In today’s fast-paced world, finding time for exercise can be a challenge. However, what if we told you that you can still reap the benefits of exercise with short bursts of activity throughout your day? Welcome to the world of exercise snacking. In this article, we’ll explore the concept of exercise snacking, the benefits, and practical tips on how to incorporate this into your daily routine.
What is exercise snacking?
Exercise snacking, also known as “exercise microdosing,” or “insta-workouts” (although nothing to do with Instagram) is a concept that involves breaking up your exercise routine into small, manageable chunks throughout the day. Instead of dedicating a continuous block of time for a full workout, you can engage in short bursts of physical activity, typically lasting only a few minutes. These exercise snacks can be performed anywhere, anytime, and require little to no equipment.
Benefits of exercise snacking
Even as little as 20 seconds of brisk exercise such as taking the stairs instead of the lift, could be enough to improve fitness. Research has found that significant health gains can be seen from these simple exercises without the need to leave your office or change into activewear.
At Anytime Fitness we’ve always been advocates of working out in a way that suits you. You don’t need to spend hours in the gym to see improvements and every single member is different, so find what works for you and stick to it. That could be 30, 45-minute or 1-hour sessions, but you don’t need to put in hours and hours each day to see results. Consistency and getting in enough movement in a way that you enjoy is the key to a sustainable health journey.
How to go about exercise snacking
Looking at exercise in this way removes many of the excuses; I don’t have time, I forgot my gym kit, I’m not near a gym.
Just find some stairs or an empty corridor and raise your heart rate. Your body will thank you for it. You can do this anytime, anywhere, whenever the opportunity for a burst arises!
The concept is similar to HIIT workouts, substituting intensity for duration. Instead of pushing yourself to the limit and exhausting your body, a better way could be to complete structured workouts consisting of brief spurts of high-intensity exercises, such as 20 seconds of pedalling as fast as you can on a stationary bicycle, interspersed with periods of rest.
If you’ve ever been put off boot camps because you overdid it and then couldn’t walk for days afterwards, this kind of short-burst exercising could be for you. It should be gentler on muscles and lead to fewer injuries and strains.
