Do you spend the majority of your day sitting behind a desk? It's no hidden fact that spending long hours sitting behind a desk can be detrimental to your physical health. The latter is likely because of the multiple health issues arising from a sedentary daily routine rather than an active one.

But, of course, most of us cannot do much about it if our jobs require us to spend long hours remaining seated at our workstations. However, the good news is that we don't have to sit by and watch our health deteriorate as we earn a livelihood. We can take frequent breaks, step away from a quick walk, stretch as often as possible, and adopt a few other health measures.

Below are eleven physical activity guidelines or tips to help you live an active lifestyle instead of a passive one behind your desk.

The Problem with Desk Jobs

The truth is that a desk job could ultimately give rise to multiple problems. These include:

- disturbed or inappropriate posture

- Increased stress levels

- Mental health problems, such as depression

- Cardiovascular diseases and other medical issues

Apart from these, you could also become vulnerable to the less obvious health risks due to the extended seating time of a desk job.

Health Risks of Being Inactive

There are many health risks associated with a desk job. Let’s take a quick look at some of those below:

- Research proves that the blue light emission from computer screens and other electronic devices can damage your vision.

- The desk is where employees spend a large part of their day. Due to the nature of the job, it is one of the topmost places for bacteria to grow. You could sneeze as less as thrice or five times in a day, but the keyboard would keep collecting germs, and you won't even notice. You could be facing constant exposure to germs and bacteria.

- Mental fatigue is another primary challenge of a desk job. Long hours of staring at a computer screen can cause irritability, tiredness, and mental fog.

- Obesity- when you sit for long periods and keep satisfying hunger pangs with snacks, you don't give your body enough time for physical activity to burn calories.

Tips to Stay Active While Sitting at a Desk

People who spend most of their days sitting behind a desk are more prone to becoming obese and diabetic. There is also an increased risk of developing heart conditions due to the buildup of cholesterol and fats.

People who work a desk job are at a significantly greater chance of suffering from injuries erupting from repetitive use. Desk workers need to incorporate ways to stay active despite their stagnant physical routines. They can sit on an exercise ball when working or spend a few minutes of their day walking to take a short break from the monotony of the office.

Below are 11 tips to stay active:

1. Swap Your Chair for an Exercise Bike

Exercise bikes are inexpensive equipment, but they play a key role in boosting your health while working a desk job. By swapping your chair for one, you can boost core strength, significantly improve your posture, burn calories, and maintain your preferred weight while meeting your work deadlines.

2. Take Regular Breaks and Move Around

One great tip is to take regular short breaks more often during the day. Always find excuses to stand up, stretch, and walk, even if only a few steps. According to a physical therapist, a little stretching and moving after every hour or so can help you maintain optimal fitness.

3. Get a Standing Desk

It'd be a great idea to get a standing desk if you can't reduce the number of hours you spend at work. A standing desk is especially beneficial in maximizing endurance, boosting circulation, and correcting posture.

However, remember to start slow, perhaps spending only an hour or two standing at work. As your body gets more used to it, you can increase the hours and burn more calories.

4. Get an Exercise Ball

An exercise ball can be a great solution. Just like an exercise bike, it will toughen the abdominal muscles while improving your posture. You could refer to a physical therapist for recommendations on the best size and type of exercise ball for you.

5. Take a Walk on Your Lunch Break

Do you get a thirty-minute long lunch break? Then try finishing your meal in twenty minutes and save the rest for a brisk ten-minute walk. The point is to save some of your lunch break for some light exercise to make up for the lack of activity that burns calories.

Even if just for ten minutes, a brisk walk outside or in your company's office lot would refresh your mind and body and put you in good spirits for the rest of the day.

6. Try Yoga Chair

A desk job can make exercising challenging, but a yoga chair can fix that problem for you while enabling you to devote sufficient hours to work. By replacing your regular desk chair with a yoga chair, you will have more room to stretch, twist, and bend as you work.

What’s more, a yoga chair helps boost muscle strength while reducing pain and stress.

7. Stretch Often

If nothing else is possible, then you could at least ensure doing casual stretches every hour or so while sitting at your desk. Staying active behind a desk is possible in many ways, including simple movements like leg lifts, neck stretches, and shoulder raises.

8. Wear Ankle Weights

Ankle weights are subtle and help tone your legs even when you're sitting for long hours on end. You could wear the ankle weights under your work clothes and practice leg raises repeatedly.

9. Take the Stairs

When leaving for work, returning home, or moving through several floors at work, always choose the stairs instead of the elevator. An elevator goes up faster, but your heart rate does not. Hence, a good quick exercise is possible simply by taking the stairs each time.

10. Wear a Fitness Watch

If you easily lose sight of your health goals, you could wear a fitness watch to fix the problem. This nifty tool helps you track your heart rate, calories burned throughout a day, and the number of steps you take.

It’s easy to make up for where you’re slacking when you have the fitness watch to remind you which area to improve to boost your health.

11. Walk as You Talk

One constant in a desk job is the number of calls you have to attend, mostly from other colleagues or clients. If you need to attend a call, get up from your desk, pick up your phone, and pace around the room or the recreational area as you talk.