‘Exercise snacks’ can be a secret weapon to boost your health and fitness, study shows

Taking “exercise snacks” could be the key to boosting your fitness if you lack the time and motivation to hit the gym, researchers have discovered.

Working out in short five-minute bursts, for example by climbing the stairs, might just be enough to counteract the negative health effects of a sedentary lifestyle.

More than a third of adults and 80 per cent of teenagers globally, fail to meet recommended physical activity requirements, but research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, suggests these quick exercises have the potential to improve health.

“The time efficient nature of exercise snacks may help overcome common barriers to physical activity, such as perceived lack of time and low motivation,” study authors said.

“Exercise snacks may enhance adherence to regular physical activity by providing short, flexible exercise bouts that are easier to integrate into daily routines,” authors added.

Researchers reviewed databases from clinical trials published up to April 2025, and found 11 from Australia, Canada, China and the UK that were suitable for pooled data analysis. These involved a total of 414 sedentary or physically inactive adults, over two thirds of whom (69 per cent) were women.

“Exercise snacks” were defined as bursts of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity lasting five minutes or less, excluding warm-up, cool-down, and intermediate recovery periods. The short bursts of exercise were also done at least twice a day for three to seven days a week for four to 12 weeks in the studies.

These exercises included stair climbing, either as continuous bouts or at repeated intervals and leg focused strength exercises and tai chi, which were the dominant forms of “exercise snack” among older adults.

Researchers evaluated the effects of these short bursts of exercise on cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular endurance, and cardiometabolic factors, such as blood fats and body fat distribution, to see if this might be a practical approach to curbing physical inactivity and its associated effects on health.

Approximately 1.8 billion adults globally are at an increased risk of non-communicable diseases, such as heart attack and stroke, due to insufficient amounts of physical activity.

Adults are recommended to get 300 minutes a week of moderate exercise, such as walking, or 75 to 100 minutes a week of vigorous, intense physical activity, such as running.

But data on “exercise snacking” showed it significantly improved cardiorespiratory fitness in adults without having to go on a long run or aerobics class.

However, the evidence for it improving muscle strength, blood pressure and body composition was limited.

Despite this 83 per cent of people were able to stick with the programme highlighting the potential feasibility of this approach in real world unsupervised settings, study authors said.

“Since conventional time efficient HIIT protocols remain controversial for physically inactive individuals due to their demanding nature, exercise snacks may be an alternative,” study authors suggested.

“Public health policies should aim to integrate exercise snacks into daily life by encouraging movement breaks throughout the day,” they added.