Actually Worth ItHave you heard of an “exercise snack?” Exercise snacks are very short bouts of exercise (30sec to 10min), scientifically proven to improve cardio fitness. Strength training, stair climbing and bike sprints were commonly used in studies. Unsurprisingly, the exercise snacks were most effective with sedentary people. If you’re really fit, climbing stairs for 2minutes isn’t going to yield significant gains. Back when I was still a pro runner, a former training partner mentioned one day that her workout had been shoveling the driveway. Inwardly, I scoffed. That can’t be considered a workout! But that mentality is problematic. When we don’t believe something is worth doing, we won’t do it unless we have to. If you’re reading this, you are probably not a sedentary person, but you may not yet see the value in exercise snacks. And if there’s ever a time to embrace the micro-workout, it’s the holiday season. Everyone is busy. Everyone is sick. Everyone’s schedule is whack. If you don’t have time or energy for your scheduled run or workout, it’s very much worth it to do something less instead of nothing. Sincerely, Nicole
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