Movement snack

What It Means

A movement snack is a short burst of activity you fit into the day instead of, or as well as, one long workout. In research the same idea is called an exercise snack: a brief bout of vigorous activity, often under a minute, repeated a few times a day with 1 to 4 hours in between, and needing no equipment. A fast climb up a few flights of stairs is the classic example.

How People Say It

• "I take the stairs two at a time every time I go for coffee."
• "Ten squats between meetings, that's my movement snack."
• "I don't have an hour for the gym, so I do little bursts."

The Breakdown

What the studies did. In the stair-climbing study McMaster University reported, sedentary young adults vigorously climbed a three-flight stairwell three times a day, with 1 to 4 hours of rest between climbs, three days a week for six weeks. Their fitness improved, and they were stronger and produced more power in a cycling test than a group that didn't exercise. In a small pilot study of sedentary middle-aged adults, three 1-minute bouts a day built into the workday were linked to better scores on thinking tests after four weeks.

Signs a movement snack could fit your day (Buhata's suggestions)

• You sit for most of the working day.
• Finding an hour for the gym keeps not happening.
• You have stairs at home or at work.
• Your energy dips after long stretches at a desk.

Ideas to try. These are Buhata's suggestions, short and done briskly:

1. A fast climb up two or three flights of stairs.
2. Twenty seconds of brisk marching in place.
3. Ten squats from your chair.
4. A brisk walk to the far end of the building and back.

A way to start. Hang one snack on something you already do, such as every trip to refill your water bottle, and do it three times on the first day.

Good to Know

CDC's guidance for adults, from the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, is 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity a week plus muscle-strengthening activity on at least 2 days, so keep that weekly total in view and use snacks to add movement on busy days. The study groups were small and mostly sedentary, so the results describe what short bursts did for those people over a few weeks. If you have a heart or lung condition, a joint problem, or haven't been active for a while, ask your doctor before trying vigorous bursts.

Related Terms and Categories

• 10,000 steps

  A popular daily step goal that began as the name of a 1960s Japanese pedometer; later studies find health benefits begin well below it.

• Afternoon slump

  The dip in energy and focus many people feel in the early to mid afternoon, linked to the body's daily hormone rhythm and to what and how much was eaten at lunch.

• Screen time for adults

  The hours an adult spends looking at phones, computers, TVs and other screens, for work and for leisure, counted across a day or a week.

• Habit stacking

  James Clear's name for building a new habit by tying it to one you already do, using the formula "After I do my current habit, I will do my new habit."

Wellbeing and habits