Personally, I always HATED it when people would tell me "Stupid" tips like, "Park at the farthest spot away from where you're going to get exercise." I will never forget one time when I was on a date, and this guy parked as far as he could from wherever we were going. When I asked him, "Why did you park all the way out here?" he said, "You're fit! I thought you would like the exercise." Needless to say, that was an immediate, "this isn't going to work."
Today, as I'm busier than ever, more exhausted than imaginable, and constantly searching for just 5 minutes to "relax," I have a healthy appreciation for a little exercise snack. New research shows that exercise "snacks," meaning short bursts of exertion spread throughout the day, can improve your metabolic and muscle health. For those of you, like me, who like facts behind a statement, in a study published in the Washington Post, researchers asked college students to "snack" on rapidly climbing the stairs and descending three flights of steps 3x a day, every day, for 6 weeks. At the end of the study, ALL students had a measurable increase in muscle strength, aerobic fitness, and fat loss. Snacking on exercise had been as effective as a longer, more traditional workout.
So, how do you start snacking? Here's a basic guideline for you:
- Exercise snacks should be a burst of high exertion lasting around 2 minutes with an extended rest period of an hour or more.
- Jumping jacks at your desk, running as fast as you can (away from that loser that parked so far away 😏), climbing stairs, chair squats… the idea here is that you elevate your heart rate and are slightly short of breath.
- Snacking should fit easily into your day; no matter how busy or stressed you are, it's a very short time commitment. You got this!
- Set your goal; let's say it's 30 minutes. Have 3 snacks for 10 min, 15 snacks for 2 min, whatever works for you.
There's no specific shoe requirement (bonus points and added toning of the claves if you do it in heels!), no need to change clothes, and no gym necessary.
Speaking of snacks… any BamBody treat is a PERFECT partner for hitting those fitness goals! Who's ready to start snacking?????