Workouts can be intimidating and time consuming, but there’s more evidence that just a few minutes of activity may improve your heart health.

You don’t need to join a gym, there’s no equipment required, and the exercise comes in brief bursts of movement that are easy to fit into daily life.

The health benefits are real, researchers say, and the routine can counteract some of the negative impacts of sitting all day.

Cardiologist Tip of the Day: Try Exercise Snacks to Boost Heart Health

Exercise snacks are “short, structured bouts” of physical activity — five minutes or less of climbing stairs or doing bodyweight exercises like squats — done several times a day, the authors of a recent systematic review and meta-analysis of studies published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine explain.

“The main takeaway here is that anything is better than nothing,” Dr. Tamanna Singh, director of the Sports Cardiology Center at Cleveland Clinic, told NBC News.

“The exercise snack can be the start of a foundation for more intense exercise.”

Exercise snacks add up over time and they make you healthier, so take breaks and move during the day, Dr. Jordan Metzl, a sports medicine physician, said on TODAY.

Why It Matters

Exercise snacks led to “meaningful improvements” in cardiorespiratory fitness in adults, even though the amount of exercise was “far below” the current recommendations from the World Health Organization, the authors of the review of studies noted.

Importantly, people actually stuck with the routine, with more than 90% of participants completing the prescribed sessions rather than dropping out.

“This suggests that exercise snacks are not only effective but also practical and well accepted, making them a promising option for real-world, unsupervised settings,” the authors wrote.

How to Get Started

The exercise snacks in the review of studies were defined as five minutes or less of physical activity, deliberately performed at least twice daily most days of the week.

Brief bouts of vigorous stair climbing were a popular option. Or it could be doing bodyweight exercises or lifting small weights.

Certified personal trainer Stephanie Mansour also suggests these exercise snacks:

• Go for a walk — brisk daily walking can reduce the risk of early death, a study found.
• Do 10 squats
• Walk around the house 10 times
• Do 10 wall pushups
• Do a wall sit during the commercial breaks of a TV show — this isometric exercise is static but very intense, and can reduce resting blood pressure, research has found.

Exercise snacks can change the body in ways that make it easier to start more intense and longer workouts, Singh said.

“Hopefully these exercise snacks will make people want to have an exercise meal,” she said.

For more exercise tips and suggestions, download the Start TODAY app to get fitness challenges and daily inspiration from trusted experts.

TODAY’s Expert Tip of the Day series is all about simple strategies to make life a little easier. Every Monday through Friday, different qualified experts share their best advice on diet, fitness, heart health, mental wellness and more.

General Physical Preparation (GPP) and Specific Physical Preparation (SPP) are rooted in Soviet-era sports science and popularized by Romanian sports scientist Tudor Bompa, Westside Barbell, and CrossFit. These programming models can apply to any type of long-term, progressive athletic goal, fitness event, competition or tactical challenge. They are simply terms that trainers and coaches should use to organize training programs for any type of goal. 

Built on the Same Foundation

Together, GPP and SPP create an athlete capable of handling any physical situation one might encounter. Tactical fitness does the same, just on a different level of ability with different goals.

Phase 1/GPP

Like the first phase of tactical fitness, GPP focuses on building a foundation across multiple fitness components, including strength, power, speed, agility, endurance, stamina, coordination, flexibility and mobility. GPP’s primary goal is to “build the engine” by developing a wide range of physical attributes rather than sport-specific skills. Tactical fitness’s first-phase goal is to prepare the recruit/candidate to ace a fitness test (get to the training). 

Phase 2/SPP

The second phase of tactical fitness most closely resembles SPP, as it focuses on preparing athletes for the specific future challenges of military training and the job itself. SPP is also the “transformation” phase, during which general fitness is channeled into sport-specific qualities. Maintaining these fitness elements is part of the SPP programming for both competing athletes and active-duty operators, whether competing or performing their job. 

Phase 3/Divergence

The third phase of tactical fitness includes maintaining all components of fitness, with a focus on stress mitigation, recovery and just being good at all of them; rather than being elite in just a few, like a competitive athlete. 

While the training phases are similar in structure, the biggest difference between the competitive and tactical athletes is that the sport demands higher levels of capability to compete. Being competitive in tactical communities requires an above-average fitness level (not elite) across many components of fitness, but, depending on the job, an above-average/elite proficiency in tactical knowledge to perform under stress, and the ability to recover quickly.

How They Match Up

If you compare the GPP/SPP of athletics to tactical fitness, many of the same types of programming can be used, but eventually, the tactical specifics will require a new layer of training. You can see why in this side-by-side comparison: 

GPP/SPP in Tactical Fitness Training

Drawing from my experience as a tactical fitness coach for over 25 years, here is how the Seasonal Tactical Fitness Periodization model compares for GPP/SPP training:

Athletes are trained from a broad base (GPP) of fitness to specific and more challenging levels of performance (SPP) through the “To and Through” Philosophy.

GPP is the “getting to” phase. It focuses on the baseline required to get accepted and pass entry-level fitness exams, such as the Navy PST. This involves building a foundation through high-repetition calisthenics (pushups, situps, pullups) and cardio training (running and swimming) to build muscle endurance and aerobic capacity. However, more challenging events exist in actual military training compared to many of the entrance fitness exams.

