Exercise Snacking and Cardiometabolic Health
Influence of Exercise Snacking on Cardiometabolic Health, Physical Activity, and Psychological Well-Being
Regular physical activity is associated with numerous health benefits, yet many young adults do not achieve recommended levels of physical activity. Exercise snacking, which involves performing brief bouts of physical activity throughout the day, may provide a practical alternative to traditional exercise programs by making physical activity easier to incorporate into daily routines.
This randomized controlled trial will evaluate whether a 12-week exercise snacking intervention improves physical activity levels, aerobic fitness, cardiometabolic health, and psychological well-being in insufficiently active young adults. Participants will be randomly assigned to either an exercise snacking intervention or a usual behavior control group. Assessments will be completed at baseline, after the 12-week intervention, and after an additional 12-week follow-up period to determine whether any changes are maintained after the intervention ends.
The study will measure physical activity using wearable activity monitors and assess aerobic fitness, body composition, blood pressure, blood lipids, glucose, exercise motivation, affective responses to exercise, and mental well-being. The findings will help determine whether exercise snacking is an effective and sustainable strategy for improving health in young adults and may inform future physical activity recommendations and interventions
Visão geral do estudo
Status
Status
Condições
Condições
Intervenção / Tratamento
Intervenção / Tratamento
Descrição detalhada
Regular physical activity reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and other chronic health conditions. Despite these well-established benefits, many young adults do not achieve recommended levels of physical activity. Commonly reported barriers include limited time, competing academic or work demands, and difficulty maintaining structured exercise programs.
Exercise snacking, defined as accumulating multiple brief bouts of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity throughout the day, has emerged as a potential strategy for increasing physical activity while minimizing many of the barriers associated with traditional exercise programs. Although short bouts of physical activity have demonstrated favorable acute physiological effects, relatively few randomized controlled trials have evaluated whether exercise snacking produces sustained improvements in objectively measured physical activity, physical fitness, cardiometabolic health, and psychological outcomes in free-living young adults.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether a 12-week exercise snacking intervention improves physical activity behavior, aerobic fitness, cardiometabolic health, exercise motivation, affective responses to physical activity, and psychological well-being compared with a usual behavior control group. Participants will be randomly assigned to either an exercise snacking intervention or a control condition. Following completion of the intervention, participants will be observed for an additional 12 weeks to evaluate the maintenance of behavioral and physiological changes after structured support is withdrawn.
The primary objectives are to determine whether exercise snacking increases objectively measured physical activity and improves aerobic fitness. Secondary objectives are to evaluate changes in body composition, blood pressure, fasting cardiometabolic biomarkers, exercise motivation, affective responses to exercise, and psychological well-being. Exploratory analyses will examine whether changes in motivation and affective responses are associated with long-term maintenance of physical activity during the follow-up period.
This study will contribute to the growing evidence regarding practical, scalable approaches for increasing physical activity among young adults and may help inform future lifestyle interventions and public health recommendations aimed at promoting long-term engagement in regular physical activity
Tipo de estudo
Tipo de estudo
Inscrição (Estimado)
Inscrição
Estágio
Estágio
- Não aplicável
Contactos e Locais
Contato de estudo
Contato de estudo
- Nome: Gregory Ruegsegger, PhD
- Número de telefone: 715-425-4945
- E-mail: gregory.ruegsegger@uwrf.edu
Estude backup de contato
- Nome: Ricky Lopez, MS
- Número de telefone: 715-425-4138
- E-mail: ricky.lopez@uwrf.edu
Locais de estudo
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Wisconsin
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River Falls, Wisconsin, Estados Unidos, 54022
- Recrutamento
- University of Wisconsin-River Falls
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Contato:
- Gregory Ruegsegger, PhD
- Número de telefone: 715-425-4945
- E-mail: gregory.ruegsegger@uwrf.edu
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Contato:
- Ricky Lopez, MS
- Número de telefone: 715-425-4138
- E-mail: ricky.lopez@uwrf.edu
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Investigador principal:
- Gregory Ruegsegger, PhD
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Critérios de participação
Critérios de elegibilidade
Critérios de elegibilidade
Idades elegíveis para estudo
- Adulto
Aceita Voluntários Saudáveis
Descrição
Inclusion Criteria:
- Age 18-60 years.
