‘Exercise snacks’ — even a few minutes a day — can boost your health

Climbing the stairs as you go about your day can be one way to work in an exercise snack. South_agency/E+/Getty Images via CNN Newsource

It may seem hard to believe, but snacking several times a day can boost your health and fitness — exercise snacking, that is.

“Exercise snacks” are short bursts of activity — 30 seconds to five or 10 minutes max — that encompass almost any type of movement. Think climbing stairs, walking, doing squats or dancing. The term is thought to have been first used in 2007 by cardiologist Dr. Howard Hartley, who was then associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Today, numerous studies prove the value of these mini workouts.

Performing 15- to 30-second exercise snacks three times daily was shown to improve the cardiorespiratory fitness levels and exercise performance in inactive adults, according to a small January 2022 study published in the journal Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews. The “snacks” in the study were stair-climbing and cycling.

Adults who reported they didn’t work out saw a 17% to 18% reduction in cancer incidence after they began doing just 3.4 to 3.6 minutes of vigorous physical activity daily, a July 2023 study of 22,398 people found. Their daily physical activity was done in bursts lasting less than one or two minutes. Hitting 4.5 minutes of vigorous, intermittent physical activity each day was associated with a 31% to 32% reduction in cancer incidence, according to the study published in JAMA Oncology.

The benefits of movement extend to brain health, too. Doing even a small amount of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day, or adding a small amount to your current exercise regimen, reduces your risk of dementia, according to a March study in JAMDA: The Journal of the Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medical Association. Those who hadn’t been doing any moderate to vigorous exercise received the largest benefit.

“Doing anything is better than doing nothing,” said Michael Betts, a personal trainer and director at TrainFitness who’s based in London. “As long as you’re moving some of the time, putting a little stress on your body, it will adapt and improve.”

Small changes can result in big rewards

Exercise snacks are a favorite tool used by Dr. Supatra Tovar, owner of Dr. Supatra Tovar & Associates, a holistic health clinical psychology practice in Pasadena, California.

“I’m a big proponent of behavior change that starts tiny,” Tovar said. “So I like to create behaviors with my clients that are easy, accessible and doable every to most every day of the week.”

The key to making tiny, new changes stick is to tie them to a behavior you do every day at the same time, Tovar said. For example, if you immediately brush your teeth upon waking up, start doing a few jumping jacks or lunges as soon as you set down your toothbrush.

“When you incorporate exercise snacks as a habit, they start to become ingrained, and you’ll begin to see their lifelong benefits,” Tovar said. “Anyone I’ve given these to have reported back that they had no idea how much of a positive difference they would make.”

Walking is one of the easiest exercise snacks, according to Tovar and Betts. It can entail a stroll around your neighborhood or just a lap around your living room. Once you get in the habit of walking a little each day, you can progress to doing intervals, increasing your pace for 20 seconds, slowing down for 10 and then repeating several times.

“It pushes your body a little more each time,” Betts said, “after which your body adapts and improves.”

But don’t rely just on walking. Wall push-ups will build strength in your arms, for example, while squats are great for beefing up your leg strength. If you want to be able to climb stairs without getting out of breath, start walking up and down stairs a little more quickly than you normally would.

“There’s always an exercise snack that can help improve each part of your body in some way,” Betts said.

You can also make any exercise snack more difficult if it becomes too easy. A wall push-up can progress to one performed on the floor, while a chair squat can become an air squat. An easy stroll can turn into a light jog.

Exercise snacks are a NEAT hack

Exercise snacks don’t have to be a specific type of activity, either.

“Cleaning your house is exercise,” said Tovar, who is a fan of NEAT movements. NEAT or nonexercise activity thermogenesis, refers to the energy expended from all physical activities that aren’t structured exercise. Doing chores, playing with your kids and even fidgeting are all forms of NEAT.

Tovar points to people living in “blue zones,” which are areas around the globe where people routinely live long and healthy lives, such as Okinawa, Japan, and the Italian island of Sardinia.

“They’re moving all of the time, doing NEAT exercise all day long,” she said, whether that’s walking to the store, squatting to garden, carrying groceries or doing chores. “NEAT exercise can burn up to 2,000 extra calories per day if you’re constantly moving throughout the day.”

All that motion is welcomed by the body and not a detriment.

“Your body is kind of lazy,” Betts said. “It doesn’t like to do much and will slowly deteriorate over time without use. Doing these little exercise snacks reminds your body that it does need to work to maintain and improve its overall function.”