Protect your heart: Tips to combat long sitting hours at work

Sitting at work too long? How it affects your heart and what to do with it

Verified by: Dr. Dibya Ranjan Behera, consultant cardiologist, Manipal Hospital Bhubaneswar

Written by Tavishi Degra |Published: March 3, 2025 7:57 a.m. is

Many people in today's digital work area spend long hours at their desks without recognizing how their health suffers silently. Studies show that the number of hours in a seated position spend cardiovascular diseases for both active people and those who train regularly. When you spend hours, your heart will suffer specific changes that require certain measures to alleviate you.

The hidden dangers of sitting

• Your body metabolism rate decreases when you spend a long time in a seated position. When the activity is limited, blood sugar increases, while calorie consumption decreases in addition to poor circulation. The combination of these health factors leads to obesity together with high blood pressure and increased cholesterol levels, which lead to great risks for heart disease. To sit too much can increase the level of inflammation in the body together with insulin resistance, which leads to additional loads for the cardiovascular system.
• Scientists have found that sitting over eight hours every day without sufficient movement has the same dangerous influence on health as smoking. So you say “sitting corresponds to smoking”. The Annals of Internal Medicine published 2015 research results that show that excessive seat time increases the risks of heart diseases by 147%, which requires an intervention at work.

How do I protect your heart during work?

Your daily habits include fundamental changes that you can make to reverse the harmful effects of longer seating periods.

Here are some practical strategies:

1. Take frequent breaks: Five from your place for five minutes every sixty minutes. Set a memory to your phone and computer that you can not forget with.
2. Due to the sitting of calf muscle exercises: It is a good exercise for the heart to change the bend and extend your feet like a tailor in a sewing machine.
3. Integrate desk exercises: Your blood flow remains active through exercises such as stretching in combination with leg lifts and sitting marching.
4. Use a constant desk: Your cardiovascular system experiences a reduced burden if you sit and stand alternately during the day.
5. Go during the calls: If possible, go between business telephones during the conversations. Move through your office or your home.
6. Stay hydrated: The habit of drinking a lot of water forces them to often visit the toilet, which naturally leads to increased physical activity.
7. Invest in portable technology: Fitness trackers fulfill two functions; They pursue their levels of movement and remind them of standing after long periods of static calm.

Regular exercise during your day helps you to defend your heart and at the same time increase your entire health. The combination of small changes to the lifestyle offers significant health advantages during the longer period of time.

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