‘Exercise Snacking’ Is Easier And Gives You Better Results Than a 60-Minute Workout
I used to believe that workouts had to “count;” they had to be at least an hour long, sweat-drenching, heart-pounding. And if they left me sore the next day, I wore it like a badge of honor. If they didn’t meet those criteria, I figured, what’s the point? I convinced myself that this all-or-nothing mindset was discipline, but it quickly caught up with me. Burnout hit, and the routine I once lived and breathed felt impossible to keep up with.
We’ve been conditioned to think that more is better—that “enough” means hitting a certain number, whether it’s an hour at the gym, 10,000 steps, or burning 500 calories. But this kind of thinking was exactly what was holding me back. The better approach? Exercise snacking—a refreshingly doable take on fitness that trades marathon workouts for brief bursts of activity throughout the day: maybe a few minutes of squats while your coffee brews, a walk around the block between meetings, and a stretch session pre-bedtime.
It turns out you don’t need a full hour to get results. Research suggests that movement snacks may actually do more for your overall health than a single, continuous 60-minute workout. Here’s everything to know about exercise snacking, backed by science.
What Are Exercise Snacks?
We’re all busy, and sometimes finding the time to fit in a full-length workout in the day is asking a lot. Exercise snacking is the antidote to the “no time, no motivation” excuse. Breaking up your exercise into short, frequent bouts of movement snacks makes fitness more sustainable and consistent. The point is to break up sedentary time, get your blood flowing, and take the guesswork out of when you’ll find time to move.
How long should an exercise snack be? That’s entirely up to you and your day-to-day schedule. A 2022 study in Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews found that just 15-30 seconds of hard-effort stair climbing or cycling per day improved cardiorespiratory health and exercise performance in inactive adults. In a 2019 study, participants were put through a “stair snacking” routine where they climbed a three-flight stairwell, three times per day, with one to four hours of recovery between rounds. After six weeks, it boosted their fitness and strength compared to their sedentary counterparts. Still, other experts on exercise snacks say they can be even shorter—20-60 seconds of jumping jacks, lunges, push ups, and jogging. The only prerequisite? Getting your body moving.
“Those little spurts of effort my old self would have written off right away? They count.”
Is Exercise Snacking Better Than One Long Workout?
What The Research Says
So how does movement snacks stack up against a standalone, uninterrupted workout session? According to a 2025 meta-analysis in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, they significantly level up your cardiorespiratory fitness (AKA how efficiently your heart and lungs power you through daily life). But what really stands out is 83 percent of participants stuck with their routines for up to three months. And it doesn’t take much. A 2019 study in Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism showed that movement snacks as short as 20 seconds can still contribute to fitness improvements as long as they’re done regularly. Read: those little spurts of effort my old self would have written off right away? They count.
“We think that we need an hour or two hours to get results, but it could start with as little as 20 minutes,” celebrity trainer Senada Greca said on The Everygirl Podcast. “And I even say sometimes start with just five minutes.”
Why Consistency Matters
For anyone working a 9-5 or who finds difficulty fitting in a workout due to time or motivation (read: most of us), movement snacking can be a game changer. When your day revolves around long stretches of sitting in front of your laptop, an hour-long gym session after you’ve clocked out is likely the last thing you want to do. With exercise snacking, you sprinkle bite-sized movement throughout the workday: a brisk walk during lunch, 10 squats every time you get up to refill your water bottle, some stretches between calls. No commute to the gym or the should-I-or-shouldn’t-I-go-to-the-gym debate standing it the way—just small moves that add up. In other words, it’s actually not the intensity that may determine your fitness, it’s consistency. Movement snacking ensures you can fit in movement anytime, anywhere, any way. “It’s not about one perfect workout, it’s about that consistent action,” Greca agreed. “Even just five minutes every day will create the habit that eventually will get you the results.”
Why Movement Snacking May Actually Be Healthier Than a 60-Minute Workout
We now know that any movement is better than none, but here’s the part that often gets left out of the conversation: One workout alone doesn’t cancel out an otherwise sedentary day. You could hit the gym for an hour, but if the rest of your day is spent desk-bound, your body feels it—from your energy levels and circulation to your long-term health. Too much sitting is linked to higher risks of cardiovascular diseases, metabolic disorders, and depression, but incorporating exercise snacking can be a simple way to help keep your body active and engaged throughout the day.
Nutritionist Ashley Koff emphasized on The Everygirl Podcast that how you distribute movement matters just as much as how much you do: “If you only had 60 minutes in a day, you’ll have better outcomes by challenging your body doing a diversity of [movements], but doing them in snacking moments and especially after you eat,” she said. “If we look at the physiology, I’d rather you spend the 60 minutes broken up during the day [rather than one 60-minute workout].”
How to Add Exercise Snacks into Your Day
Exercise snacking meets you where you are; you work with the time you have and the type of movement that feels good. There are no rules or one “right” way to do it (kind of the point). But if you need a little direction, here are some ideas:
A Simple 5-Minute Movement Snack Interval Routine
If you want some structure, try this easy, repeatable format you can plug into your day whenever works for you (stack them in a few minutes in the morning or after work, or try an exercise every time you get up from your desk, in between meetings, etc.):
- 30 seconds: Bodyweight squats
- 30 seconds: Push-ups (modify on knees or against a desk or bench)
- 30 seconds: Jumping jacks
- 30 seconds: Lunges
- 30 seconds: Plank hold
How to Fit in Movement Snacks Around Your Workday
Think of these as quick reboots you can “wellness stack” onto things that already exist in your day:
- After you wake up: Go for a quick walk (in your pajamas counts!) or a yoga flow on your bedroom floor
- Before you open your laptop: A 2–3 minute exercise snack to wake up your body (e.g., squats, torso twists, shoulder and neck rolls, chest openers, a short walk around your space)
- Between meetings: Instead of immediately reaching for your phone, knock out a brief round of squats and lunges
- On calls (when you don’t need to be on camera): Walk around your home or office, or complete a set of seated leg lifts, seated figure-4 stretches, or ankle circles while you listen
- During lunch: Take a 5–10 minute walk outside or around your office, crank out a few sets of wall push-ups or as many jumping jacks as you can do in 30-second intervals, or climb a few flights of stairs
- Midday slump (around 2–3 p.m.): Combat that energy dip with a mini circuit of 10 squats, 10 arm circles, and 10 desk push-ups
- End of your workday: A quick “transition” movement snack to signal your mind and body you’re shifting out of work mode. Run through a minute each of seated twists, standing side bends, and calf raises before logging off.
Katherine Chang, Wellness Staff Writer
Katherine Chang is The Everygirl’s Wellness Staff Writer with over five years of experience in the health and wellness space. She navigates the latest wellness topics and trends through studies, articles, and is always first in line to try them firsthand.
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