Good news fidgeters, you’re burning an insane amount of calories (at your desk!)

For decades teachers, parents and maybe even bosses have employed a strong ‘no fidgeting’ regulation but we have a feeling this is about to change. Your body, being the genius it is, actually uses your pointless movements and inability to sit still to actually burn a substantial amount of calories a day.

If you’re a regular Fidget Jones – foot tapping, knee shaking, pen wobbling, finger stretching, aimless pacing and shifting in your seat can actually burn a lot of calories that would otherwise not be shifted.

According to Fitness Blender, there is a potential to rid yourself of somewhere between 300 and 350 calories a day depending on the intensity of your fidgeting. For example, someone who paces up and down the office on an hourly cycle will burn more than someone else who suffers from restless leg syndrome.

To put that number in context, you could burn a potential 109,500 calories a year. In terms of weight loss, while keeping the same diet, you could lose up to 31.2 pounds of extra weight.

However, being a fidgeter is not something that can be taught. Research has shown that people who have increased sensitivity to the chemicals in the brain that motivate physical movement are far more likely to fidget. The jury is still out on whether fidgeting is a genetic trait.

Either way, don’t let the still people within your office tell you how live your life. Embrace your fidgeting and let your trim body do the explaining next time someone asks if it’s really necessary for you to be constantly bouncing your leg.

What now?