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Can a Standing Desk Help You Burn More Calories?

Want to know how many calories you burn at a standing desk?

With Dezctop’s calculator, you can quickly estimate how many calories you burn while sitting and standing at your desk. You can also add a few desk-side micro exercises to see how much more you might burn.

Dezctop’s calorie calculator uses the Mifflin–St Jeor equation as the starting point to estimate your resting energy needs, then factors in the time you spend sitting, standing, and doing desk-side micro exercises. This approach is designed to produce results that are repeatable and easy to compare across different desk habits.

It’s also widely understood that the Mifflin–St Jeor equation is generally considered more accurate than the Harris–Benedict equation.

After you run the calculator once, you can use the quick tags to instantly compare how different sitting/standing routines change your estimated calories.

We also simulate the impact of adding desk-side exercises, so you can explore which micro-movements fit your routine.

Tip: If you only want to calculate calories for sitting, set Daily standing hours to 0.

Calorie Calculator: Calories Burned Sitting vs Standing

Standing helps reduce the risks of prolonged sitting and increases your daily calorie burn. What matters most is switching positions regularly—give it a try now.

Create Your Desk Setup

Standing while you work can help reduce the risks of prolonged sitting, and it may help you burn a little more too. The key is to switch positions regularly. Try it now.

How Many Calories Do You Burn Standing?

For the same 1 hour at your desk:

• Conservative: Standing still burns about 25% more than sitting; standing while working burns about 42% more than sitting.
  
  

• Standard: Standing still burns about 23% more than sitting; standing while working burns about 46% more than sitting.
  
  

• Active: Standing still burns about 29% more than sitting; standing while working burns about 50% more than sitting.
  
  

These are not fixed “calories per hour” numbers, because your baseline energy burn depends on your body. The calculator first estimates your baseline hourly burn using your height, weight, age, and sex, then applies your selected standing scenario and estimation preference.

Example (Male, 30 / 180 cm / 80 kg, Standard):

• Standing while working (light movement): ~141 kcal/hour
  
  

• Sitting office work (same inputs): ~96 kcal/hour
  
  

• Difference: ~45 kcal/hour
  
  

A quick way to ramp up (example)

Using the same inputs (Male, 30 / 180 cm / 80 kg, Standard), with standing mode set to “Standing while working”:

• Quick preset: 10 sit / 2 stand: ~1246 kcal/day (desk-time total)
  
  

• Quick preset: 8 sit / 4 stand: ~1335 kcal/day (desk-time total)
  
  

Start with 10 sit / 2 stand, then move toward 8 sit / 4 stand once you’ve adapted. Pay attention to fatigue signals in your feet, knees, and lower back.

How Many Calories Do You Burn Sitting?

Using the same example (Male, 30 / 180 cm / 80 kg, Standard):

• Sitting office work: ~96 kcal/hour
  
  

• If you sit for 8 hours, that desk-time total is ~771 kcal/day.

Will a Standing Desk Help You Lose Weight?

A standing desk can support weight loss, but it’s not a magic fix.
It may help you burn a bit more than sitting, and more importantly, it makes it easier to move more throughout the day—standing, shifting, short walks, and quick desk exercises. Over weeks, those small habits can add up.
For weight loss, what matters most is managing your calorie intake, building muscle through training, and maintaining healthy posture and movement habits.

The Science Behind Standing Desks and Calorie Burn

We also highlight common standing-desk exercises and their benefits. With proper technique, these movements can help you maintain a healthier posture and routine.

How Many Active Calories Should You Burn Each Day?

Learn how many active calories you should burn each day, how RMR and TDEE work, and how to use weekly trends and a simple calculator to set realistic, sustainable goals.