HEALTH

Are you confused by Apple Watch Stand Minutes?

It doesn’t work as you might expect. Apple’s Stand Minutes require more than not sitting.

Photo by Ryan Stone on Unsplash

You may have read about the health hazards of sitting too much. You may be trying to sit less yourself. I am, and my Apple watch is helping me do that. To my surprise, Stand Minutes do not work as I expected.

Sitting risks: How harmful is too much sitting?

Apple Watch Stand Minutes

The Apple Watch measures your Stand Minutes automatically. The results are reported in different ways in different apps and even different ways in different places within apps. That’s confusing by itself, but your watch isn’t actually counting standing time at all. It can be a bit baffling, so let’s take a closer look.

If we assume that Apple chose to measure and report this, it’s probably because of all those studies of the negative effects of sitting. Logically, you would think that standing up is not sitting. Some of the articles you might read on this subject suggest working at a standing desk…