S is for Snacks — Exercise Snacks

Simple, Practical, Science-Based Tips for a Long Healthy Life

Post written by Dr. Bob Murray

Not enough time to exercise regularly?  Limited access to equipment or facilities?  Just too busy, too tired, too stressed, too swamped with everyday life to even think about a fitness program?  Well, you are not alone. S is for snacks, exercise snacks.

It is clear that a sedentary lifestyle increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality.  Not good.  Regular physical activity reduces those risks, along with providing numerous other benefits to mental and physical health.  But even those people dedicated to fitness often find it difficult to summon the energy or find the time to exercise.

As it turns out, there are no excuses for being sedentary day after day, regardless of how busy we are or how exhausted we might be at the end of the day.  Say hello to exercise snacks.

Researchers “define exercise snacks as isolated 1-minute or less bouts of vigorous exercise performed periodically throughout the day.” The idea is that exercise snacks are a feasible, well-tolerated, and time-efficient approach to improve heart and lung fitness and reduce the negative impact of sedentary behavior on health.

Exercise snacks are exactly that: short bouts of physical activity interspersed throughout the day.  Exercise snacks can be very brief, lasting less than a minute, or can be long enough to provide a nice mental and physical break from a day’s normal routine.  The key is to use exercise snacks to break up sedentary time, so that we don’t find ourselves sitting for hours at a stretch. 

The key to successful exercise snacking is to periodically get our bodies out of their comfort zone, increase heart and breathing rates, cause some muscle burn, and just briefly disrupt the flow of a sedentary day.

What Does It Mean For You?

• Every little bit helps.  Exercise snacks will not produce the fitness improvements associated with daily aerobic or high-intensity training, but for those just starting (or re-starting) an exercise program, incorporating daily exercise snacks is a great way to get going.  Likewise, exercise snacks can benefit committed exercisers on days that are just too busy to shoehorn in a workout. 
• Harder is better.  Casually climbing a flight of stairs as an exercise snack is better than nothing, but not as good as putting some effort into it.  Climbing stairs as fast as possible so that the effort feels “hard” is the goal.  The same holds true for whatever activities you choose as exercise snacks.
• Set a daily goal.  If the idea of exercise snacks appeals to you, begin with 3 times each day, 15 to 30 seconds of hard effort each time.  Simple!
• Mix it up. You don’t have to get stuck in the rut of doing the same activity over and over.  Feel free to mix up the types of exercise snacks; you can include jumping jacks, stair climbs, squats, pushups, lunges, weightlifting, or any other physical activity that requires you to push yourself.

Thanks for following our A to Z Blog and check out Food & Fitness After 50 for more tips on moving well, eating well, and being well.

Next post is G is for GMO, as suggested by one of our readers.