Sticking to a consistent workout routine is overwhelming, especially if you don’t have a lot of time. But new research suggests you don’t need long hours in the gym to benefit.
A few mini-workouts spread throughout the day—called “exercise snacks”—could be enough to boost heart and muscle health, according to a study published this month in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
“Our review shows that exercise snacks can significantly improve cardiorespiratory fitness in adults and muscular endurance in older adults,” lead author Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, clinical researcher at the University of Oviedo in Spain, told Health. “Exercise snacks help people start small, stay consistent, and build habits, which is the foundation for long-term health.”
There isn’t a universal definition for an exercise snack. But essentially, “exercise snacks are intentionally structured, short-duration bouts of moderate-to-vigorous activity, designed to provoke a physiological training effect,” said Rodríguez. “The key is that these are short, simple, and don’t require equipment or special facilities.”
The exact parameters can vary. But in their review, Rodríguez and his team only included trials where the exercise bouts lasted less than five minutes, and were repeated multiple times per day at least three times weekly, over the course of at least two weeks.
According to experts, exercise snacks can include:
- Vigorous stair climbing
- Brisk walking or cycling sprints
- Strength exercises such as squats or lunges
- Sit-to-stand exercises
- Light resistance movements
- Balance activities such as Tai Chi
Other studies have looked at similar bursts of physical activity in daily life, known as vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity (VILPA). The difference is these are usually very short and unplanned—think walking up the stairs at work, carrying heavy groceries, chasing kids, or speed-walking to catch the bus.
Most research on physical activity tests longer exercise sessions or looks at unstructured goals like taking 10,000 steps daily, explained Garrett Ash, PhD, assistant professor at the Yale School of Medicine.
Research that does exist on shorter energy bouts tends to focus more on VILPA, which has been linked to a roughly 40% reduced risk of mortality.
But so far, research into exercise snacks hasn’t been definitive.
“This study searched to find and synthesize the studies in that in-between area where they are looking at short bouts of exercise but still done in a structured way,” Ash told Health.
To see how intentional, short exercise sessions affected health, the research team looked at 11 randomized controlled trials of exercise snacks in inactive adults. A total of 414 participants were included from Australia, Canada, China, and the UK.
The individual exercise snack programs were slightly different in intensity, duration, and workout frequency. But most of the participants stuck with the exercises.
Overall, compared to the inactive controls, completing exercise snacks was linked to:
“Moderate means we’re fairly confident in the results, although there remain areas for improvement in research,” said Amanda Paluch, PhD, professor of kinesiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and chair of the American Heart Association’s Physical Activity Committee in the Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health.
However, “very low certainty of evidence” means just that—we can’t trust the results completely, and more research is needed, Paluch told Health.
Even though exercise snacks don’t amount to a ton of time spent working out, they do interrupt periods of inactivity—that’s a good thing for our health.
“Breaking up sedentary time has benefits independent from the exercise breaking them up,” said Ash. Research has suggested that breaking up and limiting sedentary time is linked to better cardiometabolic health.
“The smaller bouts may be more manageable and enjoyable for some people who do not want to do 30 minutes [of exercise],” he added.
While the findings are positive, the research was limited. For example, the trials had a limited number of participants, of which more than two-thirds were female. There was little demographic data included, no implementation of wearable devices to confirm results, and lots of variety between the exercise programs being studied.
It’s also important to note that exercise snacks aren’t a cure-all. The review found that these short spurts of physical activity did not affect:
- Lower limb strength
- Body composition
- Blood pressure
- Blood lipids
“One reason may be that many of the people in these studies were already fairly healthy, which limits the room for improvement,” said Paluch. “It’s likely that in order to see real changes in things like body composition or cholesterol, you need longer or more consistent routines.”
Whether its a lack of time, access, or motivation, many people struggle to fit exercise into their schedule. Nearly one in three adults worldwide aren’t getting enough physical activity, which puts them at a higher risk of heart disease and other chronic conditions.
Exercise snacks may be a simple place to start. “Sedentary individuals often find it hard to commit to long workouts, but a one- or two-minute session feels achievable,” said Rodríguez.
Another benefit, Rodríguez and Paluch agreed, is that exercise snacks help make daily movement a habit. Those small amounts of activity can eventually become longer, more structured exercises, and give someone the confidence to work up to 150 minutes of weekly moderate-intensity exercise.
But exercise snacks can still be helpful for people living active lifestyles too, since it’s best to avoid prolonged periods of sitting, Ash added.
“The athlete who runs an hour every morning then sits at a desk all day might be better served health-wise from adding exercise snacks, even if it meant needing to shorten the morning run,” he said.
