“Crash diets don’t work and it’s the same with exercise”—a trainer explains how exercise snacking can help you get and keep fit

Be it box sets, booze or bagels, bingeing on one thing is rarely a recipe for success. That holds true for exercise, too.

Going all-in on a mammoth workout session is a waste of energy if you don't exercise again for two weeks. A more sensible approach, according to yoga and Pilates teacher Tina Traina, would be to adopt the principle of exercise snacking.

“My advice for anyone new to exercise would be to not think that you need to do one big thing once a week, like a HIIT class or a long 90-minute session,” says Traina, head of Mind & Body studios at David Lloyd Clubs.

“Crash diets don't work and it’s the same with exercise. It’s about adopting small habits that you can maintain.”

For instance, Traina recommends a short 10-minute stretching routine on YouTube or via the David Lloyd app as a great way to start or end your day.

The benefits of exercise snacking

Exercise snacking taps into the concept of vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity, or VILPA for short.

VILPA involves quick bouts of vigorous physical activity, like chasing your kids around the garden or walking up a few flights of stairs. To count as VILPA, it should briefly elevate your heart rate and leave you slightly out of breath.

Research published last year in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that just four minutes of “daily vigorous physical activity” was enough to almost halve cardiovascular risk in middle-aged women.

The results were slightly less pronounced for men, yet still indicate that engaging in regular short bouts of activity across your day can have a profound impact on your long-term health.

The key, its lead author told Fit&Well last year, is consistency. “There are no magic bullets for health,” said Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, “but our results show that even a little bit higher intensity activity can help and might be just the thing to help some people develop a regular physical activity or structured exercise habit in the long term.”

Exercise snack ideas

With a busy job and two young children, Traina has adopted the exercise snacking approach for herself and her family.

In the morning, Traina will join her daughter for a short Cosmic Kids Yoga class at home then walk her to school.

Traina says she encourages her mother to walk her kids to her house to drop them off, rather than using the car, as well.

Then, after dinner, the family will play together in the garden.

“We might kick a ball around or get the tennis rackets out. These small things might not feel like exercise at the time, but they add up over the day.”