Mini Workouts That Improve Heart Health, Expert Says

Workouts can be intimidating and time consuming, but there’s more evidence that just a few minutes of activity may improve your heart health.

You don’t need to join a gym, there’s no equipment required, and the exercise comes in brief bursts of movement that are easy to fit into daily life.

The health benefits are real, researchers say, and the routine can counteract some of the negative impacts of sitting all day.

Cardiologist Tip of the Day: Try Exercise Snacks to Boost Heart Health

Exercise snacks are “short, structured bouts” of physical activity — five minutes or less of climbing stairs or doing bodyweight exercises like squats — done several times a day, the authors of a recent systematic review and meta-analysis of studies published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine explain.

“The main takeaway here is that anything is better than nothing,” Dr. Tamanna Singh, director of the Sports Cardiology Center at Cleveland Clinic, told NBC News.

“The exercise snack can be the start of a foundation for more intense exercise.”

Exercise snacks add up over time and they make you healthier, so take breaks and move during the day, Dr. Jordan Metzl, a sports medicine physician, said on TODAY.

Why It Matters

Exercise snacks led to “meaningful improvements” in cardiorespiratory fitness in adults, even though the amount of exercise was “far below” the current recommendations from the World Health Organization, the authors of the review of studies noted.

Importantly, people actually stuck with the routine, with more than 90% of participants completing the prescribed sessions rather than dropping out.

“This suggests that exercise snacks are not only effective but also practical and well accepted, making them a promising option for real-world, unsupervised settings,” the authors wrote.

How to Get Started

The exercise snacks in the review of studies were defined as five minutes or less of physical activity, deliberately performed at least twice daily most days of the week.

Brief bouts of vigorous stair climbing were a popular option. Or it could be doing bodyweight exercises or lifting small weights.

Certified personal trainer Stephanie Mansour also suggests these exercise snacks:

• Go for a walk — brisk daily walking can reduce the risk of early death, a study found.
• Do 10 squats
• Walk around the house 10 times
• Do 10 wall pushups
• Do a wall sit during the commercial breaks of a TV show — this isometric exercise is static but very intense, and can reduce resting blood pressure, research has found.

Exercise snacks can change the body in ways that make it easier to start more intense and longer workouts, Singh said.

“Hopefully these exercise snacks will make people want to have an exercise meal,” she said.

For more exercise tips and suggestions, download the Start TODAY app to get fitness challenges and daily inspiration from trusted experts.

TODAY’s Expert Tip of the Day series is all about simple strategies to make life a little easier. Every Monday through Friday, different qualified experts share their best advice on diet, fitness, heart health, mental wellness and more.