Burn calories! Just stand up!

Recent survey shows the average person is on their butts for 12 hours a day - either at work, on the computer, or watching TV/relaxing at home. Add that to the 6-8 hours we spend sleeping. That's a whopping 18-20 hours either on our butts or laying down.

Did you know that just by standing, a person's heart rate is 10 beats faster than a person sitting. That measures out to about 0.7 calories per minute. That's between 40-50 calories per hour, depending on how active one is standing. If you stand 3 hours a day for 5 days, you've burned anywhere from 600-750 calories. Added up over a year, that's 30,000 extra calories burnt which is about 8 pounds of fat. Just from standing. 

We can't all stand up at work, but small adjustments will increase this amount. If you have a desk job, maybe walking over to your co-worker's cube instead of emailing them? Standing while talking on the phone.

We've had research done on this subject since that 1950's. So why, are we only now making this a priority? Did you know that some elementary schools are actually taking out sitting desks and replacing them with desks where children are able to stand? It stimulates better blood flow and better focus. Better focus means better learning.

This could be you at work! Better blood flow means better focus to your work which means more efficiency at the workplace!

Even if you're not a fitness buff, or just trying out Kaia, keep this in mind for at home. Something as simple as standing could help you shed some pounds as compared to being sitting.

Here is a list of standing activities (waiting in line, getting dressed) and a calorie calculator for these activies for 30 minutes.

How you can avoid sitting a bunch. What the cool video with fun music.

You can also read up on standing student desks here.