Exercise Snacking: 2-Minute Workouts That Transform Your Body and Mind, Backed by Science
So, who doesn't love a snack? I came across a new term recently that I just love in name and in concept. It's exercise snacking.
Have you all heard of this? An exercise snack is just what it sounds like. A short bite of exercise lasting just a couple minutes at a time that can be built into your day, every day. This concept is gold because it's addressing the very thing that keeps the majority of us on our buns and from moving our bodies. And that is time.
Welcome back to Health Bite, the podcast for small, actionable bites towards healthy living. If you're new to my podcast, head over to the show notes and grab your actionable bite towards healthy living.
I'm going to send you five daily bites to fast track you into the practices that will help you achieve the mental, emotional and physical well-being that I discuss with you on this podcast every week and with my patients in my medical practice, every day.
I'm your host, Dr. Adrienne Youdim, and I'm excited to share with you this week's bite.
So yeah, back to snacks. Who doesn't love a snack?
Exercise snacks are small, intense bursts of physical activity that we can tuck into our daily routines. The beauty of this concept, like I said, is that it addresses our eternal dilemma, the lack of time. It makes feasible adding physical activity into the most busy of days because it literally only requires minutes. You don't need a gym. You don't need any special equipment or a trainer. All you need is the will and you. But what's most impressive is that these little bite-sized sessions have been shown to actually make a positive and significant impact on our overall health.
In fact, studies have shown that these short bursts of activity can help increase our metabolism, improve cardiovascular health, enhance insulin sensitivity and help preserve muscle mass. In addition, and this one is an extra important bonus for me personally, exercise snacking has been shown to boost cognitive function and reduce stress levels. I mean, who wouldn't benefit from a reduction in stress levels? Am I right? Making it a win for both physical and mental well-being.
So let's talk about how exercise snacks can be tailored to fit into your daily routine.
So ideally, the activity should briefly raise your heart rate and your breathing. So lots of times we like fun gadgets, heart rate monitors and watches, but you know when your heart rate is up, you know when you're breathing fast and heavily. In addition, it should last a minute or two. And ideally, it should happen often, preferably, if possible, every half an hour. These snacks can be done in isolation or they can be done in addition to your regular exercise routine.
So here are some ideas: who doesn't drink coffee in the morning? For instance, you can perform a set of body weight squats while you wait for your morning coffee to brew. You can opt to take the stairs instead of the elevator while you're at work. Perhaps while you're there, even make an effort to run a few extra rounds up and down the staircase. We'll talk about how that helps. If you're watching TV, you can use the commercial breaks to do jumping jacks or to run in place. Even a short but speedy walk around the block after lunch can act as a great exercise snack. You can incorporate these short snacks several times throughout your day.
And what's impressive is that while exercise snacking may not necessarily replace long workouts entirely, it has surprisingly significant health benefits. And this has been shown in medical studies.
- For example, there was a study done on healthy college students who were asked to rapidly climb up and back down three flights of stairs three times a day in the morning, at lunchtime, and again late in the afternoon, almost daily for six weeks. These guys did no other workout but climbed the stairs three times a day. But after six weeks, they were shown to have gained significant amounts of aerobic fitness and leg strength. Exercise snacks have also been shown to combat the downsides of sedentary behavior. And we've been hearing a lot about sedentary behavior and its downsides for years. Multiple studies have demonstrated the harms of being sedentary at the desk and even have shown that if you're sedentary for a big chunk of time, like our nine to five-ers, that it can counteract or not be counteracted even if you exercise daily in one big chunk.
- For example, in one famous study done in 2008, people who sat for hours on end, developed blood sugar and cholesterol problems at much higher rates than people who got up often and moved, no matter how much these volunteers exercised. So think about that. People who were exercisers did not mitigate the downsides of being on your tush from nine to five, whereas those who got up throughout the day were able to do so at a higher level. So exercise snacks breaks up our sitting time.
- And in one study, it showed or they showed that a single day of nonstop sitting resulted in people's leg muscles becoming less capable of taking up amino acids. So this is what they did. They gave individuals protein shakes with molecular tracers so they would be able to trace what happens to the amino acids. And they found again that if they were to be sedentary for a single day, it turned out that their leg muscles were less able to utilize the amino acids that came from that protein shake. However, when the same volunteers broke up their sitting on subsequent days by either walking for two minutes every half hour or performing a brief set of chair squats, they were asked to get up from their chairs, go up on their tippy toes to activate their leg muscles and then sit back down. This move done 15 times allowed their muscles to be better able to absorb and incorporate amino acids from their bloodstreams, than when they were just sedentary. So think about that. That's a really profound impact for really minimal effort. Getting up and doing 15 sets of chair squats and leg lifts benefited people's ability to take up and utilize amino acids from the protein that they drank.
Again that is huge. Now imagine if we did this sort of thing daily or several times a day at these one to two minute intervals. The truth is, that we don't have to imagine because the studies are showing that snacking in this way results in significant improvements to our metabolic health.
So if you drank my Kool-Aid and you're ready to give it a shot, here's what I suggest:
Meet yourself where you're at and start where you can. What that usually means is to .
Begin just one activity, preferably something that you enjoy and something with limited barriers to achieving it. So for example, don't choose stairs if you don't have any and obviously don't choose sit ups or push ups if you absolutely hate them. Set yourself up for success by picking something doable.
But here's the thing. Once you commit, then commit with all of your might.
What that means is, do not allow yourself to negotiate it out of your day because you know that voice will come, the “Oh, I'll do it later”, “Oh, I'll start tomorrow”, “What's the big deal? It's not going to make a difference anyway”, “Oh, I'm so unfit. I might as well”. You know that voice. You know that voice that comes in your head. It happens to all of us. So expect her. Don't hate her. Don't get mad at her. But also don't give in to her.
Expect that she's going to come because she will. And if you do so, you'll be better prepared to meet her with kindness and compassion. Acknowledge her, give her a big hug, and then do it anyway. You know that it's the right thing to do and you know you'll feel better for it on the other side.
And finally, don't forget, consistency is critical to achieving the benefits of exercise.
It doesn't matter what the duration is, as our exercise snacking studies show. It does matter to be consistent. So decide, commit, and execute.
So there you have it. Exercise snacking, a creative and easy access way to nourish your body with short, powerful bursts of activity throughout the day. Remember that small actions lead to significant results. And exercise snacking is the perfect example of that.
So go ahead and take those exercise snacks and let your body savor the benefits. Well that's all for this week's bite. As I said, head over to the show notes and grab your actionable bite towards healthy living. And don't forget to like, share, and subscribe to our podcast. Until next time, stay active, stay healthy, and keep on snacking.