Hyderabad: For people who spend most of the day sitting at a desk, finding an uninterrupted 30 or 45 minutes to exercise can be difficult. A newer approach to physical activity is offering a simpler alternative: exercise in short bursts spread throughout the day.
Known as ‘exercise snacking,’ the approach involves doing brief bouts of physical activity, sometimes lasting only a minute, at different points during the day instead of relying entirely on one continuous workout.
What is exercise snacking?
Hyderabad-based consultant endocrinologist Dr Santhosh Ramakrishna, in a social media post, explained the concept as incorporating short bursts of high-intensity or brisk activity into otherwise sedentary days.
Exercise snacking does not mean eating while exercising. The term refers to treating physical activity like small ‘snacks’ that can be fitted into the day.
A person working at a desk, for example, could use a short break to walk briskly for a minute, climb stairs, perform squats or lunges, or do a few exercises with a resistance band.
Other possibilities include wall push-ups before leaving for work, a short plank, taking the stairs instead of a lift or going for a brisk five- to 10-minute walk after dinner.
The idea is particularly relevant for people whose work involves prolonged sitting.
Can one minute of exercise really make a difference?
Research suggests that short bouts of activity can provide meaningful health benefits, particularly when they replace periods of sitting.
A 2022 systematic review and meta-analysis published in Nature Medicine involving more than 25,000 people found that short bursts of vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity, such as very brisk walking or climbing stairs, were associated with substantially lower risks of cardiovascular disease and death.
The researchers found that as little as three one- to two-minute bouts of vigorous activity per day were associated with lower cardiovascular risk among people who did not regularly exercise.
Another study published in Nature Medicine in 2023 found that brief bursts of vigorous activity incorporated into everyday life were associated with lower risks of cardiovascular disease and mortality.
This does not mean that one minute of movement is equivalent to a complete workout. Rather, the evidence suggests that small amounts of activity are preferable to remaining completely sedentary.
What can count as an exercise snack?
The activity does not necessarily require a gym or specialised equipment.
Depending on fitness level, examples include:
- Brisk walking for a minute
- Climbing stairs
- Squats or lunges
- Wall or regular push-ups
- Short resistance-band exercises
- A brief plank
- Walking quickly between meetings
- Short bouts of jogging
Dr Ramakrishna suggests incorporating these bursts around existing routines, such as before work, during office breaks, after returning home or after dinner.
Can exercise snacking replace regular exercise?
No.
For people who can exercise regularly, longer sessions remain important.
WHO recommends that adults undertake 150–300 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity or 75–150 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity each week, along with muscle-strengthening activities on at least two days a week.
Exercise snacking can instead be viewed as an additional strategy, particularly on days when work, commuting or other responsibilities make a conventional workout difficult.
The bigger problem it addresses is prolonged inactivity.
Why this matters for desk workers
Sitting for extended periods is common among office workers, and simply completing a workout does not necessarily eliminate all the health risks associated with spending most of the remaining day inactive.
Short movement breaks can interrupt prolonged sitting while also adding physical activity to the day.
For someone who cannot find an uninterrupted hour for exercise, several short bouts may therefore be a more realistic way of getting moving.
As Dr Ramakrishna puts it, the principle is simple: Something is better than nothing.
Exercise snacking is essentially an attempt to make that principle practical: one minute of movement, several times a day, rather than an entire day spent sitting and waiting for the perfect time to exercise.
