A Working Checklist for Sitting at Work
Sitting at Work: what is worth doing, what is worth avoiding, and when to stop and see a doctor.
Prolonged sedentary time during the working day. It is a separate recommendation from the activity target, and breaking it up appears to matter as much as the total.
Key takeaways
- UK recommendation: minimise extended sedentary periods
- Practical interval: stand and move every 30 minutes or so
- Most useful single change: Break sitting every half hour, even briefly.
- Commonest mistake: Assuming a gym session offsets nine unbroken hours.
- See a doctor if any of the signs under "When to speak to a doctor" below apply to you.
Do
- Break sitting every half hour, even briefly
- Take calls standing or walking
- Leave the desk at lunch
- Hit the activity target first; it is the larger lever
Do not
- Assuming a gym session offsets nine unbroken hours
- Treating a standing desk as the whole answer
- Standing completely still for hours instead
The numbers behind the list
The list is built from the numbers below, which come from the bodies cited at the end.
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| UK recommendation | minimise extended sedentary periods |
| Practical interval | stand and move every 30 minutes or so |
| Weekly activity target | 150 minutes moderate, separately |
| High activity levels | substantially attenuate sitting-related risk |
If you change one thing
Break sitting every half hour, even briefly. That one first, and the others when you get to them.
Where to go next
- Sitting at Work: Just the Figures
- What the Guidance Really Says About Sitting at Work
- Sitting at Work — the reference entry
- Workplace First Aid: Sorting the Evidence From the Noise
- What the Guidance Really Says About Occupational Health Services
When to speak to a doctor
Seek urgent advice for pain, swelling, warmth or redness in one calf or thigh, especially after long immobility, which can indicate a deep vein thrombosis. Call 999 for sudden breathlessness or chest pain with it.
Where this comes from
- UK Chief Medical Officers — Physical Activity Guidelines
- Health and Safety Executive — display screen equipment
How this page was put together
Every figure, recommendation and warning above is taken from the guidance named in Where this comes from. Nothing on this page is inferred, summarised or generalised beyond what those bodies publish: where they give a number, it is their number, and where they are silent, so are we. Pages are rebuilt whenever the underlying record changes. Sign-off by a named clinician, where it has happened, is shown at the top of the page along with the date.
Medical disclaimer
This article is general information, not medical advice. It cannot account for your own history, medication or circumstances. Always speak to a GP, pharmacist or another qualified health professional before making changes that affect your treatment, and never delay seeking medical advice because of something you have read here. In an emergency, call 999.
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