If you don’t have time to exercise, maybe you should consider snacking more. There, I said it — and I’ll stand by it. Snack more. Nibble frequently and fervently.
I’m talking about exercise snacks: small bites of movement when you don’t have time for a full meal of fitness.
What does the science show?
I was recently reading an article in the British Journal of Sports Medicine about the effectiveness of these “snacks.” The study followed over 400 adults, ages 18 to 70+, who were previously low-activity or sedentary. Instead of one structured workout, participants did several very short bouts of exercise throughout the day — we’re talking no more than five minutes at a time, sprinkled in here and there.
And the punchline? No surprise to me — but still powerful: even tiny amounts of exercise led to significant improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness and overall health.
Common sense, right? If you do nothing, you get nothing. If you do something — even a little — that’s better than nothing. A small positive input still yields a positive result. Furthermore, this study showed that adherence to a “exercise snacking” routine demonstrated nearly 83% adherence, which is incredibly high for any sort of fitness routine. By commiting to doing less the participants actually did much more.
The researchers’ “exercise snack” language reminded me of the “mobility snacks” I’ve been encouraged to take by physical therapists for years — or even the “study snacks” I used to take as a student, when I didn’t have time to dig into my textbooks but could still flip through flashcards before class. These small, consistent bites of effort matter. Just like your food snacks — which, let’s be honest, can add up beneficially or detrimentally.
All snacks matter.
This concept feels especially relevant because the #1 obstacle I hear from people trying to improve their fitness is lack of time. Work, kids, errands, commutes — the schedule gets jammed, and “exercise” feels like one more impossible block to squeeze in.
How to snack in real life
So here’s my challenge if you’re schedule-swamped: Can you find four minutes? Could you even do four minutes twice a day a few times a week?
Unlike food snacks, exercise snacks aren’t something you can do mindlessly while multitasking (no doing push-ups while driving, please); but you can weave them into other moments:
- Playing with your kiddo? Make it a game and do some squats with them.
- Folding laundry? Set a timer — every four minutes, drop for 15 sit-ups and 10 push-ups.
- Finish lunch early? Try two rounds of a one-minute plank and a one-minute wall sit.
The key is finding opportunities, not excuses.
My own snacking revelations
This summer I started bike commuting because I was tired of contributing to traffic — especially with such a short, easy ride. Six minutes downhill to work, ten minutes back. Round trip: fifteen minutes. Sometimes I do that twice a day. That’s thirty minutes of biking built right into my schedule — almost without trying.
Recently I looked at my Garmin data and noticed my average daily caloric output spiked starting in mid-June. At first I thought, “Sure, summer — hiking, trail runs, all that.” But when I compared it to previous years, there wasn’t the same jump. Then it hit me: July is when I started bike commuting. Fifteen to thirty extra minutes of daily movement — my own version of exercise snacking — and the benefits were obvious.
So go ahead — have yourself an exercise snack today. You’ll be amazed how quickly small bites can add up to something meaningful.
If you want help finding a snack that works for you – or if you’d like to dig into a full serving of fitness, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team at ActiveVT.
