{"id":949019,"date":"2026-05-09T20:32:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T20:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/949019\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T20:32:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T20:32:19","slug":"im-a-cardiologist-these-are-five-things-i-would-never-do-after-a-long-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/949019\/","title":{"rendered":"I’m A Cardiologist. These Are Five Things I Would Never Do After A Long Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

I think it\u2019s safe to say that cardiologist Dr Francesco Lo Monaco,<\/a> founder of The National Heart Clinic on Harley Street and author of Heart Saviour<\/a>, has probably had some pretty long days.<\/p>\n

So, perhaps it\u2019s not surprising he\u2019s thought a lot about how best to handle them.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t feel the damage from chronic stress immediately, but over time it can start to show up in your sleep, your blood pressure and eventually the results of medical tests,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Here, Dr Lo Monaco shared the things he\u2019d never do after a tiring day:<\/p>\n

1) Not unwinding properly<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even after a seemingly never-ending day of stress, the cardiologist said it\u2019s important to carve out wind-down time before bed. <\/p>\n

\u2033[Stress hormone] cortisol can stay elevated for hours, and [heart rate variability<\/a>] may remain suppressed. If you don\u2019t take steps to unwind, such as with breathwork or vagal work to calm the body, then you can really feel it the next day,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you stay in a constant state of stress it will inevitably begin to show up in your body over time.\u201d <\/p>\n

2) Doing an intense workout <\/strong><\/p>\n

Though blowing off steam with a tough gym session might seem welcome, some experts say<\/a> you should steer clear of any overly intense workouts within a four-hour window of falling asleep.<\/p>\n

Dr Lo Monaco doesn\u2019t like to push himself too hard at the end of a long day, either.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter a long and stressful day I like to keep it simple with 20 minutes of exercise in Zone 2<\/a>, which means you can still hold a conversation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAim for around 55% to 65% of your maximum heart rate<\/a>. It\u2019s about supporting the system rather than challenging it if you\u2019re already under stress.\u201d <\/p>\n

3) Eating too late <\/strong><\/p>\n

Longevity expert Dr Valter Longo recommends<\/a> we stop eating three hours before our bedtime \u2013 and Dr Lo Monaco agrees: \u201cAccording to some studies, late meals can raise your night-time blood pressure by several mmHg, which means your heart never gets that proper overnight dip.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver time this could put extra strain on the cardiovascular system. If you can avoid eating three hours before sleeping, it\u2019s a good idea to do so.\u201d <\/p>\n

4) Having an ice bath <\/strong><\/p>\n

If your day\u2019s been very physically strenuous, some professionals think that taking ice baths might be helpful<\/a>. <\/p>\n

But timing matters, said Dr Lo Monaco.<\/p>\n

\u201cCold exposure is great, but it needs to be in the right context. If you\u2019ve had a long and stressful day, then you\u2019re adding in more vasoconstriction, which is the narrowing of blood vessels, to an already constricted system,\u201d he explained. <\/p>\n

\u201cI like to instead go for warmth and focus on relaxation.\u201d <\/p>\n

5) Sleeping in a \u201cnoisy\u201d environment<\/strong><\/p>\n

OK, you might have ensured your room is devoid of loud talking or music, but your environment can still be noisy even if it\u2019s quiet, noted Dr Lo Monaco.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about stimulation that we get from chargers, light and constant micro-inputs,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf your system is already stressed, then even these small interruptions to your sleep environment matter. In some patients, optimising sleep environments can improve heart rate variability.\u201d <\/p>\n

That might mean keeping some devices out of your bedroom. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve learnt from both my patients and my own routine that long-term damage doesn\u2019t just come from your stressful days, it comes from how consistently you fail to recover from them,\u201d the expert ended.<\/p>\n

\u201cStart small by going for a 20-minute walk after lunch and focusing on clear goals that support how you recover from stress.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I think it\u2019s safe to say that cardiologist Dr Francesco Lo Monaco, founder of The National Heart Clinic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":949020,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4322],"tags":[5114,1630,105,966,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-949019","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-evergreen","9":"tag-fitness","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-heart-health","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116546525392434583","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=949019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/949020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=949019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=949019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=949019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}