If you hate exercising, You’re not alone. even as a sports medicine doctor and fitness advocate, I understand why living a more active lifestyle can be challenging, especially with our hectic schedules.
But prioritizing daily movement is one of the best things you can do to improve your health and quality of life. Regular exercise can help prevent medical conditions including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, anxiety and depression, and many types of cancer.
On days when I don’t feel like working out, I practice a simple, time-efficient method of being more active without committing to a full workout: I add “workout snacks” to my day.
What are ‘fitness snacks’?
When I say workout snacks, I don’t mean pre-workout shakes or protein bars.
sports snacks they are short bursts of activity spread throughout the day rather than one long training session. For example, instead of a 30-minute workout, you can opt for several 5- or 10-minute movement breaks throughout the day.
One of the easiest ways to sneak in a fitness snack is walking. When I don’t have time to commit to a full workout, I take a 10-minute walk around the neighborhood or take a few laps around my home or office.
It sounds simple, but most people never take the time to do it. And yet it is so easy! Adding it to your calendar can help as a motivation and reminder. If I end up having to skip it, I’ll make up for it by taking the stairs instead of the elevator that day, or by parking my car as far away from the grocery store entrance as possible.
During years, 10,000 steps has been the standard recommended daily step count, but a study 2020 found that you can receive the same health benefits by reaching 7,000 steps per day.
At the end of the day, any activity, even more walking, is better than none.
On average, most of us can comfortably walk 1,000 steps in 10 minutes. This is probably faster than you would walk through the grocery store, but slower than if you intentionally walked fast because you’re running late.
I know many people who have no idea how active they are. So a good starting point is to download a free step counting app or get a wearable tracker. Find out where you are now in terms of how many hours a day you sit and how much you walk, then determine how much to increase from there.
The benefits of ‘fitness snacks’
Workout snacks, while bite-sized, still improve heart health, boost energy levels, and help you mentally reset for the rest of the day.
More importantly, they help interrupt prolonged sitting, which some researchers have considered a “silent murderer” due to its negative effects on the heart, weight control, and blood sugar control. study 2018 found that sitting for more than six hours a day is associated with an increased risk of premature death.
At the end of the day, any activity, even more walking, is better than none. If you hate the idea of long, sweaty training sessions, these bite-sized movement increments may be easier to fit into your everyday life.
How much exercise you should do in general
Ideally, your weekly exercise snacks should add up to Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans: 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity per week, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity per week.
Any “heavy breathing” activity counts as moderate-intensity activity, including housework and yard work such as sweeping floors and raking leaves, according to the guidelines.
Here are some things you can do in short increments:
- Walking
- Bicycling
- jump the rope
- climb stairs in your house
- Bodyweight exercises (eg, push-ups, planks, squats)
- Yoga
- Tai Chi
- Dancing
A gradual increase in activity time and intensity will help decrease the risk of injury, so when adding a new exercise snack to your routine, start slowly and with small increments of time.
Also, consider that incorporating multiple forms of activity (aerobic, strength, and flexibility exercises) into your exercise routine can prevent overuse injuries and provide the widest range of benefits.
Dr Cindy LinMD, is the Associate Director of Clinical Innovation for The Sports Institute at the University of Washington Medical Center and Associate Professor in Sports and Spine Medicine at the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine. Dr. Lin earned his MD from Harvard Medical School, and his research includes musculoskeletal injuries and sports injury prevention. she has written for HealthDay and University of Washington Medicineamong several other medical and health publications.
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