Make mini-movements work for you
We all know that we should move more, but sometimes a 1-hour workout is just not in the cards. Movement snacks are the perfect answer to an increasingly sedentary lifestyle and a completely calorie-free way to satisfy your snacking habit! In fact, brief and frequent mini-movements throughout the day contribute to your Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) that can burn an additional 100–300 calories daily. Movement snacks are also little bonus breaks that improve the whole system as they keep your mobility and flexibility nibble, improve posture, and keep your brain sharp.
The best thing about these mini-movements is that there is no wrong way to participate! No fancy equipment, sweat, or spandex required! No matter where you are in your fitness journey, everyone can justify adding a little more movement into their days.
These are a few manageable suggestions:
- 5 minutes of Qi Gong or Yoga
- Chase your kids or dogs around the house — really get down and play!
- Take the stairs
- Dynamic stretching (pulsing stretches)
- Dance it out!
- Clean one area in your home
- Park the car a little further away
- Take a walk around the block
- 10 Burpees (Oh, YES! Or a few reps of any bodyweight movement)
- Take multiple trips moving items between rooms or from car to home
- Instead of walking to the bathroom, walking lunge to the bathroom
- Do some chores like laundry or the dishes (in the squat position!)
- Reorganize a closet (and throw an impromptu fashion show)
- Gardening
- Balancing exercises (literally anything on one foot)
- Wall sit or plank holds
- Ride your bike to the store/work
- Pick up a heavy object and farmer’s carry it across the room and back
- Get a pull-up bar and do 5 reps +
- Try shadow boxing
- Bounce a small ball onto the wall floor and play catch (on one foot!)
- Practice your cartwheels
The possibilities are as endless as your imagination allows. Adopting the habit of taking movement snacks, however, is a whole other game. Making room for movement snacks is not always as obvious as it is enjoyable. An easy way to trigger more activity is to set an alarm every 50 minutes that reminds you to get up and groove. Stacking tasks that you already do such as cooking and cleaning with bonus movements is a simple way to incorporate more seamlessly. Always be asking yourself, “How can I make this activity more FUN?”
In this case, you want to intentionally take the long road or the inconvenient path, as with a little extra effort comes a lot of good results. Whether you have 1 hour or 1 minute, our ingenuity to create opportunities wherever and however we can is limitless. Not only is our physical health amplified by regular fitness, but our ability to break out of the mental humdrum of chronic stress and fatigue disintegrates in the face of fun-filled mini-move-cations that are at our access as often as we decide.
The next time you think about conjuring up the empathetic excuse “lack of time”, reassess how you are maximizing and optimizing that time. Consider indulging a little movement snackeroo to nourish the best version of you.
What are you snacking on today?
