Exercise snacks—intentional short bursts of physical activity—may be an effective way of boosting the cardiorespiratory fitness of physically inactive adults, according to a synthesis of the available research. The snacks were defined more specifically as bursts of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity lasting 5 minutes or less, excluding warm-up, cool-down, and intermediate recovery periods, and done at least twice a day for between 3 and 7 days a week for 4 to 12 weeks.

The researchers evaluated the effects of exercise snacks on cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular endurance, and cardiometabolic factors, such as blood fats and body fat distribution, to see if this might be a practical and scalable approach to curbing physical inactivity and its associated effects on health.

Included in the study were 11 relevant clinical trials, published up to April 2025, from Australia, Canada, China and the UK. The pooled data analysis included 414 sedentary or physically inactive adults, over two thirds of whom (69%) were women.

Exercise snacks mainly consisted of stair climbing, either as continuous bouts or at repeated intervals, for young and middle-aged adults. Leg-focused strength exercises and tai chi were the dominant forms among older adults.

The data showed that exercise snacking significantly improved cardiorespiratory fitness in adults, although the evidence in support of its impact on muscular endurance in older adults (69–74-year-olds) was limited. Furthermore, no significant effects were seen on leg strength or cardiometabolic factors, including body composition, blood pressure, and blood fat profiles.

However, compliance was high, at 91%, as was the ability to stick with the program (83%), highlighting the potential feasibility and acceptability of this approach in real-world unsupervised settings, the researchers suggested.

“The time-efficient nature of exercise snacks may help overcome common barriers to physical activity, such as perceived lack of time and low motivation, [and] may enhance adherence to regular physical activity by providing short, flexible exercise bouts that are easier to integrate into daily routines,” they concluded.

To download the full study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, click here