Training & Nutrition - Exercise as Snack

If cumulative snacking can cause unwanted weight gain could it not be true that moments of exercise throughout the day might be beneficial in creating the opposite?

A pushup here, stretch, short walk, situp or two...won't it all add up at the end of the day burning calories and adding tone to the muscles? Realize that full sessions of exercise are needed to create strength and endurance. But I would think these small easy steps throughout the day would have to add up to real improvement.

of course it makes sense. anything other than sitting in a chair all day - you know?

If cumulative snacking can cause unwanted weight gain

True.


Could it not be true that moments of exercise throughout the day might be beneficial in creating the opposite?

A pushup here, stretch, short walk, situp or two...won't it all add up at the end of the day burning calories. But I would think these small easy steps throughout the day would have to add up to real improvement.

No. "Small" steps are no good. You said it "Realize that full sessions of exercise are needed to create strength and endurance".

Small steps can be good if you limit the calories.. All dependant on goals. The higher you want to get in life, the more sacrifices you have to impose on your yourself.

True.



No. "Small" steps are no good. You said it "Realize that full sessions of exercise are needed to create strength and endurance".

Small steps can be good if you limit the calories.. All dependant on goals. The higher you want to get in life, the more sacrifices you have to impose on your yourself.

Another Bruce Lee wisdom?

Anything is better than nothing, but there are benefits of long workouts that don't come into play for shorter workouts.

Yes!! This is what I've been saying all along.

The recommendation is for 60-90 minutes of exercise per day every day in order to get fit and lose weight. Most people (even some cyclists here) complain that they can't possibly do that much.

But the recommendation does not suggest that people do something like intervals for 90 minutes every evening after work. It suggests an active lifestyle. So if you walk around your building for 10 minutes at morning coffee, another walk during the 30 minutes of lunch, another 10 minute walk at afternoon coffee, then park at the furthest end of the grocery store parking lot and walk to the grocery store (10 minutes), and then go for a 30 minute walk with your family in the evening .... you'll have arrived at 90 minutes of exercise.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7183955/
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2005/02/05/weight-loss-exercise.aspx
http://health.msn.com/fitness/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100168628

The thing is, sitting up burns more calories than lying down, standing burns more calories than sitting, walking (even walking slowly) burns more calories than standing ... so the more active you are the more you will burn (up to a point).

There is evidence, for example, that people who fidget are more likely to be slim:
http://www.naturalnews.com/022249.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4211789.stm

But as some of the others, including yourself, have mentioned longer periods of exercise are needed for at least the endurance aspect of fitness.

So combining brief moments of exercise throughout the day with some longer periods of exercise (like a bicycle ride after work), is the way to go.

Well yes, it could actually help.
Not nearly as much as a full work out, but as a supplement to a proper work out it could really help. I remember reading a little while back about a strength coach who had one of his athletes randomly do powercleans, just one, throughout the day. Each time just one powerclean. This was in conjunction with a serious weight lifting regimen. Those single excercises done 30 times a day every day(except for rest days I assume) had a good effect on his overal performance. If he'd only done that he probably wouldnt have gotten very far with it, but with a serious regimen as well he saw greater gains.
I find this to be a good technique for people who want to be able to do more pull ups. Just set up a pull up bar somewhere in your house. Everytime you see it, do just one pull up. Your maximum pull ups will increase. This is good for people who struggle with more than 5 pull ups. So yes, there are some gains to be made from small amounts of "exercise snacking". You still need the full meals though.

You still need the full meals though.

Not "Full Full". We are trying to lose weight.

Not "Full Full". We are trying to lose weight.

Fail. Point missed.

You will burn more calories by being more active.

You will eat more calories as a consequence of being more active.

If you want to lose weight change your eating/snacking patterns. There is no cumulative fitness gained by doing one pushup every hour.. if you do 3x30 push ups then you will stimulate muscle growth by depleting and damaging the muscle... otherwise your body just laughs it off and you look ridiculous.

