Exercise Snacks

Did you know? A new trend of exercise, called ” exercise snacking “.

Traditional workouts usually spend at least 30 minutes or more. However, the recent studies showed that exercise snack, a quick and short exercising may be as good as traditional exercises.

During the pandemic and modern busy lifestyle, many of us learned the importance of short home workouts. Generally, adults are recommended to do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise per week. But this is extremely challenging for many.

But recent research has come up with a new idea: “Exercise snacks” may offer us an amazing solution.

An exercise snack is a short burst of movement you can enjoy everywhere like at home, office or outdoor. It can last for a few seconds or for several minutes (5-10mins). For example, a brisk walk for a few minutes after lunch, a short bike ride, or a two-minute stair climb.

Studies have shown that the health benefits of doing more exercise snacks a few times per day are the same as long exercise. Some studies even suggest that exercise snacks can help burn more calories and lose more weight than long exercises.

Dividing your exercise into small segments may increase the number of times your body’s metabolism is stimulated. During the recovery phase, your metabolism still maintains the state of exercise and will not stop immediately after exercise.

Exercise snacks can lead to better weight loss, fat loss and reduce bad cholesterol (LDL) levels. It also can help to regulate blood sugar levels and help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.

People used to be advised to do 10 minutes of exercise, but now it seems that the good news is that “every minute counts.” So, even if you only have one minute, you can still use it wisely and add up to your goal of 30 minutes a day. ”

If you are looking for a simple and easy way to exercise, climbing stairs is one of the best options. According to research, climbing stairs for 2 minutes a day and lasting for 8 weeks eventually can improve blood pressure and blood lipid content.

As you can do a few short bouts of exercise a day, achieving a total 150 minutes weekly goal of moderate exercise doesn’t seem so difficult.

Reference:

BBC NEWS. 健身新潮流：为什么“快餐式运动”反而让你获益更多？. Viewed on 7 Mac 2022, from: https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/science-58737737