According to researchers, certain snacks can be very beneficial to our health.
Which snacks? Well, they’re not the typical type that you might be thinking of.
Researchers said bursts of activity, lasting just a few minutes, increase respiratory fitness and could be ideal for people who lack time and or suffer low motivation.
Writing in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, they say there is collective evidence that exercise spread throughout the day has health benefits.
Just a few minutes a day of “exercise snacks”—like sprinting up stairs or brisk walking—can dramatically cut your risk of early death
Large-scale studies using wearable trackers found that just 3–6 minutes daily of vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity (VILPA)… pic.twitter.com/CVF6gDLAkY
— FoundMyFitness Clips (@fmfclips) August 18, 2025
“Exercise snacks are intentionally structured, short-duration bouts of physical activity, such as stair climbing or body weight exercises, that are deliberately incorporated into daily routines,” said the team, including those from the University of Oviedo, Spain, and the Danish Centre for Motivation and Behaviour Science.
“Snacktivity encourages the accumulation of short physical activity bouts (two to five minutes) to achieve recommended weekly activity targets.”
The researchers assessed 11 randomised controlled trials involving 414 inactive people, 69% of whom were women.
Exercise snacks were defined as structured bouts lasting less than five minutes, performed at least twice daily and for at least three days every week.
Pooling the results showed that exercise snacks significantly improved cardiorespiratory fitness in adults and there was limited evidence they improved muscular endurance in older adults.
While the snacks were not shown to alter body composition, blood pressure or cholesterol levels, they were still regarded as beneficial.
The team said people were also very likely to stick with short bursts of activity rather than starting longer training sessions and then giving up.
They added: “Achieving even half of the recommended weekly physical activity volume (150–300min/week of moderate or 75–150min/week of vigorous intensity activity) confers significant mental health benefits, including an 18% lower risk of depression.
Vigorous activity includes hiking, jogging at 6mph or faster, shovelling, fast cycling, basketball or tennis
“These findings highlight the potential of low-volume, accessible physical activity strategies to produce significant health benefits, particularly among physically inactive adults.”
The researchers said the “time-efficient nature of exercise snacks” may help people who think they are too busy to exercise.
“Exercise snacks may enhance adherence to regular physical activity by providing short, flexible exercise bouts that are easier to integrate into daily routines.”
Known examples of moderate activity include very brisk walking (4mph or faster), heavy cleaning such as washing windows or mopping, cycling at 10mph-12mph, or badminton.
