Regular ‘exercise snacks’ boost mood and reduce fatigue without affecting work performance, according to US researchers
A five-minute “exercise snack” every hour can offset the damage of sitting down for long periods, researchers have said.
Walking or moving for five minutes at regular intervals boosted mood, reduced fatigue, and did not affect work performance, a large study revealed.
The health benefits of getting up from an office desk every so often were already known, but this was the first study to test how often five-minute walking breaks should be taken and the respective effect.
Authors, led by Columbia University in New York, said that adults in high-income countries now spend 11 to 12 hours per day sitting down or “sedentary”, which equates to “three-quarters of the waking day”.
“Excessive sedentariness has emerged as a significant public health concern that incurs increased risk of many chronic conditions, poorer mental health and mortality and poses a substantive economic burden to healthcare systems,” they wrote.
Sitting for prolonged periods is thought to have a negative effect on the lower limbs because of the reduced activity in the skeletal muscles and arteries.
However, moving at regular periods can undo or prevent these damaging effects by improving blood flow and reactivating the body’s metabolic processes, such as using fat and glucose for energy.
‘Improve psychosocial well-being’
The researchers said their results suggested “that brief, regular movement breaks (i.e., interruptions to prolonged sitting achieved by walking, such as a five-minute walk every half-hour) can counteract the harmful cardiometabolic effects of prolonged sedentary behaviour and improve psychosocial well-being”.
To test the theory, they examined data from 11,484 people taking part in a US nationwide challenge aimed at moving more by undertaking little movement breaks.
People followed their usual routine for seven days, then chose five-minute walking breaks either every 30 minutes, every 60 minutes, or every two hours for 14 consecutive days.
During the 21 days in total, people filled in questionnaires on their fatigue, mood and work performance.
A random sample of 1,200 full-time employees received five text messages every day at 9am, noon, 3pm, 6pm and 9pm to assess the immediate effect of movement breaks.
Analysis of the results suggested that all three break times were seen by people as doable, acceptable and appropriate, although fewer breaks were seen as more obtainable.
People were more likely to report good mood from taking breaks, with every 30-minute break leading to the highest improvement, while fatigue and low mood scores fell across all break times.
Overall, taking a five-minute break every hour offered the best balance between what people thought was achievable day-to-day and effectiveness for health, researchers said.
Taking short breaks also did not affect work performance, the survey results suggested.
“Concerns that movement breaks might disrupt work productivity have been documented as a perceived barrier to implementation/adoption. However, our findings counter this perception,” the experts said.
Emily McGrath, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: “This study looked at how movement breaks affect mood and fatigue, but we also know that sitting for long periods increases the risk of heart and circulatory disease and early death.
“Taking regular ‘energy snacks’, like a five‑minute walk each hour, can boost mood and support heart health.
“While busy schedules can make this challenging, the findings suggest that simple additions of movement can improve overall health.
“However, the study relied on self-reported data and was short-term, so longer research is needed to confirm its impact on heart health.”
The study was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
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