Could “exercise snacking” be your key to better health?
by. Rike Aprea, Personal Trainer, Coach, Nutrition Nerd, Certified Weight Loss- and Behavior Change-Specialist
Registration open for Spring Wellness Weekend, March 19-20, 2022,
which includes 6 virtual workshops in wellness and art practices.
“You have to exercise, or at some point you’ll just break down.”
- Barack Obama
We all know that exercise is good for us and that most people need more of it: exercise can lower the risks for chronic diseases, improve sleep, cognitive function, or heart health and so much more.
Inactivity is on the rise in most countries. For example, only 50 percent of adults in the U.S. are meeting the guidelines for aerobic activity that are issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). These guidelines suggest a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week.
However, who has time to drive to a gym or a studio to do a 1-hour workout or to take a class? Many people don’t, and that’s why “lack of time” is the №1 excuse not to exercise.
But who says you need to work out for 1 hour to experience the benefits of exercise?
According to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans published in 2018, even short exercise bouts can improve our physical and cognitive functions.
Here are 5 smart ways to start exercise snacking*:
#1 Schedule exercise breaks
Research has shown that working for more than 90 minutes straight can lead to a drop in mental alertness and productivity. Apart from that, not all good ideas are “born” in front of a computer (please also refer to my blog post “The Productivity Lie”):
So instead of working non-stop, I take a 5-minute “exercise breaks” every 60 to 90-minutes. Because I am an “exercise nerd,” I define, which exercises I should be doing each day, break them up in 5-minute chunks and — voilà — I can do a complete workout without disrupting my work schedule.
You can even do that when you work in an office: pick exercises, which require minimal or non-equipment such as squats, scapular retractions (aka squeezing your shoulder blades together), balancing on one leg, running up and down the stairs, calf raises and so on.
#2 Tie exercises to specific daily routines
Another excuse for not exercising or “exercise snacking” is that people forget about it. A simple strategy to fix this is to perform them before, after, or during specific daily events. For example, you could balance on one leg while brushing your teeth, do a stretch right after waking up, do a minute of squats before lunch.
Try to force yourself to do this for a month, so it has the chance to become a new habit. Once you got used to it, it will feel wired not do these little exercise rituals.
#3 Walk
Walking is a great full-body exercise and nothing is more natural than to integrate more walking into your day: walk whenever you take a phone call that does not require you to be in front of your computer, use your lunch hour for a short walk, park your car further away from your coffee shop, office, etc.
If you need extra motivation, track your steps with an App, your phone, or any other kind of fitness tracker.
# Make Exercise Time “Me Time”
Consider the time that you spend exercising as the time where you are doing something good for yourself. Don’t see it as a punishment but rather as an investment in your health.
Exercise is one of the easiest ways to reduce your risk for chronic illness, and it can make you instantly feel better. Stop making excuses and start moving!
In good health,
Rike
