Brief Bouts of Exercise Improve Cardiorespiratory Fitness

FRIDAY, Oct. 10, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Brief bouts of exercise spread throughout the day (“exercise snacks”) improve cardiorespiratory fitness in physically inactive adults, according to a review published online Oct. 7 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, from the University of Oviedo in Spain, and colleagues conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the effects of exercise snacks on cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness and cardiometabolic health outcomes in physically inactive adults and older adults. Exercise snacks were defined as structured bouts lasting five minutes or more, performed at least twice daily, three times or more per week, for two weeks or more. Data were included from 11 randomized controlled trials, with 414 participants.

The researchers found that exercise snacks significantly improved cardiorespiratory fitness in adults (g = 1.37) and muscular endurance in older adults (g = 0.40); evidence was of moderate and very low certainty, respectively. There were no significant effects observed for lower-limb strength or cardiometabolic outcomes, including body composition, blood pressure, and blood lipid profiles. Compliance and adherence rates were high (91.1 and 82.8 percent, respectively).

“Based on a rigorous systematic review with meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials, moderate certainty of evidence supports the efficacy of exercise snacks in eliciting improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness among physically inactive adults,” authors write.

Abstract/Full Text