Exercising in short bursts can be beneficial for those who cannot exercise regularly

According to an expert, short exercises of up to one minute can be helpful for people who have difficulty exercising regularly.

It is suggested that the high-intensity bouts – described as “exercise snacks” – may be particularly useful for improving the health and fitness of people who spend a lot of time sedentary, such as obese people or those with chronic diseases.

Bruno Gualano, associate professor at the Center for Lifestyle Medicine at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, cites stair climbing or short bike rides at intervals of hours as examples.

The NHS advises adults to do 150 minutes of moderate exercise each week, or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise.

The World Health Organization (WHO) also recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate activity, but said adults should increase this to 300 minutes for “additional health benefits.”

However, during his presentation at the International Congress on Obesity in Sao Paulo, Mr Gualano said “many are struggling to meet these targets” and suggested short bursts could offset the harmful effects of a sedentary lifestyle.

“To mitigate the negative effects of prolonged sitting, ‘exercise snacks’ are proposed as a practical alternative,” he added.

“These are short, intense bursts of activity (one minute or less), which can be more time-efficient than traditional training regimens.”

He said numerous studies have shown “benefits for cardiorespiratory fitness and vascular health.”

“For example, an hourly stair-based exercise snack improved vascular health in a trial of healthy men, while another study showed its feasibility and benefits for overweight or obese people,” he added.

“However, many people may have difficulty implementing exercise snacks for practical reasons, such as bus drivers or people with a physical disability and/or low exercise capacity, such as the elderly.”

Mr Gualano said the potential benefits of ‘exercise snacks’ include improved metabolic health and less time sedentary.

“These benefits can be achieved even with unstructured, very light activities, which don’t fit neatly into the category of exercise snacks,” he said.

“This strategy can potentially be applied anywhere at home or in the office because it does not require any specific equipment or devices.”