Working from home: Should we be squatting instead of sitting?

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. That amount of inactivity “almost perfectly matches” the levels seen in studies of men and women in the developed world, says David Raichlen, a professor of human evolution at the University of Southern California, and lead co-author of the new study. Taking extensive observational notes in one of the tribes’ camps every hour for several days, the researchers found that the Hadza would often sit on the ground, but also frequently squatted, spending almost 20 per cent of their inactive time with knees bent and bottoms off the ground. Resting in chairs with our legs inert, as most of us do for most of our days, most likely contributes to our risks Finally, to determine what this approach to resting might mean for legs and muscles, the scientists asked several tribespeople to sit, walk and squat while wearing sensors that chart muscular contractions. The Hadza data suggest that, even at rest, our bodies “are probably adapted to consistent muscular activity,” he says, which we do not achieve in chairs.