- Body mass index (BMI) ≥18.5 kg/m².
- Insufficiently physically active, defined as generally not meeting current physical activity guidelines for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.
- Able to safely participate in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity as determined by study screening procedures, including completion of the Physical - Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q+) and health history review.
- Willing and able to provide written informed consent.
- Willing to complete all study visits, wear activity monitors, and comply with study procedures.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Known cardiovascular, pulmonary, metabolic, neurological, orthopedic, or other medical conditions that would make participation in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity unsafe.
- Resting heart rate >100 beats/minute at screening.
- Resting blood pressure >160/100 mmHg at screening.
- Clinically significant electrocardiogram (ECG) abnormalities identified during screening that require medical evaluation.
- Current participation in regular structured physical activity that meets or exceeds recommended physical activity guidelines.
- Physical limitations or injuries that preclude safe participation in the intervention or fitness testing.
- Moderate-to-severe psychological distress or other mental health concerns identified during screening that require referral or would make study participation inappropriate.
- Pregnancy or any other condition judged by the investigators to make participation unsafe or interfere with completion of study procedures.
Plano de estudo
Como o estudo é projetado?
Detalhes do projeto
- Finalidade Principal: Ciência básica
- Alocação: Randomizado
- Modelo Intervencional: Atribuição Paralela
- Mascaramento: Nenhum (rótulo aberto)
Número de braços
Armas e Intervenções
Grupo de Participantes / BraçoGrupo de Participantes / Braço |
Intervenção / TratamentoIntervenção / Tratamento |
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Experimental: Exercise Snacking
Participants assigned to the exercise snacking group will complete a 12-week intervention consisting of multiple brief bouts (approximately 1-3 minutes each) of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity performed throughout the day.
Participants will receive written instructions, examples of appropriate exercise snacks, and periodic check-ins to support adherence.
The intervention is designed to increase daily physical activity by integrating short bouts of exercise into normal daily routines.
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Participants assigned to the intervention group will complete multiple brief bouts of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity throughout each day for 12 weeks.
Each exercise snack will typically last approximately 1-3 minutes and may include activities such as stair climbing, brisk walking, repeated sit-to-stands, body-weight squats, or other moderate-to-vigorous activities that can be incorporated into daily routines.
Participants will receive standardized written instructions, examples of exercise snacks, and periodic follow-up visits to monitor adherence and reinforce study procedures.
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Sem intervenção: Usual Behavior Control
Participants assigned to the control group will continue their usual daily activities for 12 weeks and will not receive instruction regarding exercise snacking or any structured physical activity program during the intervention period.
They will complete the same outcome assessments as participants in the intervention group.
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O que o estudo está medindo?
Medidas de resultados primários
Medidas de resultados primários
Medida de resultado |
Descrição da medida |
Prazo |
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Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity
Prazo: Baseline, Week 12, and Week 24
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Average daily minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity measured objectively using an accelerometer worn for seven consecutive days.
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Baseline, Week 12, and Week 24
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Medidas de resultados secundários
Medidas de resultados secundários
Medida de resultado |
Descrição da medida |
Prazo |
|---|---|---|
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Body Fat Percentage
Prazo: Baseline, Week 12, Week 24
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Body composition measured using air displacement plethysmography (BodPod).
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Baseline, Week 12, Week 24
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Aerobic Fitness
Prazo: Baseline, Week 12, and Week 24
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Aerobic fitness assessed during a submaximal cycle ergometer exercise test with respiratory gas analysis using a metabolic measurement system.
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Baseline, Week 12, and Week 24
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Fasting Blood Glucose
Prazo: Baseline, Week 12, Week 24
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Capillary fasting glucose measured using the Cholestech LDX analyzer.
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Baseline, Week 12, Week 24
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Blood Lipid Profile
Prazo: Baseline, Week 12, Week 24
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Total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides measured from fasting capillary blood samples.
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Baseline, Week 12, Week 24
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Exercise Motivation
Prazo: Baseline, Week 12, Week 24
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Exercise motivation will be assessed using the 24-item Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire-3 (BREQ-3).
