Michael Mosley says two-minute routine every hour can cut risk of heart disease

30 September 2023 , 10:34

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This easy-to-follow tip could change your life (Image: Jon Cottam)

As a health and nutrition expert, Dr Michael Mosley is dedicated to helping people live well for longer, with his Fast 800 and 5:2 diets encouraging people to think more carefully about the food they consume. Now Dr Mosley has come forward to reveal how deceptively simple lifestyle changes could make a huge difference, offering easy-to-follow advice in his new book, Just One Thing: How Simple Changes Can Transform Your Life.

In this book, Dr Mosley shares 16 things you could be doing each day to improve your overall health and well-being, all of which can be incorporated into even the busiest of schedules. One of these top tips includes an hourly two-minute routine that could slash your risk of heart disease, and you won't necessarily need to top athlete to give it a go for yourself.

Leading a sedentary lifestyle could be dangerous (PR Handout)

Standing for just two minutes each hour

For those of us with office jobs, it can feel difficult at times to make sure we're getting enough movement throughout the day, as much of our work will be completed at our desks, with only our typing fingers getting any exercise. Sedentary lifestyles can however pose serious problems when it comes to our health, and can even lead to a number of dangerous conditions.

According to the NHS website: "Studies have linked being inactive with being overweight and obese, type 2 diabetes, some types of cancer, and early death. Sitting for long periods is thought to slow the metabolism, which affects the body's ability to regulate blood sugar, blood pressure and break down body fat."

In order to combat this, Dr Mosley has encouraged people to make sure they stand up for two minutes each hour, mindful that our bodies are built for a life of hunter-gathering, not hours hunched over a screen. In an eye-opening 2021 episode of his podcast Just One Thing, which has inspired his book, Dr Mosley revealed that this simple hack can burn calories and lower blood sugar levels, all while helping to strengthen bones and muscles.

Dr Michael Mosley shares exercise that can cut cholesterol and blood pressure

Dr Mosley advised: "It raises your heart rate, helps your metabolism, and is good for your bones. It could even improve your psychological health." Addressing a podcast guest looking to change their own lifestyle, he added: "I think standing is one of the best things you can do to improve your health in really quite a simple way. What we're going to ask you to do is simply to stand up more - it doesn't have to be for hours, we just want you to stand up every hour for two to three minutes."

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Julia Banim