Doctors are telling people who sit at work all day to stand up and walk around the office because sitting for extended periods is as bad for your health as smoking.

Dr. Max Gomez of CBS New York reports the “couch-potato” lifestyle of Americans is resulting in deaths at the same rate as the known health threat.

Dr. Gomez is not alone.

“Smoking certainly is a major cardiovascular risk factor, and sitting can be equivalent in many cases,” Dr. David Coven, a cardiologist at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, told CBS. “The fact of being sedentary causes factors to happen in the body that are very detrimental.”

Doctors say that you don’t necessarily need to do a 30-minute workout in a gym each day to fight the issues that come with a job requiring you to sit for long periods.  Even walking for 10 minutes at a time three times a day will help improve your health quality.

The key, doctors say, is to undertake activities that get your blood flowing to keep plaque from being able to deposit in arteries.