Exercise Snacking for Fitness and Well-Being

Physical activity can preserve physical function and mobility and delay onset of major disability.

For readers who have followed recommendations of doing 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise per week, “exercise snacking” is an alternative to accomplishing physical and overall well-being.

What is exercise snacking? Exercise snacking is performing movements in short bursts throughout the day. It is engaging in an exercise snack multiple times per day. It can be a break from sitting or being sedentary. It is moving around, tapping the feet, doing short chair yoga exercise, lifting leg/arm while sitting, or simply stretching. It can be climbing stairs a few times.

Several recent exercise and fitness studies show that small amounts of exercise have a variety of positive health effects. Specifically, “Just 10 minutes of slow cycling on a stationary bicycle improved memory and increased coordination in different parts of the brain in college students.” “Using a database of about 500,000 people from various studies, a review in The Journal of Happiness Studies discovered that just 10 minutes of exercise per day was enough to lift the mood of participants.” “Another study found that even five-minute bouts of exercise increased longevity and reduced the risk of premature death.” “Five minutes of moving around every hour can combat sitting diseases such as diabetes, atherosclerosis, and obesity and improve mood and alertness.”

How many exercise snacks do we need per day? The CDC recommends seniors engage in roughly 30 minutes of activity, 5 days per week to help keep our bodies and brains fit and healthy. This breaks down to 3 10-minute exercise snacks each day, 5 days a week. This is possible if exercise is woven throughout the day. The US Department of Health and Human Services recommends seniors try to work up to 300 minutes per week, which means roughly 60 minutes per day, 5 days a week. If this seems like a lot, remember you can work up to it! If you are currently sedentary most of the day, add one exercise snack to your day. Over time, you’ll be able to add another and still another. Before you know it, you’ll be snacking your way to better health.

What ‘counts’ as exercise? It may be much easier to embrace exercise if we don’t think of it in such a one-dimensional way. Exercise isn’t just a run on the treadmill, an hour of dance aerobics or a weight-lifting session. It can be stretching, gardening, playing with grandchildren, climbing stairs or sweeping the floor. Think of exercise as movement. Examples: standing up to prepare lunch, slicing fruit and mixing yogurt is movement. Taking laundry from the dryer and standing to fold it is movement. We can move in many ways throughout the day, and when we make the conscious effort to do so, we are engaging in the exercise snacks that help us maintain muscle tone, balance, good mental health, and healthy hearts. “Exercise snacking helps many of us avoid the all-or-nothing mentality of fitness. Rather than focusing on a full hour workout or getting to the gym for a cardio dance class, we can fit exercise into our daily schedules and the rhythm of our lives. Just 5 to 10 minutes of movement can make a marked difference in our health and wellbeing. From increasing our cardiovascular health to balancing our moods, movement is good for us from head to toe.” Choose exercises you enjoy and those that fit naturally into your daily life and schedule. Avoid sitting for extended periods of time. Set snacking alarms if you find it helpful and motivational as reminders to get up and get moving. Start small and build more movement into your day over time. Remember the goal is health and wellness rather than stress and exhaustion. Listen to your body and move it in ways that feel good!

Sources for ideas: https://fitonapp.com/fitness/exercise-snacking/

https://rightasrain.uwmedicine.org/body/exercise/exercise-snacking#:~

Exercise Snacking: How Small Chunks of Movement Add Up to Better Health - Aging Outreach Services