to prioritize their physical health until a lot of the damage is already done. Once you’re a bit older you kinda learn that even if carrying that 80lb bag of cement by yourself is faster, it’s still better to take the time to grab a dolly or another person. Most of the issues would be solved if we had better regulations.
The effects of sitting on your arse can be mitigated with 30 to 40 minutes of daily vigorous exercise. There are a bunch of studies showing this. It’s not remotely the same thing.
It’d be lovely if the US had more requirements for providing better tools for office workers. I’ve never had a job be willing to fund anything outside of pointing me at a used desk with a 15 year old computer.
Sitting on your arse all day, everyday is equally bad for your health. I’d probably argue even worse, you can’t get PPE to help protect you from sedentary working conditions.
Wrist braces, chairs that encourage you to sit upright, risers for your monitor, a standing desk, etc…
You can also choose to be active in your time off, or during breaks or while waiting for something to load. If you work a physically demanding trade, no amount of elective sedentary behavior in your free time will compensate for the damage and strain you’re putting your body through at work.
Also, this is all without mentioning the fact that some people have disabilities that prevent them from doing many trades.
Yeah you can. Adequate breaks for eyes, standing desks, under desk elliptical/treadmill, etc… not that most employers will supply or allow it, but it can be overcome.
It’s not even close. When I went from 50:50 lab/office to 10:90 lab/office I gained like 12 kg and outgrew all of my pants in a year. Granted a bit of that was stress with my asshole bosses but I believe that just working on my feet a couple of hours versus being sedentary made a massive difference.
Reread my post. You can do things at a desk, in an office, or at home…
Nah, I got the meaning of your post. Standing at the desk, even with a treadmill, is not the same as natural movement. Taking breaks from a physically passive activity is not tge same as being constantly physically active.
You probably weren’t burning significantly more calories. What happened is you likely started eating or drinking more calories at your desk where before you were too busy. It’s like a thirty minute jog to work off an oreo, it’s unlikely you were actually burning that many more calories. But then most people still think exercise and metabolism have a lot of control over your weight when it’s almost exclusively how much you’re eating and drinking. Nobody is breaking the laws of thermodynamics.
I absolutely did not eat at my desk. In fact I had way more sweets in the first role, the culture was different at the lab. I know about thermodynamics, but I don’t think it’s that simple. Moving around helps a ton with stress and digestion which affects your metabolism and insulin resistance. It’s not about moving to “burn off” fat, it’s about moving to not synthesize the fat around your organs in the first place.
I don’t think that’s how that works. It’s all calorie in calorie out, and once acclimated to a new routine most people within normal activity levels settle in burning around 2000kcal a day, that’s sedentary and active people. Metabolism has way less impact than most people think and outside of heavy labor or semipro athlete you’re probably settling in around that 2000kcal maintenance level. Unless you were doing strenuous labor or working out daily your maintenance level probably didn’t change that much.
It absolutely is not all calorie in calorie out. Or rather, how calories are stored and burned depend on your metabolic health. There’s a massive amount of literature on this.
Here’s a starting point: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(25)00201-3/fulltext
It’s definitely no where close to worse.
Depends on which trade and location you’re comparing with. Things vary wildly in the trades.
Name one that is better for your health than (checks notes) … sitting down.
Locksmithing and similar type trades. Not construction trades. You’re on your feet, but you aren’t necessarily breaking your body lifting and such.
Yep… Certain trades are worse for your bones and joints, but not much is going to be worse for your systemic health than sitting for half the day.
As someone who’s worked in construction and now works in orthopedics and rehabilitation, I think the biggest issue with a lot of people in trades like residential construction is that they don’t really learn how to prioritize their physical health until a lot of the damage is already done. Once you’re a bit older you kinda learn that even if carrying that 80lb bag of cement by yourself is faster, it’s still better to take the time to grab a dolly or another person. Most of the issues would be solved if we had better regulations.
The effects of sitting on your arse can be mitigated with 30 to 40 minutes of daily vigorous exercise. There are a bunch of studies showing this. It’s not remotely the same thing.
Standing desks to transition from aitting to standing and exercising on breaks is the PPE for office work.
It’d be lovely if the US had more requirements for providing better tools for office workers. I’ve never had a job be willing to fund anything outside of pointing me at a used desk with a 15 year old computer.