BATON ROUGE — New research shows an active workstation can help you move more and think better at work without affecting your job. Sitting too much can even increase your risk for certain diseases.

"Sitting for eight hours or more a day is almost as bad as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day in terms of cardiovascular health or risk," cardiovascular medicine doctor Francisco Lopez-Jimenez said.

Not everyone can break for exercise. Having an active workstation can be a solution, Lopez-Jimenez says.

"An active workstation could be a desk where you can just stand or stand and move around, or stand and walk, or biking or
pedaling or using a stepper," he said.

He says you can do this intermittently, alternating with sitting. Whether answering emails, video calls or working on projects, keep moving.

"It allows the user to work to be productive, and at the same time, burn some calories," Lopez-Jimenez said.

And don't feel you have to be active all day to see the benefits.

"As long as you don't sit for more than three or four hours throughout the day, I think that will be that will be a good goal," Lopez-Jimenez said.