Exercise snacking is the fitness trend that involves adding short bursts of exercise, like getting off the bus a stop before and walking the rest of the way, multiple times a day, into your routine. While it has been touted to cut your risk of dementia, boost fitness and improve heart health, experts are warning against replacing regular exercise with these short “snacks”.
Dr Rupa Parmar, GP and Medical Director at Midland Health, is explaining everything you need to know about exercise snacking, its limitations, and how to add extra exercise into your day without noticing.
Dr Rupa Parmar said: “I completely understand that it can be hard to find time and motivation to exercise. Many people have very busy lives and are seeking shorter, less-intensive exercise to replace traditional activities such as going to the gym or for a run. But, similar to how snacking on food shouldn’t replace a whole, balanced meal, exercise snacking shouldn’t replace regular exercise.
“Exercise snacking is great, but added up throughout the week, it isn’t nearly enough to hit the 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week that is recommended, for a reason, by GPs. Regular exercise is vital to significantly lower your risk of developing health problems and to maintain mobility. It’s also great for your mental health, especially if you’re out in nature, and it’s been consistently proven to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, improve your cognitive function and memory, and aid in sleep.
“Instead of replacing regular exercise with snacking, try incorporating it into your daily routine alongside gym visits, walks, runs, bike rides, or swims. Try to reduce the time you spend not moving as much as possible and aim for less than 8 sedentary hours a day.
“If you work in an office, try getting up from the desk regularly to stretch your legs or use your lunchtime for a walk. You can also take the stairs all or part of the way, and try to spend as much time walking on your commute as possible.
“At home, tidying the house, carrying shopping, gardening, and other general activities are ways you exercise without even realising. It’s also a good idea to incorporate little exercise bursts while waiting or sitting. This can be anything from squatting while waiting for the kettle to boil to running on the spot during ad breaks on the TV.
“Start small and increasingly build-in more and more of these snacks into your day, alongside the 150 minutes of recommended activity per week. It can really make a big difference.”
