Exercise-snacks at Work: Impact on Cardiometabolic Parameters

Exercise-snacks: an Effective Strategy to Break Sitting Time and Improve Cardiometbaolic Health in Sedentary Overweight Office Workers

The main objective is to measure the effects of intense brief exercise program in the workplace of administrative staff on the cardio-metabolic health

Study Overview

• Status: Terminated
• Conditions: Overweight and Obesity; Sedentary Time; Work-Related Condition
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Exercise-snacks program

Detailed Description

Backgrounds: Very short (< 1 minute) and intense exercises, entitled "exercise-snacks", have been reported to be effective 1) in improving physical fitness over 6 weeks and 2) in improving vascular function and lowering blood glucose levels over one day. These studies were all carried out in the laboratory. The question therefore arises as to whether these acute vascular and metabolic benefits, as well as those on physical fitness, are sustainable over time following a chronic "exercise-snacks" program applicable in the professional environment to sedentary, overweight people.

Aims of this project is therefore to measure the effects of an "exercise-snacks" type physical activity program in the workplace of administrative staff on the cardio-metabolic health and sedentary behaviour of staff.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 23
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• France
  • Avignon, France, 84000
    • Avignon University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• administrative staff,
• age between 30 and 60,
• body mass index ≥25kg/m²,
• sedentary time ≥7h/day,
• minimum 3 working days on site,
• no known cardiovascular or metabolic pathology, social security affiliation or benefit,
• ability and willingness to give free, written and informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• pregnant or breast-feeding women,
• anti-hypertensive treatment, beta-blockers and anti-diabetics,
• known contraindications to physical activity (articular, cardiac or other),
• exercise-induced asthma,
• lack of motivation of subjects posing problems of compliance and adherence to the exercise program,
• participation in a study in the preceding 3 months, ongoing participation in a clinical trial.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Exercise-snacks group; They will perform a "exercise-snacks" program and receive information about physical activity	Other: Exercise-snacks program; Subjects in the exercise-snacks group will perform 4 "exercise-snacks" sessions per working day for 4 weeks. These sessions will consist of 80 one-to-one walks to be completed as quickly as possible. They will also receive information about their attitudes to physical activity.
No Intervention: Control group; They will maintain their usual lifestyle until the end of the study

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Changes in aerobic fitness	Aerobic fitness will be assessed via the Chester step test's prediction of VO2max	at inclusion, at the end of the 4-weeks program and 1 month following the end of the program

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Adherence of staff in the experimental group by analyzing accelerometric data.	Total number of exercise-snacks performed during the 4-week program by analysing accelerometers data	during the 4-weeks program
Intensity of exercise-snacks	Heart rate during exercise-snacks in % heart rate max	during the 4-weeks program
Changes in flow mediated dilation of superficial femoral artery	measured by echocardiography (Vivid Q, GE) , in %	at inclusion, at the end of the 4-weeks program
Changes in peak shear rate of superficial femoral artery	measured by echocardiography (Vivid Q, GE) during hyperemia, in s-1	at inclusion, at the end of the 4-weeks program
Changes in nitrate mediated dilation of superficial femoral artery	by echocardiography (Vivid Q, GE), in %	at inclusion, at the end of the 4-weeks program
Changes in superficial femoral artery compliance	by echocardiography (Vivid Q, GE), in mm2 mmHg-1	at inclusion, at the end of the 4-weeks program
Changes in carotid intima-thickness	by echocardiography (Vivid Q) in mm	at inclusion, at the end of the 4-weeks program
Changes in carotid compliance	by echocardiography (Vivid Q) in mm2 mmHg-1	at inclusion, at the end of the 4-weeks program
Changes in carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity	by Sphygmocor, in m.s-1	at inclusion, at the end of the 4-weeks program
Changes in post-occlusive skin perfusion	by Laser Doppler (Perimed), in perfusion unit, in area under the curve, in time to peak	at inclusion, at the end of the 4-weeks program
Changes in blood pressure	systolic, diastolic, mean and pulsed	at inclusion, at the end of the 4-weeks program and 1 month following the end of the program
Changes in mean amplitude of glycemic excursions	measured by continuous glucose monitoring (FreeStyle), in mmol.L-1	one week before the beginning of the program and the first week of the program and the 2 lastest weeks of the program
Changes in heart rate	Heart rate at rest, at the end of the Chester step test and during exercise	between the beginning and end of the 4-week exercise program and 4 weeks after the program.
Changes in level of habitual physical activity	Physical Activity questionnaire	between the start and end of the 4-week exercise program and 4 weeks after the program
Changes in fat mass	measured by InBody, in kg	between the start and end of the 4-week exercise program and 4 weeks after the program
Changes in lean mass	measured by InBody, in kg	between the start and end of the 4-week exercise program and 4 weeks after the program
Change in physical activity behaviour at work of staff	Theory of planned behavior questionnaire, score range from 20 to 80 with higher scores mean a better outcome.	between the start and end of the 4-week exercise program.
Changes in rating of perceived exertion	measured during the Chester test, score range from 7 to 20 with higher scores mean a worse outcome.	between the start and end of the 4-week exercise program and 4 weeks after the program

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Avignon
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Agnès VINET, Avignon University - LaPEC

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 16, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 30, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): July 20, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 19, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 4, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): July 12, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 20, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 15, 2025
• Last Verified: April 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: vascular function; cardiorespiratory fitness; brief intense exercise
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Nutrition Disorders; Overnutrition; Body Weight; Overweight
• Other Study ID Numbers: AU-062023-AVJ

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No