Fitness Influencer Experiments With Not Sitting for 5 Days Straight. This Is What Happened to His Body

Lucas B who calls himself a "self-certified experimental stuntman and mediocre actor," is known for his slapstick one-week challenges. In the second week of April 2023, he challenged himself to just stand and not sit for a week. In a YouTube video, he documented instances from his daily life, standing longer than a cashier, even while traveling in a car or pooping. Like other bizarre challenges, Lucas took up this challenge only because it sounded interesting and required no expensive equipment. Plus, the fitness challenge was well suited to demonstrate the health concerns that relate to prolonged sitting.

“One in four Americans sit for more than 9.5 hours every single day,” Lucas told his viewers. He continued by explaining what happens to the body when people sit for too long, “Prolonged sitting and lack of physical activity has been correlated with obesity and a cluster of obesity-related conditions. Also sitting for these long periods can result in back pain, spinal dysfunction, joint degeneration, poor posture in the upper back, neck, and shoulders, as well as vascular problems in the legs and the list goes on.” Adding to what Lucas said, WHO has even reported that around 3.2 million people worldwide die premature deaths due to prolonged sitting.

Lucas had ordered himself a standing desk from Amazon. Till it arrived, he made himself a makeshift desk by arranging his Apple computer on the CPU set atop a table. He went on to share that the working desk is one of the key settings where people spend the majority of their time sitting. While working, he took a break to the bathroom and came out with the quipping remark, “I did not miss it!” He kept his focus engaged with the chores that he would have normally procrastinated. He walked to and from the store. He did push-ups and planks. He said he felt a “rhythmic flow state where things were just working.”

 However, just after a few hours of practicing continuous standing, fatigue, and tiredness began to take a toll. Lucas started feeling tired, especially in his lower legs and feet. By the evening time, he felt as if “Oh man, I just want to take the load off my feet.” Still, he tried to keep his mind off the exhaustion and diverted his attention to various household chores. He cooked himself dinner and ate it standing in front of the television. After five days, he threw in the towel. The aches in his body were too bad. "In only five days, look at this slouch when I stand," Lucas said. "I can see that my hamstrings are still kind of tight which is fighting a little bit with my glutes," he added.

Usually, this is called “kyphosis,” a condition where the spine abnormally curves forward, causing the upper back to appear more rounded than normal, as per NCBI. He also felt “lordosis” setting in, which is the curving of the lower back and hips like a pelvis tilt. "If I continue doing this for a long time, that is obviously not good,” Lucas told his viewers. "That's going to form really bad posture and maybe lead to back problems. It looks like I'm starting to really form this slouched-over position, especially in the upper back.” He added that the ache he was feeling in his hips and joints was much more than just muscular pain, avoiding which, could be dangerous for his body. 

But there weren’t just pains and aches that he experienced while practicing this challenge. He said he felt a “30% productivity boost” at work while working in a standing position. The most significant improvement, however, was in his digestion. Standing for this long time had a huge influence on triggering smooth bowel movements. “I felt like things were comfortably moving in the right direction,” he said.

You can follow @FocusedLucas on YouTube for more fitness challenges.