Standing economy: does the heterogeneity in the energy cost of posture maintenance reside in differential patterns of spontaneous weight-shifting?

Miles-Chan, Jennifer L.; Fares, Elie-Jacques; Berkachy, Redina; Jacquet, Philippe; Isacco, Laurie; Schutz, Yves; Montani, Jean-Pierre; Dulloo, Abdul G.

doi:10.1007/s00421-017-3563-7

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Journal article

Standing economy: does the heterogeneity in the energy cost of posture maintenance reside in differential patterns of spontaneous weight-shifting?

Miles-Chan, Jennifer L. Department of Medicine/PhysiologyUniversity of Fribourg, Switzerland
Fares, Elie-Jacques Department of Medicine/PhysiologyUniversity of Fribourg, Switzerland
Berkachy, Redina Department of InformaticsUniversity of Fribourg, Switzerland
Jacquet, Philippe Department of Medicine/PhysiologyUniversity of Fribourg, Switzerland - Department of Plant Molecular BiologyUniversity of Lausanne, Switzerland
Isacco, Laurie EA3920 and EPSI Platform, Bourgogne Franche-Comté University Besançon, France
Schutz, Yves Department of Medicine/PhysiologyUniversity of Fribourg, Switzerland
Montani, Jean-Pierre Department of Medicine/PhysiologyUniversity of Fribourg, Switzerland
Dulloo, Abdul G. Department of Medicine/PhysiologyUniversity of Fribourg, Switzerland

01.04.2017

Published in:

European Journal of Applied Physiology. - 2017, vol. 117, no. 4, p. 795–807

English Due to sedentarity-associated disease risks, there is much interest in methods to increase low-intensity physical activity. In this context, it is widely assumed that altering posture allocation can modify energy expenditure (EE) to impact body-weight regulation and health. However, we have recently shown the existence of two distinct phenotypes pertaining to the energy cost of standing—with most individuals having no sustained increase in EE during steady-state standing relative to sitting comfortably. Here, we investigated whether these distinct phenotypes are related to the presence/absence of spontaneous “weight-shifting”, i.e. the redistribution of body- weight from one foot to the other.Methods: Using indirect calorimetry to measure EE in young adults during sitting and 10 min of steady-state standing, we examined: (i) heterogeneity in EE during standing (n = 36); (ii) EE and spontaneous weight-shifting patterns (n = 18); (iii) EE during spontaneous weight-shifting versus experimentally induced weight-shifting (n = 7), and; (iv) EE during spontaneous weight-shifting versus intermittent leg/body displacement (n = 6).Results: Despite heterogeneity in EE response to steady-state standing, no differences were found in the amount or pattern of spontaneous weight-shifting between the two phenotypes. Whilst experimentally induced weight-shifting resulted in a mean EE increase of only 11% (range: 0–25%), intermittent leg/body displacement increased EE to >1.5 METs in all participants.Conclusions: Although the variability in spontaneous weight-shifting signatures between individuals does not appear to underlie heterogeneity in the energy cost of standing posture maintenance, these studies underscore the fact that leg/body displacement, rather than standing posture alone, is needed to increase EE above the currently defined sedentary threshold.

Faculty

Faculté des sciences et de médecine

Department

Département de Médecine

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