When it comes to exercise no pain, no fitness gain.

^^I still maintain that exercise snacking can be helpful. Although, only coupled with "real exercise". And it certainly would never burn the calories a real workout would.

current thought is that bouts of 10 min or more contribute to heart function, lipid profiles, and endothelial function. Some people say 5 min, but 10 is the official stand of several organizations.

as far as weight loss is concerned, it all adds up. the problem is that very small bouts, like a few pushups, do not burn many calories, and not as many as you think.

In sustained aerobic activity, much energy is spent not only directly in the many cycles of effort performed (in the the thousands for cycling), but the energy cost of normally relatively quiet processes like ventilation becomes very significant at higher levels of sustained effort; as you near VO2 max, the oxygen cost of bringing in extra air by expanding the ribs via the accessory muscles approaches oxygen yielded by doing so. Thermoregulation also becomes an issue, and takes a lot of energy to rectify. This is aside from metabolic changes during longer workouts.

Of course, if you have problems doing a pushup every few hours, you might get results. That's more of a neuromuscular than a cardiovascular challenge, though. :)

But, yeah small steps do count for something. Your typical overweight people are not out of balance, calorically, as you might think. It's only about 100 per day, on average, but that adds up . Using half the amount of mayo, or drinking one less soda could make a big difference here. It's much easier said than done, obviously.

There is evidence, for example, that people who fidget are more likely to be slim:Yup. That's included in what's called "nonexercise activity thermogenesis" (NEAT). It's about 10% of your daily caloric requirement. It's believed to be part of the reason that two people with the same RMR, eating the same diet and getting the same exercise, don't lose (or gain) the same amount of weight.

as far as weight loss is concerned, it all adds up. the problem is that very small bouts, like a few pushups, do not burn many calories, and not as many as you think.


In order to get to 90 minutes of exercise a day, a person would have to do something like180 pushups, stretches, a sit-up or two, or other brief activities throughout the day, if each brief activity took about 30 seconds.

One or two pushups/situps/pullups/stretches, etc. each hour for 16 hours is only about 10 minutes of exercise.

I still think it's good to do that sort of thing throughout the day because it's better than doing nothing, will burn a few more calories than just sitting, and will encourage blood flow, but it is also good to be aware that a person needs more activity than that. The OP mentioned short walks, and I really like the idea of going for a 10 minute walk at morning and afternoon coffee, and a 30 minute walk at lunch, etc. If a person did that plus the pushups etc., that would add up to 60 minutes of exercise, and the person would only need a 30 minute bicycle ride in the evening.


I've got a 45 minute lunch break these days which is great ... I eat my lunch in 15 minutes, then I spend the remainder of my lunch break walking around town. :)

Boy am I in love with your brain! +10000 for responding as I was going to. I get people asking me questions like this all the time.

koffee


current thought is that bouts of 10 min or more contribute to heart function, lipid profiles, and endothelial function. Some people say 5 min, but 10 is the official stand of several organizations.

as far as weight loss is concerned, it all adds up. the problem is that very small bouts, like a few pushups, do not burn many calories, and not as many as you think.

In sustained aerobic activity, much energy is spent not only directly in the many cycles of effort performed (in the the thousands for cycling), but the energy cost of normally relatively quiet processes like ventilation becomes very significant at higher levels of sustained effort; as you near VO2 max, the oxygen cost of bringing in extra air by expanding the ribs via the accessory muscles approaches oxygen yielded by doing so. Thermoregulation also becomes an issue, and takes a lot of energy to rectify. This is aside from metabolic changes during longer workouts.

Of course, if you have problems doing a pushup every few hours, you might get results. That's more of a neuromuscular than a cardiovascular challenge, though. :)

But, yeah small steps do count for something. Your typical overweight people are not out of balance, calorically, as you might think. It's only about 100 per day, on average, but that adds up . Using half the amount of mayo, or drinking one less soda could make a big difference here. It's much easier said than done, obviously.