As Marie Murphy, professor of exercise and health at Ulster University in the UK, told the BBC’s Just One Thing podcast, smaller chunks of exercise increase how often we are stimulating our metabolism. “When we stop exercising, our metabolism keeps going a little bit quicker while we recover,” she said. “You still have that metabolic mill turning.”
Benefits of habit
Research shows that people respond positively when they are made more aware of the health benefits of exercise snacking, and that it could help address barriers to exercise.
Simple prompts can make a difference. Signs encouraging people to take the stairs instead of the lift or escalator, for example, can lead to more of them to do so.
According to Amanda Daley, professor of behavioural medicine at Loughborough University in the UK, it’s these small shifts that build meaningful change over time. “We just have these unconscious ways of doing things that mean that we’re more likely to do it,” she says. “You take the stairs because that’s you’ve learned. It’s a habit.”
Similarly, Daley suggests that a simple way to decrease sedentary behavior is to park the car at least five minutes from your destination. She calls this type of approach “snacktivity” and in a small study, she and colleagues found that participants were receptive to the idea, finding it easier to implement than longer bouts of exercise.
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