This can be as easy as just standing up while reading (or watching) the news.
How Was the Study Conducted?
This study looked at how reducing sitting time affected blood pressure.
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A total of 283 racially and ethnically mixed participants were included in this study.
They had an average age of 69 and about 66% of them were women.
Participants were randomly split into two groupsone group was the intervention group, the other was the control group.
The control group received 10 health-coaching sessions, either in-person or via telephone, over six months.
They also received a workbook.
They also received feedback reports after wearing the accelerometers at baseline and at three months.
This data provided objective evidence of participants activity levels, as opposed to them tracking activity themselves.
These participants were trained on how to develop personalized reminder systems to get up.
What Did the Study Show?
On average, sitting time in the I-STAND group decreased by about 32 minutes a day.
The control group saw no statistically significant changes in sitting time or blood pressure.
How Does This Apply to Real Life?
I love my stand-up desk for this reason!
Also notice that the intervention group received deeper-mindset training than the control group did.
All lasting habit change starts in the brain.
A practical method for integrating a new habit is to habit-stack.
The participants in the intervention group used this when they stood to read the newspaper.
Reading the newspaper was already a habit they had established.
Since they were trying to establish the new habit of standing more, they combined the two.
As I write this, Im standing at my deskwhich combines my habit of writing with standing.
Changing your habits begins with your mindset.
And stacking your habits is an easy, practical way to start making small changes to your routine.
2024;7(3).
