Stair-climbing exercise snacks: 3 × 30-second all-out bouts, separated by more than 1 hour of rest; three sessions per week
Exercise Snacks
Stair-Climbing Exercise Snacks and Fitness: RCT
In 42 healthy, young inactive adults, six weeks of stair-climbing exercise snacks improved cardiorespiratory fitness more clearly than the tested continuous-training or control conditions, but did not change maximal fat oxidation.
Study overview
- Study title
- Exercise snacks are a time-efficient alternative to moderate-intensity continuous training for improving cardiorespiratory fitness but not maximal fat oxidation in inactive adults: a randomized controlled trial.
- Study authors
- Mingyue Yin, Shengji Deng, Zhili Chen, Boyi Zhang, Huakun Zheng, Mingyang Bai, Hansen Li, Xing Zhang, Jianfeng Deng, Qian Liu, Jonathan P Little, Yongming Li
- Population
- Healthy, young inactive adults; mean age 21.6 years
- Sample size
- 42
- Duration
- 6 weeks
- Comparator
- Moderate-intensity continuous training and Control
- Outcomes
- Cardiorespiratory fitness (relative VO2peak), Maximal fat oxidation rate
Intervention
Main findings
A significant group-by-time difference was found for relative VO2peak. Exercise snacks increased VO2peak by 7% from baseline, while moderate-intensity continuous training was not statistically significant and control declined. Maximal fat oxidation did not change significantly in any group.
What this may mean in practice
Snacksmate's reading of the evidence — not a quotation from the original paper.
In these inactive young adults, the six-week stair-climbing exercise-snack program improved cardiorespiratory fitness, whereas the tested program did not establish a clear effect on maximal fat oxidation.
Original study
What can you take from this?
The notes above are Snacksmate’s reading of this study, not personal advice.