It can be a struggle to fit in exercise at the best of times. The NHS may recommend 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, but almost 75 per cent of us are not meeting that goal according to a 2024 Nuffield Health survey. And when your spare time is squeezed, and the windows of natural light are getting smaller, it’s increasingly hard to get up the motivation.
But you don’t have to be sweating yourself silly or spending hours lifting weights to feel any benefit. “Exercise snacking”, where you are active for anything between one and 15 minutes, has been found to improve cardiovascular health, muscle strength, boost mood, and lower blood sugar levels and risk of cancer. A study published last week found that adding in just five minutes of exercise each day (such as brisk walking or cycling to the shops) can help lower blood pressure.
We spoke to six fitness experts to gather the best exercises that can make a difference in five minutes – whether to improve your balance, flexibility and mobility, or get your heart pumping. Build up to three snacks a day and you will really start to notice the difference.
Take the stairs
Research published in April showed found regularly taking the stairs was linked to a 24 per cent reduced risk of dying from any cause and a 39 per cent lower likelihood of dying from heart disease.
Dr Sophie Paddock, of the University of East Anglia and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital Foundation Trust, in Norwich, says: “Even brief bursts of physical activity have beneficial health impacts, and short bouts of stair climbing should be an achievable target to integrate into daily routines.”
Róisín O’Bentley, a specialist pelvic health physiotherapist, recommends walking up stairs when you can, but specifically placing your foot down flat, rather than on your toes.
“I recommend flat-foot stair walking to all my patients because it engages all the leg muscles in one simple, daily event. Our bodies love to find shortcuts, hence why we usually go upstairs on our tiptoes because we use mainly the calf muscles which can ‘bounce’ us upstairs using momentum and less energy. Going flat-footed is slower and more challenging initially, but as strength builds, so does speed. Strong legs are crucial to support the back and mobility especially as we age.”
Shoulder bridge
Lizi Taylor, pilates instructor, says that her favourite exercise snack is a shoulder bridge.
To do a shoulder bridge, find somewhere you can be undisturbed and lie on your back with your knees bent, heels in line with your trunk and arms by your side.
Keeping your head relaxed, inhale and lift your hips up towards the ceiling, stay in position a moment, then come down with an exhale.
“As you create your bridge by weight-bearing through the shoulders you are working lots of different muscles as well as mobilising the spine,” says Taylor. “In fact, a shoulder bridge strengthens your entire posterior chain, including your glutes, abs, hamstrings, back, and even your pelvic floor.”
O’Bentley adds that these bridges, which are also a form of pelvic tilt, are great for people with largely sedentary lifestyles.
Wall sits
What could be a less intimidating exercise snack than sitting down? Osteopath Bethany Lawrence recommends spending five minutes doing a wall sit, a static position where you sit against a wall as if seated in an invisible chair, engaging your glutes, quads and core. She says it’s “a fantastic isometric exercise for lower body stability and strength, recommended especially for joint health”.
To do a wall sit, stand with your back against a wall and feet about a foot away from it.
Slide down until your knees are at a 90-degree angle, and hold this position. Keep your core tight and shoulders pressed against the wall. Hold the position for 30 seconds to a minute, rest for a moment, then repeat a few times within your five minutes.
“This can be especially beneficial for individuals with sedentary lifestyles or those recovering from knee injuries, as it strengthens the muscles around the knee joint, improving support and reducing the risk of strain,” says Lawrence.
Balance on one leg
Standing on one leg, with no support, is a great way to build balance. O’Bentley recommends adding it into your daily routine by standing on one leg as you put on your shoes, making it an exercise snack that requires no spare time at all.
“Our balance often diminishes as we age due to a sedentary life. With reduced balance, we are at a higher risk of falling. Standing on one leg to put on shoes builds balance through movement, which helps challenge our nervous system and get it to respond quicker, therefore maintaining stability in all movements we perform. Static balance exercises (like standing on one leg when brushing teeth) is a great starting point, but adding movement is a game changer as it really helps us improve co-ordination and prevent falls.” Stand on one leg while brushing your teeth, and then again when putting on shoes and you have two burst of exercise with minimal effort.
Planks
Planks are a full-body exercise snack that can take as little as 30 seconds while still having many benefits. They work the core while engaging the shoulders and chest. Taylor explains that benefits include: “improved posture, a stronger core as well as improved stability and balance”.
Alasdair Nicoll, personal trainer at The Fitness Group, advises that beginners focus on keeping the core tight and avoiding sagging in the hips, focusing on the elbows under shoulders and body in a relatively straight line. As the plank can be challenging, try holding for 20-30 seconds at a time with a 10-second break between for five minutes.
If you want to up the challenge, you can do mountain climbers (where you alternate bringing each knee to your chest, as if running in place) for a high-intensity exercise that improves cardio, core strength, and agility.
Press ups
They’re a classic for a reason. “There is no greater move to target your upper body and core at the same time,” says Edwina Jenner, personal trainer and women’s health coach.
However, press ups can be intimidating – both Jenner and Nicoll recommend starting with an incline push up, with your hands on an elevated surface instead of the floor, or modified knees push up, where you rise up from your knees rather than toes. Focus on form above all else. Before long, you’ll be able to do 10 modified push ups and can translate that into one full push up.
As for form, Alasdair adds that you should “keep elbows slightly tucked in, avoid flaring out, and keep a straight body line”.
Try doing a set of ten to fifteen in five minutes for a satisfying and challenging hit of exercise.
Alternate lunges
Many compound movements focus on full body movements, but it’s important, says Jenner, to add unilateral work (working on one side at a time) like alternate lunges. “This helps ensure our more dominant side does not compensate for our weaker side.”
Lunges are great for core strength, stability and balance. Start standing up with your feet hip width apart, then stop forward with one leg, bending your knees to 90 degrees while keeping your weight evenly distributed. Bring your leg back, then repeat on the other leg. Do as many as you can, focusing on balance and stability within 50 seconds before taking a 10-second break. Repeat until five minutes is up.
Squat and jumps
Squats target major muscles in the lower body and build both strength and endurance and have seemingly infinite variations. Sergii Putsov, certified PT and head of sport science at Torokhtiy Weightlifting, is particularly fond of the squat jump: “it can increase your speed and velocity in other activities if done consistently for at least eight weeks”.
This exercise focuses on explosive power, and trains your lower body muscles to generate significant force quickly, which is essential for activities such as jumping, sprinting, or changing direction rapidly in sports such as football. They are also great for lower body strength and co-ordination. To do one, descend to a squat position – knees bent, feet shoulder width apart. Then, engaging your quads and glutes, jump up in the air, extending your legs straight, before landing and descending into the squat again.
However, if you can’t jump for whatever reason, he says that bodyweight squats are a great alternative when performed slowly and repeatedly. “You should aim for 4-5 sets of 10-15 reps,” he adds, “paying close attention to your form.”
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