You do need to build strength, power and mass in many candidates, so an “off-season” lift cycle phase addresses these weaknesses to build overall durability in various load-bearing activities specific to special ops selection (logs, boats, rucks, personnel carry). This is where SPP joins the preparation as the “getting through” phase, because movement and energy system specificity are essential. Also, longer swims with fins and longer runs are required in this “getting through” phase. In the end, a runner who can lift and swim or a lifter who can swim and run is created.

Seasonal Tactical Fitness Periodization is a yearlong training cycle using the spring/summer to build and peak (GPP/SPP), including high volume calisthenics and maximal but progressive endurance in running, rucking and swimming. The fall season is a transition period that adds weight training, reduces running miles and introduces speed and swimming miles. The winter lift cycle is to build durability, mass and strength, and to reduce the impact of running so joints can recover (GPP).

While GPP/SPP and tactical fitness and strength aim to build a capable athlete, they differ largely in their “why” and “how.” Both are about building a broad physical foundation, but tactical fitness also requires professionals to survive and succeed in high-stakes, unpredictable environments, often in life-or-death situations. This requires significant tactical skills in addition to the fitness foundation provided. However, it is fair to call the preparation to transition from athlete to tactical athlete part of the GPP/SPP process.

Want to Learn More About Military Life?

Whether you’re thinking of joining the military, looking for fitness and basic training tips, or keeping up with military life and benefits, Military.com has you covered. Subscribe to Military.com to have military news, updates and resources delivered directly to your inbox. 

Research from Shinshu University shows the free interval walking technique may help improve fitness by up to 20% and support bone health in older adults

For those aiming to enhance their health and fitness in the coming year, starting a new regime can often feel like a daunting task. However, as most medical professionals will say, even minor steps towards increased activity can significantly impact your overall health and well-being.

As reported by the MEN over the weekend, one simple and cost-free method to boost your fitness is through the Japanese walking technique, which involves alternating between fast and slow walking at set intervals.

In recent years, much has been said about striving to reach a step goal as a means of utilising walking for fitness, with many aiming to achieve a daily target of 10,000 steps to maintain health and fitness.

However, with Japanese walking, there’s no step goal – instead, you’re encouraged to walk for 30 minutes, at least four times a week, alternating between three minutes of “fast” walking and three minutes of “slow,” reports the Manchester Evening News.

You determine your own pace while employing this technique, so whatever you deem to be “fast” – experts describe it as enough to leave you feeling “out of breath” at the end of each set.

The technique, known as Japanese walking, was first developed and researched for its health benefits by experts at Shinshu University in Japan. Their medical research team found that participants who completed interval training over a five-month period improved their fitness by up to 20%.

Professor Masuki Shizue from Shinshu University Graduate School of Medicine served as one of the co-researchers on the study. She highlighted that interval walking proved especially beneficial for elderly people, being a gentle exercise method that could potentially alleviate pre-existing health conditions.

According to the latest research published on the official website: “Walking is one of the easiest form of exercise for older adults. Professor Masuki and her team demonstrated that “interval walking,” which involves alternating between brisk and slow walking, can help mitigate the risk of lifestyle-related diseases.

“A large-scale survey of 234 participants who engaged in interval walking was conducted to determine whether interval walking improves bone mineral density and whether this improvement is greater among individuals with low bone mineral density. The findings of the present study revealed that interval walking is an excellent form of exercise, especially for individuals with low bone mineral density.”

The research further emphasised that because it requires no specialist kit and can be adapted to match each person’s fitness level, interval walking represents a maintainable exercise option for the majority of physically capable people. The beauty of interval walking lies in its simplicity — all you require is a decent pair of walking shoes and a way to track three minute intervals, whether that’s a watch or your mobile.

With each session lasting just half an hour, it slots neatly into hectic routines and suits those who aren’t particularly fond of lengthy workout sessions or aren’t fixated on hitting daily step targets.

Researchers at the university are currently investigating how interval walking might impact conditions including diabetes and cardiovascular disease. They’ve suggested it “could help prevent the incidence of lifestyle-related diseases and exert therapeutic effects if it can reduce the dosage of prescription medications or eliminate their requirement”.

How does interval walking work?

According to Shinshu University, the method centres on alternating between brisk walking for three minutes — at a pace that leaves you slightly breathless, roughly 70% of your maximum aerobic capacity — followed by three minutes of gentle walking, repeating this pattern throughout.

For optimal results in boosting fitness levels, they suggest completing five sets of these intervals (totalling 30 minutes) at least four days weekly.

Their research indicates that maintaining this routine four times weekly over five months “can improve physical fitness by up to 20%.”

They also believe it could play a role in warding off “lifestyle-related illnesses.”

Who can benefit from interval walking?

Beyond helping those looking to boost their general fitness, research from Shinshu University discovered that this type of interval walking could prove especially valuable for individuals with “low bone mineral density”. Since bone density naturally decreases with age, this encompasses certain elderly individuals and women experiencing the menopause.

The research stated: “Osteoporosis [weakening bones] is particularly prevalent among postmenopausal women owing to the rapid decline in the secretion of female hormones resulting in a reduction in bone mineral density.

“A total of 234 postmenopausal women completed five sets of interval walking per day on at least 4 days per week for 5 months in this study.

“Measurement of the bone mineral density of the participants revealed an increase in the bone mineral density of individuals with low bone mineral density at baseline. No changes were observed in the bone density of individuals with high bone mineral density at baseline.”