Daily 12-minute exercise-snack sessions; the abstract does not specify the activity format, intensity, or rest intervals.
Exercise Snacks
Exercise Snacks in Sedentary Women: 8-Week Pilot
This pilot study examined daily 12-minute exercise snacks for 8 weeks in sedentary women, finding improvements in insulin, fitness, muscle reoxygenation, grip strength, and selected mitochondrial and vascular markers.
Study overview
- Study title
- Effects of 8-wk exercise snacks on muscle oxygenation and cardiometabolic, mitochondrial, and subclinical atherosclerosis markers in sedentary women.
- Study authors
- Omar A Hernández-López, Alejandro Martínez-Lucas, Alberto Hermo-Argibay, Julia Cacace, Clara Luna-Marco, Rodrigo Yañez-Sepulveda, Pablo Fernández-Collazo, Laura Perea-Galera, Celia Bañuls, Carlos Morillas, Milagros Rocha, Víctor M Víctor, Susana Rovira-Llopis
- Population
- Sedentary women, compared with 11 physically active women; sedentary participants averaged 34 ± 9 years and active participants 26 ± 5 years.
- Sample size
- 22
- Duration
- 8 weeks
- Comparator
- Physically active women
- Outcomes
- Insulin and other blood biomarkers, Body composition, Cardiorespiratory fitness, Muscle oxygenation, Grip strength, PBMC mitochondrial dynamics and autophagy markers, Neutrophil-endothelial interactions
Intervention
Main findings
Among sedentary women, exercise snacks reduced insulin and improved estimated cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle reoxygenation, grip strength, neutrophil-rolling velocity, and selected PBMC autophagy-related markers. Resting heart rate remained higher than in physically active women, and several mitochondrial gene differences were not accompanied by protein changes.
What this may mean in practice
Snacksmate's reading of the evidence — not a quotation from the original paper.
In this small pilot study, 8 weeks of daily exercise snacks were associated with improvements in several cardiometabolic, fitness, muscle-oxygenation, vascular-interaction, and cellular markers in sedentary women. Larger controlled studies are needed to confirm these findings.
Limitations
Pilot study with 22 participants; the nonrandomized comparison with physically active women limits causal interpretation.
Original study
What can you take from this?
The notes above are Snacksmate’s reading of this study, not personal advice.