A guideline was published by the World Health Organization on physical activity and sedentary behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it lacked to note the minimum time for exercise sessions.
Researchers investigated the role of physical activities on health and diseases.
How Much Exercise Do You Need?
In a recent study published in The Lancet, experts say that the benefits of exercise on health and fitness can be felt from the first movement, with evidence showing that benefits accumulate linearly up until 300-400 minutes of moderate activity per week. Past this, benefits still occur but at a reduced rate.
The change in WHO's recommended guidelines is due to the lack of evidence that indicates exercising for at least 10 minutes a day is better than shorter bouts. This should benefit people who find it hard to fit prolonged exercises in their schedules.
It is a timely discovery, with people seeing at least a 50% decrease in their step counts due to the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Exercise Snacking is Just as Good
Supporting the recently released WHO guidelines are studies on exercise snacking, which are short bursts of activities that you 'snack' on throughout your day.
Exercise snacking stems from studies on high-intensity interval training (HIIT) where repeated bursts of high-intensity activities interspersed with active rest, sandwiched between warm-ups and cool-downs.
HIIT sessions often last from 20-30 minutes.
The difference, exercise snacking only takes 20-30 seconds of activities.
The effects of snacks on fitness were tested by researchers in 28 inactive adults. Randomized to do three 20-second bike sprints interspersed by one to four hours of inactivity, at least three times a day for weeks, saw a 9% improvement in cardio-respiratory fitness.
Although findings don't discourage going to the gym for longer workouts, it provides an alternative during the COVID-19 pandemic where most fitness facilities are temporarily decommissioned. It also reminds those living a sedentary life that fitness can still be achieved despite being confined to the four walls of the house.
The study shows that moderate bursts of activities three times a day, three days per week would result in a modest increase in fitness. Small amounts of exercise are also linked with improved insulin metabolism for overweight individuals.
Confirming earlier researches that indicate two minutes of moderate walking reduces blood sugar.
Fitting Daily Exercise Snacking
Exercise snacking isn't new, only the science and term are. Brain and body breaks have been practiced by many even subconsciously. There are numerous ways to fit exercise snacking in your day.
After sitting in front of the computer, one could take a short break every 2 hours to stretch and walk around to wake up muscles and trigger blood flow.
Staying fit during the COVID-19 pandemic is just as important as practicing minimum health standards. With the changes in lifestyle that people are forced to take, doing small bursts of moderate activities such as climbing the stairs and brisk walking in the yard can have tremendous impacts to better your health.
Read also: COVID-19 Vaccine: Social Distancing, Wearing a Mask Are Still Needed Despite Getting the Shot
Check out more news and information about COVID-19 on Science Times.
