Cardiologist reveals 4 habits that could make your 9-to-5 office work healthy: 'Set timer for every 30 to 60 minutes and…'

Do you have the nasty habit of staying glued to your desk for hours at a stretch, barely standing up as you burn through meeting upon meeting, answering emails, entering spreadsheets and putting pitch decks together for presentation? There's always something, something bigger to fry, that keeps you tied to your desk. On certain days, you may even have lunch there, rarely managing to get time to shift from it.

Dr Jeremy London, MD, a cardiothoracic surgeon who shares advice on improving cardiovascular health and creating awareness regularly on Instagram, on 8th August, proposed 4 methods to healthify your desk job.

Will exercising later reduce the damage of sitting for long hours at desk?

Most of the time, most individuals have the notion that prolonged sitting can be compensated for with physical exercise later in the day, as long as one is physically active. Nevertheless, Dr Jeremy referenced a broad study in 2015 which showed that prolonged sitting even while exercising can lead to many diseases.

He said, "There was a seminal paper in the Annals of Medicine that showed that sitting for long periods, even if you do exercise, increases your risk for type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease and an increase in all-cause mortality that we have now referred to as the sitting disease."

4 tips to render desk jobs healthy

When you are working towards your career goals and pinpoint, your work must not be on the cost of health conditions lowering your life expectancy, especially from sitting for long periods. Simple habits can help you put your health first when working. Four simple habits to add to your work schedule were indicated by Dr Jeremy London:

Stand up and take a few minutes of walking every hour

Take a break and get up every 30 to 60 minutes and walk for two or three minutes.

Do 10 air squats, this will decrease cortisol and increase circulation.

Cook your own lunch

Prepare your own lunch by meal prepping one or two times per week.

Decreases remaining on the nutritional plan and fighting the temptation of ultra-processed food.

Stay hydrated

Keep a water bottle with you and drink throughout the day, even if you are thirsty. Even slight dehydration will cause a decrease in concentration and an increase in fatigue.

Break time

Take a break for your brain, find breathing exercises that you're comfortable with, a mindfulness class or just go outside.

This will restart the nervous system.