How much do desk workers sit?
More than you'd guess. The Active Buildings study strapped activity trackers to the thighs of 164 office workers for 5 days straight. Between 7am and 11pm, they sat for 10.6 hours a day. That's 66.2% of the time they were awake [1].
The sitting came in big chunks. Roughly 9 to 12, then 2 to 5, then again from about 8pm on. So the morning meetings, the afternoon grind, and the couch.
I work from home, so I don't even have a commute to break it up. My guess is my numbers look worse.
Why working out after work doesn't fix it
The weekend numbers are the interesting part. The same people sat 10.6 hours on their days off too, the same 66.2% [1]. Weekends didn't balance anything out.
So if you hit the gym for 45 minutes after work, that's great, keep doing it! But there are still 9+ hours of sitting that the workout never touched. The workday is the biggest block of time you've got, and it's where most of the sitting happens.
How often should you get up from your desk?
In a 2012 study, 19 adults sat for 5 hours on three different days [2]. On one day they sat straight through. On the other two, they got up every 20 minutes for 2 minutes of walking, either light or moderate.
| Condition | Glucose response | Insulin response |
|---|---|---|
| Sitting straight through | Reference | Reference |
| 2 min light walking every 20 min | 24.1% lower | 23% lower |
| 2 min moderate walking every 20 min | 29.6% lower | 23% lower |
Desk exercises that fit into a workday
Here's what works when you have no equipment, can't get sweaty, and have about 2 minutes.
| Situation | What works | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Open-plan, people around | Neck rolls, shoulder rolls, wrist stretches, walk to the far kitchen | 30-60 sec |
| Private office or WFH | Squats, push-ups, lunges, wall sit, plank | 30-90 sec |
| On a call, camera off | Standing, calf raises, walking the room | Whole call |
| Between meetings | Stairs at pace, brisk outdoor loop | 2-5 min |
| Lunch | Walk before eating, not after sitting back down | 10-15 min |
If your building has stairs, use them. A few flights at a good pace is about the best free workout most offices have.
If you're at a desk with people all around you, stick to stretches. Neck rolls, shoulder rolls, and wrist stretches are what our Office Breaks stack uses.
Why scheduled workday workouts fall apart
A 2024 review of studies on short bouts of exercise found a few common barriers [3]. People had a hard time staying motivated for several sessions a day, forgot to do them, and got bored doing the same short bout over and over. Notice that all of those are about remembering and repetition. The exercise itself isn't the hard part.
That's the problem Sporadic is built around. It picks the exercise, picks the time, and gives you a deadline, so there's nothing to remember and it isn't the same thing every day.
How Sporadic can get you started
If you want something to tell you when and what, our free Get Up, Get Active stack does exactly that. It sends 2-4 random challenges a day, and you don't need any equipment. You can read more about how it fits a desk job on our movement at work page.
Get off your chair today for free.
Get up. Get Active. Get Sporadic!
Frequently asked questions
Is a standing desk enough on its own?
A standing desk helps you change positions, and that's a good start. But standing still all day is still standing still. The study above had people walk, not just stand up. I'd use the standing desk and still take a few minutes to move around, do some squats, or walk to the kitchen.
How do I exercise at work without getting sweaty?
Keep it short and keep it light. 60 seconds of squats or a slow walk around the office won't get you sweaty. Save the burpees for working from home or right before lunch. Stretches like neck rolls, shoulder rolls, and wrist stretches are made for this, and you can do them right at your desk.
How do I exercise in an open-plan office?
Stretches at your desk won't get you any looks. Neck rolls, shoulder rolls, wrist stretches. For more movement, take the long way to the kitchen or the bathroom, or take the stairs. If you've got a phone call, take it standing up or walking. Nobody needs to know you're working out.
I already go to the gym. Do I still need to move during the day?
Yes, keep going to the gym! But the Active Buildings study found office workers sat 10.6 hours a day on workdays and weekends alike. A workout doesn't undo the hours of sitting around it. Think of short bouts during the day as something that fits around your workouts, not a replacement for them.
Sources
- Smith L, Hamer M, Ucci M, et al. "Weekday and weekend patterns of objectively measured sitting, standing, and stepping in a sample of office-based workers: the Active Buildings study." BMC Public Health. 2015;15:9. doi:10.1186/s12889-014-1338-1
- Dunstan DW, Kingwell BA, Larsen R, et al. "Breaking Up Prolonged Sitting Reduces Postprandial Glucose and Insulin Responses." Diabetes Care. 2012;35(5):976-983. doi:10.2337/dc11-1931
- Jones MD, Clifford BK, Stamatakis E, Gibbs MT. "Exercise Snacks and Other Forms of Intermittent Physical Activity for Improving Health in Adults and Older Adults: A Scoping Review." Sports Medicine. 2024;54(4):813-835. doi:10.1007/s40279-023-01983-1