Krista Koval, RMT

“Exercise Snacks”: don’t have to be long bouts to be effective

Snacks can be extremely healthy, and in this context, I’m not referring to food, but to what we call “exercise snacks”.

(Version française ci-bas)

Exercise snacks are short bursts of physical activity that you can integrate throughout your day, often lasting between 30 and 60 seconds. But they could also last 3-4 minutes.

While they may seem insignificant at first glance, even these brief moments of movement can lead to clinically meaningful improvements in health.

When muscles contract, they release signaling molecules known as myokines and exercines.

These compounds play an important role in regulating metabolism, reducing inflammation, improving insulin sensitivity, and even supporting brain health.

The relationship is straightforward: the more muscle contraction you generate, the greater the release of these beneficial compounds.

Importantly, this response doesn’t require long, structured workouts.

It can be triggered in less than a minute.

Simple movements such as bodyweight squats, push ups, or high knees performed to fatigue are enough to stimulate this effect.

These brief efforts may feel small, but they are far from trivial in their physiological impact.

Beyond these biochemical effects, exercise snacks offer another major advantage, they interrupt prolonged periods of sedentary behavior.

This is a critical point that is often overlooked.

Extended sitting time is associated with an increased risk of chronic disease, even among individuals who meet recommended levels of physical activity.

In other words, it’s entirely possible to exercise regularly, eat well, and still carry increased health risks if most of the day is spent sitting.

Breaking up sedentary time appears to be a key strategy.

Research suggests that incorporating short bouts of movement every 50 to 60 minutes can significantly reduce some of the negative health effects associated with prolonged sitting.

These breaks don’t need to be long or complicated.

What matters most is consistency and the simple act of interrupting inactivity.

Exercise snacks can take many forms depending on the setting and the individual.

For some, it may be a quick set of squats in the office, a brisk walk down the hallway, or a short climb up a flight of stairs.

For others, it may be a set of push ups done privately between tasks.

The goal is never perfection or performance, but rather to create small, manageable opportunities for movement throughout the day.

At its core, the concept is super simple.

Bring a muscle to fatigue safely and efficiently, and repeat this process at different points in the day.

When done consistently, even these small efforts can add up to meaningful improvements in health.

Incorporating a few exercise snacks in the morning and a few more in the afternoon creates a powerful complement to any existing exercise routine.

For those who already train regularly, it fills an important gap by reducing sedentary time.

For those who struggle to find time for structured exercise, it offers a practical and accessible entry point.

Small doses, applied consistently, can have a significant impact.

Sitting is the new smoking and it’s important we do not minimize the negative impacts that it’s having on our health.

💚 Dr. Jules

Les “snacks”, ça peut être super bon pour la santé.

P*s icitte, je parle pas de bouffe, mais de ça qu’on appelle des “exercise snacks”.

Les exercise snacks, c’est des p’tits bursts d’activité physique que tu peux plugger un peu partout dans ta journée. Souvent ça dure genre 30 à 60 secondes. Mais ça peut aussi aller de 3-4 minutes.

Même si ça l’air pas gros à première vue, ces petits micro-moments de mouvement peuvent quand même donner des vrais bénéfices pour ta santé.

Quand tes muscles contractent, ils relâchent des molécules qu’on appelle des « myokines » p*s des « exerkines ».

Ces molécules de signalisation aident à gérer ton métabolisme, diminuer l’inflammation, améliorer la sensibilité à l’insuline, p*s même aider ton cerveau.

C’est simple, plus tu fais contracter tes muscles, plus ton corps relâche ces bonnes molécules-là.

P*s t’as pas besoin de faire des gros workouts compliqués ou structurés pour les produire.

Ça peut même se faire en moins d’une minute.

Des moves simples comme des squats, des push-ups, ou des high knees jusqu’à ce que tu sois fatigué, c’est en masse pour déclencher la production et la relâche de ces produits chimiques.

Ça l’air petit, mais du côté physiologique, c’est loin d’être niaiseux.

En plus de ça, les « exercise snacks » ont un autre gros avantage, ça coupe les longues périodes que tu passes assis.

P*s ça, c’est un point que ben du monde oublie.

Être assis trop longtemps, c’est lié à plus de risques de maladies chroniques, même chez du monde qui s’entraîne régulièrement.

Autrement dit, tu peux t’entraîner, bien manger, p*s quand même avoir plus de risques de maladies chroniques si tu passes ta journée assis.

Briser, ou interrompre ce temps sédentaire là, c’est super important, que tu fasses de l’exercice ou pas.

La recherche montre que bouger un peu chaque 50 à 60 minutes peut réduire les effets négatifs d’être assis trop longtemps.

