How do exercise snacks help you lose weight?

What is an “exercise snack”?

Exercise “snacks” grew out of the concept of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and sprint interval training (SIT), in which you exert yourself for a short period, rest for a short period, and then repeat. These time-efficient workouts are usually done in bouts of about 10 to 25 minutes and have well-established physiological benefits.

How do exercise snacks help you control your weight?

1.Take the stairs

Climbing stairs is one of the best exercises when it comes to pure FAT BURN, strengthening the lower body, toning the butt, thighs, calves, losing inches from those love handles and belly and building great abs. Along with these benefits is the immense good it does for your lungs and cardio vascular system.

If you live in an apartment building, have stairs in your home or if they’re part of your commute, take advantage of them to get your heart rate up. Aim for vigorous stair climbing throughout the day when you have the time. One study showed improvement in patients with coronary artery disease by doing three rounds of climbing six flights of 12 stairs, with recovery periods of walking. The study compared how stair climbing and traditional moderate-intensity exercise affected participants’ cardiorespiratory fitness.

Researchers found that stair climbers had a higher heart rate percentage across a shorter exercise time during the first four weeks of supervised testing. However, both groups continued their exercise routine for an additional eight weeks unsupervised and managed to maintain their heart rate level percentage. The difference was that the stair climbers continued to exercise for less time. So if climbing the stairs is the most exercise you can do during the day, you might as well do that exercise intentionally.

2.Go for a walk

Going for a brisk walk can keep your heart healthy. Take 30 minutes of walking a day. Another way to approach your walking goal is to break it up 10 minutes at a time, three times daily, to reap the same benefits. Just make sure it’s a moderate to vigorous effort so you’ll get your heart rate up.

3.Bodyweight exercises

If you work in an office or from home, chances are you spend a lot of time sitting. Taking the time to move, even if it’s to get in some quick bodyweight exercise, it can do wonders for your heart health. While taking breaks from your desk, set up an interval timer and play around with bodyweight squats, lunges, push-ups, jumping jacks, bear crawls, planks and more.

4.Jump rope

Sometimes getting in touch with your inner child is a helpful way to get motivated to exercise. Jumping rope is a fun way to get your heart rate up while improving your cardiovascular health in short periods. One idea suggested is to pick up a jump rope and jump for five rounds of 1 minute each, playing around either with the intensity or variety of jumping. The more you improve your cardio fitness, the more you can increase the time of your workout to keep yourself challenged.

5.Do some chores

Believe it or not, you can get a good workout by doing some chores around your home. Whether that’s gardening, vacuuming, cleaning or organizing your home, you can get the benefits of a workout while keeping your life in order. It goes to show you that you don’t need a gym to get a workout in, especially when plenty of daily activities count and you may not realize it.

“We need to rethink the way we look at activity and exercise and get creative. Work with what you’ve got.”

5 pre-workout meals as shared by the nutritionist:

1. Banana Smoothie (1 Glass)

Banana smoothies are great pre-workout foods because they may help keep you full due to the presence of resistant starch or pectin. Also, bananas are packed with potassium a mineral that aids in maintaining nerve and muscle function, and carbs, which give you the energy needed to complete your sweat session.

2. Sweet potato chaat

As a great source of complex carbohydrates with a low glycaemic index, sweet potatoes are one of the best forms of carbs for sustainable, slow-releasing energy throughout an intense workout.

3. 1 cup black coffee + 1 Banana

Give your workout an extra boost by having 1 cup of black coffee before you hit the gym. This popular drink has been linked to greater strength, power, and endurance during a workout. A banana makes the perfect pre-workout snack because it is easy to digest and provides a good amount of potassium, an electrolyte that gets depleted when you sweat during physical exertion.

4. Coconut water (1 Glass)

Coconut water is the perfect beverage for restoring hydration and replenishing electrolytes lost during exercise. Plus, coconut water is packed with potassium, which ensures you do not start cramping mid-workout.

5. Peanut butter (1 tbsp) + Whole grain bread (1 slice)

Try these easy and delicious pre-workouts for the coming week!