Movement Snacks: Can you exercise without actually exercising?

Snacking on movement is the new go-to, so Balance explores how you can properly get the most out of your new habit.  

For years, we've been sold exercise as something that happens in a designated place, at a designated time, in designated clothes. You head to the gym in your matching set, or maybe pop for a run with your electrolyte and wireless headphones. Tick the box for your workout of the day, and you can rest easy knowing you have moved your body.  

But let’s face it, we are all looking for the short way round. If you haven’t typed in ‘10 minute full body pilates’ on YouTube, or perhaps a ‘get abs quick’ into Google, then, well, good for you. But for those of us who are looking to squeeze these quick workouts into our daily routines with a low-effort, high-reward approach, then perhaps movement snacking may be for you.  

Short bursts of physical activity scattered throughout the day, from walking up the stairs and doing a few squats between meetings to taking a brisk ten-minute walk instead of sitting through your lunch break. The idea isn't particularly new (your body has never cared whether you call something a workout), but researchers are increasingly interested in whether these tiny doses of movement can add up to meaningful health benefits. 

And, perhaps more importantly, they might make exercise feel considerably more achievable in our busy schedules. The concept sits somewhere between the viral 10,000-step obsession and the growing backlash against it. Instead of chasing an arbitrary number at the end of the day, movement snacks ask a simpler question… how often can you interrupt sitting with movement? 

That could mean walking around the block while you're on the phone, taking the stairs rather than the lift, carrying your shopping home, or doing a few minutes of movement before getting back to your desk. Some studies have found that even brief bouts of activity can improve measures including blood glucose and cardiovascular fitness, particularly when they replace periods of prolonged sitting. 

There is also something culturally appealing about the idea. We have become remarkably good at turning exercise into a second job. There are training plans, recovery scores, heart-rate zones, protein targets, and watches that can tell you whether the walk you just took was technically productive. Movement snacks strip some of that away. You don’t need an end goal, an extreme amount of motivation, or even a change of clothes. You just need to move! 

And yes, that doesn't mean five minutes of walking is suddenly equivalent to a 10K run, nor does it mean structured exercise has become redundant. If you're training for strength, fitness or a particular sport, you will still need to challenge your body in specific ways. But for the rest of us, particularly those spending much of the day at a desk, in a car or on the sofa, the biggest opportunity might simply be getting our bodies out of one position more often. 

It also changes the psychology of exercise from a workout that can feel like something you have to find the energy for. A movement snack is almost too small to negotiate with yourself about. Five minutes of walking doesn't require the same internal motivational speech as a 60-minute gym session. 

Wellness has spent years encouraging us to do more; it’s optimisation gone mad. Movement snacks suggest a slightly different approach. Rather than squeezing another workout into an already crowded day, we could start looking at the day we already have and finding more opportunities to move within it.