Exercise all day. Sure...You can do it! ASICS FrontRunner Reegan Alward calls it 'Exercise Snacking.'
"In general, I’m down for any kind of snacking, or binging for that matter too," Alward says. "But how can exercise and snacking be phrased together with any sense? I was labelled with the term by one of my colleagues who noted my never-ending energy reserves throughout the day. And it turns
out not being able to sit still is now a new exercise fad - Exercise Snacking."
So, exactly what is exercise snacking? According to Alward, it’s doing small bursts of exercise
throughout the day. No equipment, no gear, no sweat, no appointment necessary! "Every time your smart watch asks you to move or you are standing in line at the supermarket or you have a flight of stairs in your building, you get exercise snacking," she says.
There is science behind it too:
A group of scientists conducted a study on a group of average everyday people. Half of which were encouraged to summit the three flights of stairs in their office building four times a day, and the other half to continue taking the elevator or whichever method they traveled by as normal. And the result? After six weeks the 'snackers' showed increased fitness levels, weight loss, cardiovascular health and higher power output during a cycling performance test compared to their office partners. Following the published results of this study and others, a fad was born, exercise snacking.
"I was surprised to find myself an un-diagnosed exercise snacker. I have always felt the benefits of my calf raises in queus and stair repeats in buildings, but now having a name to my bursts makes me feel a little more than just being plain old restless," she says.
Exercise snacking can be as creative as you want too, and a basic commitment to ten jumping jacks every time you go to the bathroom with five squats off your office chair every half hour and four stair repeats can burn up to 220 calories a day. Believe it or not, that’s the same as an hour of intense Pilates or half-an-hour of a step class!
"For those who live a tight schedule or who struggle to collaborate enough energy for a single intense gym session can now find other ways to stay healthy and get active! I personally love this form of movement and am excited to see how far I can take it and how creative I can get with my sets. Training for a marathon with only exercise snacking? Might just be something I’m willing to try... provided there are free snacks, of course!"