The questionnaire produces six subscale scores: amotivation, external regulation, introjected regulation, identified regulation, integrated regulation, and intrinsic regulation.
Each subscale is calculated as the mean of four items and ranges from 0 to 4. Higher scores indicate a greater degree of the corresponding type of exercise motivation; therefore, higher scores do not uniformly represent a better or worse outcome.
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Baseline, Week 12, Week 24
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Psychological Well-Being
Prazo: Baseline, Week 12, Week 24
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Psychological well-being will be assessed using the World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5).
The five items are summed to produce a raw total score ranging from 0 to 25.
Higher scores indicate better psychological well-being.
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Baseline, Week 12, Week 24
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Depressive Symptoms
Prazo: Baseline, Week 12, Week 24
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Depressive symptoms will be assessed using the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9).
Items are summed to produce a total score ranging from 0 to 27.
Higher scores indicate more severe depressive symptoms and therefore a worse outcome.
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Baseline, Week 12, Week 24
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Anxiety Symptoms
Prazo: Baseline, Week 12, Week 24
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Anxiety symptoms will be assessed using the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7).
Items are summed to produce a total score ranging from 0 to 21.
Higher scores indicate more severe anxiety symptoms and therefore a worse outcome.
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Baseline, Week 12, Week 24
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Perceived Stress
Prazo: Baseline, Week 12, Week 24
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Perceived stress will be assessed using the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10).
Items are summed after reverse-scoring the positively stated items, producing a total score ranging from 0 to 40.
Higher scores indicate greater perceived stress and therefore a worse outcome.
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Baseline, Week 12, Week 24
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Outras medidas de resultado
Outras medidas de resultado
Medida de resultado |
Descrição da medida |
Prazo |
|---|---|---|
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Everyday Cognitive Failures
Prazo: Baseline, Week 12, Week 24
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Everyday cognitive failures will be assessed using the 25-item Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ).
Items are summed to produce a total score ranging from 0 to 100.
Higher scores indicate a greater frequency of everyday cognitive failures and therefore a worse outcome.
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Baseline, Week 12, Week 24
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Exercise-Related Affective Valence
Prazo: Baseline, Week 12, Week 24
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Exercise-related affective valence will be assessed using the single-item Feeling Scale.
Responses range from -5 ("very bad") to +5 ("very good"), with 0 representing "neutral."
Higher scores indicate more positive affective valence and therefore a better outcome.
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Baseline, Week 12, Week 24
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Academic engagement (UWES-S)
Prazo: Baseline, Week 12, Week 24
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Academic engagement will be assessed using the 9-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale for Students (UWES-S-9), which measures vigor, dedication, and absorption in academic activities.
Each item is scored from 0 ("never") to 6 ("always/every day").
Higher scores indicate greater academic engagement and therefore a better outcome.
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Baseline, Week 12, Week 24
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Colaboradores e Investigadores
Patrocinador
Patrocinador
Investigadores
Investigadores
- Investigador principal: Gregory Ruegsegger, PhD, University of Wisconsin, River Falls
Publicações e links úteis
Publicações Gerais
- Yin M, Deng S, Chen Z, Zhang B, Zheng H, Bai M, Li H, Zhang X, Deng J, Liu Q, Little JP, Li Y. 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. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2024 Jul 1;49(7):920-932. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2023-0593. Epub 2024 Apr 3.
- Jenkins EM, Nairn LN, Skelly LE, Little JP, Gibala MJ. Do stair climbing exercise "snacks" improve cardiorespiratory fitness? Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2019 Jun;44(6):681-684. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2018-0675. Epub 2019 Jan 16.
- Wang T, Laher I, Li S. Exercise snacks and physical fitness in sedentary populations. Sports Med Health Sci. 2024 Feb 27;7(1):1-7. doi: 10.1016/j.smhs.2024.02.006. eCollection 2025 Jan.
- Wan KW, Dai ZH, Wong PS, Huang WY, Lei EF, Little JP, Lin FC, Tam BT. Effects of Exercise Snacks on Cardiometabolic Health and Body Composition in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2025 Aug;35(8):e70114. doi: 10.1111/sms.70114.
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- 2026-33
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