Sitting and standing in everyday university life

Feeling tired? Tense? Unfocused?

Regular, long periods of sitting can have a negative impact on cognitive characteristics such as your concentration and motivation. There are also immediate physical consequences such as back, neck and shoulder tension. In the long term, an increased risk of illness and mortality can be the result of an inactive lifestyle.

Want to counteract these consequences? Here are some ideas to reduce your sitting time and promote physical activity in your daily life:

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Tips and Tricks: Home Office

On October 27, there will be tips and tricks from ActivityKIT again in the context of the Coffee Lecture event of the KIT library. The event revolves around the topic "Healthy and concentrated in home studies". Regular, long periods of sitting can have a negative impact on cognitive traits like your concentration and motivation - exactly what you actually need when studying. There are also immediate physical consequences such as back, neck and shoulder tension. The team from ActivityKIT and the Aktivpause will show you simple ways to make your university day at home more motivating and healthier. More information about the Coffee Lecture can be found here.

Whether it's made from drinks crates, an ironing board or books, there are no limits to your creativity. A standing table facilitates a regular change of position and reminds you to get up regularly. By learning while standing up, you can increase your energy consumption and improve your motivation and attention at the same time. You can find more inspiration for a self-made standing table here .

Set a timer to remind you to get up regularly.

Taking a break or a study/reading session while standing has many benefits, such as improving your attention and retention, and increasing your energy expenditure. For more information on the benefits of standing breaks in courses, see our study on standing breaks.

You can find more tips and information in the following video:


Anyone can sit / stand dynamically! Whether sitting or standing, the goal is to change your working position frequently. For example, while standing you can shift your weight to the other foot or stand in a step position. This can turn a passive activity into an active one.

Advantages of a dynamic working position:

  • Strengthening the muscles through regular changes of position
  • Dynamic sitting enables better blood circulation, which is followed by improved performance
  • Relief of the intervertebral discs and better nutrient supply
  • Prevention of long-term incorrect posture and incorrect strain

Use breaks to move around. Plan a walk during your lunch break. Especially walking in the woods reduces stress and clears your head.

Regular breaks in movement can improve your attention and memory. It can also prevent the long-term effects of an inactive lifestyle.

You have the possibility to participate in the live active breaks of KIT SC every Monday and Thursday from 13.45 -14.00 or every Tuesday and Wednesday from 11.15-11-30. You can find more information in the active break flyer. Alternatively, you can use the short videos of the active break to get to know different exercises and to integrate active timeouts into your everyday life.

You can find more exercises for at home in our Home Workouts .

Creating a daily routine can help you incorporate more activity into your daily life. You can find a great article on this topic at the following link on the MyHealth page.

Tips and tricks: everyday life at university

Deliberately set yourself movement tasks. These tasks can be anything you can think of, such as:

  • Squats while brushing your teeth
  • Five lunges for every yawn
  • ...

Try out such challenges and let the movement become a fixed part of your everyday life.

Consciously use the stairs, even if there is an elevator. It just takes a little more time and energy. Afterwards you will be much more awake and motivated than after a lift ride.

Do you already come to the university by bike? Or on foot?


If not, try to get into the habit of getting active in the morning and cycling or walking to the university. If you live too far away, get off the train 1-2 stops earlier and enjoy the short walk. You'll see, the exercise feels great!

Use breaks to move around. Plan a walk with your fellow students during the lunch break. Especially walking in the woods has astress-reducing effect and creates a clear head.

Do you have group work or a joint presentation coming up?


Conduct your meetings while walking or standing.

Allow yourself a short break once a lesson, in which you stretch and loll extensively. Such breaks can have a positive effect on your alertness and attention.

You can see where the individual standing workplaces are on the campus map.

You are a lecturer and interested in making your teaching more active and healthier? Here you will find information and tips on the topic of "Health-promoting and motivating teaching at KIT".