The micro-exercises that are as effective as a 20-minute walk

Nights are drawing in, leaves are forming themselves into deadly slippery sludge and the idea of heading out for a 5k run or climbing into the car for a gym class feels like something to be filed under “Possible Future Projects”. But a new study has found that squeezing in a few ultra-short micro-workouts may be just as good if not better. 

The study published this week by the Royal Society was carried out by Dr Francesco Luciano of the University of Milan and compared long continuous walks to short intermittent walks. They had subjects walk on a treadmill and stair climber and found: “The time-averaged oxygen uptake and metabolic cost are greater for shorter than longer bouts,” in other words, there was more energy being used on the shorter bursts. 

The late and much missed broadcaster Dr Michael Mosley was a huge advocate of these small but frequent exercise breaks and, as we know, he was consistently driven by the latest research. The evidence for the benefits of short bursts of intense exercise is building all the time. 

On his Just One Thing Radio 4 series he said: “Doing exercise in short chunks really can help you burn more calories, lose more weight and help you improve your blood glucose and blood pressure to a greater degree than doing it in larger chunks. And it is really easy to fit into your life.”  

A small study in New Zealand had nine people with blood sugar issues trying short bouts of intense exercise before meals (six one-minute sharp incline walks or six one-minute bursts of resistance training, alternating with the walks). This was compared to 30 minutes of moderate intensity continuous exercise. The goal of the research was to discover how each approach affected the body’s ability to manage blood sugar. The findings were clear, “Dosing exercise as brief, intense ‘exercise snacks’ before main meals is a time-efficient and effective approach to improve glycaemic control in individuals with insulin resistance.” 

Lucie Cowan, a cycle master trainer at Third Space London, strongly supports the use of short workouts and highlights a whole raft improvements to both mind and body that can be experienced with very little disruption to your day. “A person might perform a quick set of squats, a few flights of stairs, or a short brisk walk between meetings or household chores. These mini-workouts still elevate the heart rate, engage muscles, and burn calories, but they don’t demand the same logistical planning as a longer workout.”

Where most of us spend our days in imposed periods of sitting in front of a computer, if we stop, get up and perform a short mini workout we can alleviate some of the harm all this static keyboard tapping is almost certainly doing. 

Cowan says: “Sitting for prolonged periods is one of the leading contributors to poor health outcomes, including obesity, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic issues. Exercise snacking directly counters this by encouraging frequent movement breaks.”

There is obviously a finger-wagging internal PE teacher within all of us that feels anything short of an all-out “proper” workout is cheating and the moral equivalent of using someone else’s essay in your finals, however the benefits of short workouts are much the same as those from any other form of exercise, Cowan says.

“Despite its seemingly low-intensity nature, exercise snacking can improve cardiovascular health. Research shows that short, intense intervals — such as climbing stairs or doing a quick sprint — can increase cardiovascular endurance. These activities promote the same physiological adaptations as longer, moderate exercise by enhancing the efficiency of the heart and lungs in pumping blood and oxygen throughout the body. Similarly, brief exercise sessions can lead to significant gains in muscle strength and endurance.”

There are a number of reasons why frequent short bursts may be better than longer, more conventional exercise. One factor is the ripple effect of working out once you’ve stopped. 

“Small bouts of high-intensity activity, such as 1-2 minutes of stair climbing or jumping jacks, can increase your heart rate rapidly, triggering what’s known as the “afterburn effect” (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption or EPOC). This means your body continues to burn calories even after the session is finished. Over the course of the day, multiple exercise snacks can result in a higher overall calorie burn compared to a single low-intensity walk.”

We all, in reality, take pauses during the day, instead of filling these with toast, biscuits and Instagram try a short but satisfying exercise snack. 

Suggested exercise snacks

No equipment, accessible, and home-friendly workouts by Lucie Cowan, a cycle master trainer at Third Space London. Feel free to use these in micro-workouts from 30 seconds up depending your available time. 

1. Chair Squats