Have You Heard Of Exercise Snacks?

When you think of snacks, you probably think of food. Have you thought about exercise or activity in similar fashion? Exercise snacks refer to brief, intermittent bouts of physical activity incorporated during your daily routine. These can be as short as one minute and are designed to be a time-efficient way to improve health, especially for those who find it difficult to allocate time for longer exercise sessions.

Exercise snacks offer a promising, flexible and cost effective approach to increase physical activity and improve health outcomes. While more research is needed, especially in individuals with chronic diseases, the current evidence suggests that they are a viable option for many people. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a sedentary lifestyle—spending long hours sitting or lying down with little physical activity—significantly increases the risk of chronic diseases and premature death. Even light movement throughout the day can help counteract these harmful effects.

Image Source: Wix Library

Here are some examples of exercise snacks that you can easily incorporate into your daily routine:

Cardio Exercises

• Stair Climbing: Spend a minute or two climbing up and down the stairs.

• Jumping Jacks: Do a quick set of 20-30 jumping jacks.

• Jump Rope: Jump rope for 1-2 minutes.

• Brisk Walk: Do a quick walk for few minutes.

Strength Training

• Chair Squats: Stand up and sit down from a chair repeatedly for a minute.

• Lunges: Lunges are a lower-body strength exercise where you step forward (or backward/sideways), bend your knees, and lower your body to work muscles like the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves. Performing walking lunges across a room is a good exercise snack option.

• Pushups: Do a set of 10-15 pushups.

Flexibility and Balance

• Standing on One Leg: Balance on one leg when you get a chance.

• Sun Salutations (Surya Namaskar): Practice a quick sun salutation sequence from yoga.

• Cat/Cow Stretches: Do a few rounds of cat/cow stretches to loosen up your spine.

These short bursts of activity can be done almost anywhere and require minimal to no equipment. They are a great way to break up long periods of sitting and keep your body moving throughout the day.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. This material is informational and does not provide any medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.