Improve your health and productivity with ‘active snacks,’ says cardiologist

Active workstations that feature a treadmill, bike, stepper and/or standing desk are successful strategies for reducing sedentary time and improving mental cognition at work without sacrificing job performance, according to a Mayo Clinic study. But you don’t have to spend money on new office equipment to reap the benefits of an active workstation.

Dr. Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic, explains what “activity snacks” are and how to incorporate them into everyone’s daily routine.

The concept is simple: after an hour of sitting, take two to three minutes to get up and move your body.

“You break this sedentary state of your body by taking two or three flights of stairs, or doing some push-ups or doing something meaningful in terms of activity for a few minutes, and then come back and continue your work,” says Dr. Lopez-Jimenez.

According to Dr. Lopez-Jimenez, those two to three minutes somehow reset your metabolic clock.

“It’s amazing to see the biological changes that these active snacks can bring about in your cells, in the metabolism of sugar and cholesterol, just from those little moments of activity, even if you’re sitting still for the next 45 minutes,” he says.

It’s a small change that can have a big impact on your physical and mental health.

“You’ll see how that little thing sharpens your mind even for the next half hour, 45 minutes, absolutely,” says Dr. Lopez-Jimenez.

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