P*s ça pas besoin d’être compliqué.

Ce qui compte, c’est d’être consistant p*s juste de bouger.

Les « exercise snacks », ça peut être n’importe quoi selon ta situation.

Ça peut être des squats au bureau, une petite marche dans le corridor, ou monter des marches rapidement.

Ou encore faire des push-ups entre deux tâches.

Le but, c’est pas d’être parfait ni compliqué, c’est juste de créer des petites occasions de bouger dans ta journée.

Ça c’est une vraie « bio-hack ».

En dedans de 1-3 minutes, essaye d’apporter un muscle à fatigue ou épuisement, de façon sécuritaire, p*s tu répètes ça à différents moments dans ta journée.

Fait régulièrement, même ces petits efforts-là peuvent donner des gros bénéfices.

Mettre quelques « exercise snacks » le matin p*s d’autres l’après-midi, ça complète super bien n’importe quelle routine d’entraînement.

Pour ceux qui s’entraînent déjà, ça aide à couper le temps assis, qui est quand même associé à une augmentation du risque de maladie chronique.

Pour ceux qui ont pas le temps de s’entraîner, c’est une façon simple de commencer.

Des petites doses, faites souvent, ça peut faire une grosse différence.

« Sitting is the new smoking » p*s faut pas sous-estimer à quel point ça peut nuire à ta santé.

💚 Dr. Jules

Effect of Exercise Snacks on Fitness and Cardiometabolic Health in Physically Inactive Individuals: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2025. Rodríguez MÁ, Quintana-Cepedal M, Cheval B, et al.

Effects of Exercise Snacks on Cardiometabolic Health and Body Composition in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports. 2025. Wan KW, Dai ZH, Wong PS, et al.

Exercise Snacks and Other Forms of Intermittent Physical Activity for Improving Health in Adults and Older Adults: A Scoping Review of Epidemiological, Experimental and Qualitative Studies.
Sports Medicine. 2024. Jones MD, Clifford BK, Stamatakis E, Gibbs MT.

Vigorous Intermittent Lifestyle Physical Activity and Cancer Incidence Among Nonexercising Adults: The UK Biobank Accelerometry Study. JAMA Oncology. 2023. Stamatakis E, Ahmadi MN, Friedenreich CM, et al.

High-Intensity Interval Training for Cardiometabolic Disease Prevention.
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 2019. Campbell WW, Kraus WE, Powell KE, et al.

High-Intensity Interval Training and Cardiometabolic Health in the General Population: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials. Sports Medicine. 2023. Edwards JJ, Griffiths M, Deenmamode AHP, O'Driscoll JM.

Low-Volume High-Intensity Interval Training for Cardiometabolic Health.
The Journal of Physiology. 2022. Sabag A, Little JP, Johnson NA.

Association Between Bout Duration of Physical Activity and Health: Systematic Review. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 2019. Jakicic JM, Kraus WE, Powell KE, et al.

I have a 1pm and a 4:30pm massage spot open tomorrow (Monday June 29th).. both can be booked online at kkrmt.janeapp.com see you soon!!

Book Online at Krista Koval, RMT Krista Koval has been a Moncton-based RMT therapeutic massage therap*st since 2015. She specializes in TMJ (jaw) dysfunction and pain symptoms through deep tissue and myofascial release techniques to relieve acute and chronic pain.

I’ve got a 9:30 spot open on Thursday the 21st and Friday the 22nd this week. They can be booked online at www.kkrmt.janeapp.com 🙂

I’ve got a spot open tomorrow, Wednesday May 20th at 12:30. It can be booked at www.kkrmt.janeapp.com .. see you soon!

Book Online at Krista Koval, RMT Krista Koval has been a Moncton-based RMT therapeutic massage therap*st since 2015. She specializes in TMJ (jaw) dysfunction and pain symptoms through deep tissue and myofascial release techniques to relieve acute and chronic pain.

I’ve got a 1pm Tuesday March 31st and a 9:30 Thursday April 2nd open for massage. Please book online at kkrmt.janeapp.com .. see you soon!

Book Online at Krista Koval, RMT Krista Koval has been a Moncton-based RMT therapeutic massage therap*st since 2015. She specializes in TMJ (jaw) dysfunction and pain symptoms through deep tissue and myofascial release techniques to relieve acute and chronic pain.

I had a really fun time presenting information regarding TMJ dysfunction to a wonderful group of dental hygienists last week. Thank you Oulton College for inviting me! https://www.facebook.com/share/1AkEus1KfA/?mibextid=wwXIfr

I’m really excited to share this speaking opportunity with local dental hygienists!

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