A lot of you know that sitting still for long periods of time can be detrimental to health. People have chosen to combat this with things like standing desks, treadmill desks, and smart watches that prompt us to stand up and take a break. These are all effective strategies, but another option is to engage in very short, high-effort bouts of exercise, sometimes called “exercise snacks”.
The idea is that you get yourself moving at a high level of effort to spike your heart rate and breathing for a very short period of time, at least one minute but less than ten minutes. Early studies indicate that this may improve cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) or at least offset the negative health effects of prolonged periods of inactivity (Islam et. al., 2022).
If nothing else, these short bouts of activity may be a more engaging way to break up your sedentary time than simply walking around your office or home.
You can use almost any form of exercise to get exercise snacks in, the important thing is to remember to do them throughout the day (every 1 – 3 hours depending on what you choose to do). Aim to get at least 3 “snacks” per day if you’re otherwise sitting still most of the day.
It’s important to understand that these exercise snacks and general physical activity are not a replacement for dedicated exercise (and vice versa). For more, see my upcoming article on physical activity vs exercise.
Examples
Finally, here are some ideas for exercise snacks. Do one or all of these several times throughout the day. Be mindful of other physical demands you may have in your day. For example, if you’re planning on a heavy leg session at the gym after work, it’s probably best to favor upper body movements for your movement snacks.
It’s not practical to do a full body warm-up before engaging in these, but it’s worth doing something simple to get your body primed to move first. Do some jumping jacks or high-knees, and some fast & loose shoulder circles if you’re getting the upper body involved.
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Stair Sprints: If you’re working in a traditional office environment, stairs are a great option. Get in the stairwell and run up 2 – 3 flights of stairs as fast as you safely can. Walk back down the stairs. Do this 1 – 3 times per session. Be mindful of slow-moving colleagues who may also be using the stairs.
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Bike/Treadmill Sprints: Do 2 – 3 sprints for 20 – 30 seconds each with 30 seconds of rest in between. You can also sprint outside if your attire and footwear are compatible. If you have breath to spare, you can make racecar sounds while you do this.
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Kettlebell swings: Do a set of 10 swings every 30 seconds for 2 minutes. This is easiest to do if you’re working from home, but if you have a few square feet of empty space at your office you can leave a kettlebell under your desk. Don’t throw it through the wall. If you do, blame it on a fictional intern named “Tibothy.”
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Push-ups: Similar to the swing protocol, do a set of push-ups (5 – 10 reps) every 30 seconds for a couple of minutes. If you’re at home and have access to dumbbells, you can follow-up with renegade rows for a nice push/pull superset. Be sure to shout “superset!” very loudly if you do this.
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Jump rope: vigorous jump rope for 1 – 3 minutes. You can mix-in some fancy footwork or double-unders if you can pull it off and want to feel cool.
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Dan John “Humane Burpee” complex: 10 kettlebell swings, 5 goblet squats, and 5 push-ups. Repeat this as many times as you can in 3 minutes, dropping the number of squats and push-ups each time. It’s like a burpee, but for people who aren’t fueled by hatred!
Give one or all of these a try, or get creative with your daily activity. Either way, let me know how it goes – I’d love to hear from you!
References
Islam, Hashim1; Gibala, Martin J.2; Little, Jonathan P.1. Exercise Snacks: A Novel Strategy to Improve Cardiometabolic Health. Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews 50(1):p 31-37, January 2022. | DOI: 10.1249/JES.0000000000000275
Photo by Jake Hills on Unsplash
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