{"id":775754,"date":"2026-09-19T12:12:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T12:12:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/775754\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T12:12:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T12:12:16","slug":"no-gym-required-why-movement-snacks-are-the-key-to-getting-fit-and-healthy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/775754\/","title":{"rendered":"No gym required: Why \u2018movement snacks\u2019 are the key to getting fit and healthy"},"content":{"rendered":"

You want to be fit and healthy<\/a>. You put a lot of effort into being fit and healthy \u2013 trying to exercise and eat the right things. You spend a significant amount of time, energy and money on this process<\/a>. Yet you\u2019re not as fit and healthy as you want to be. This is a common story. <\/p>\n

Gyms appear to be busier than ever; the fitness<\/a> industry is now worth billions of pounds. But according to 2024 NHS data<\/a>, 66 per cent of adults in England<\/a> are overweight or living with obesity \u2013 up from 53 per cent in 1993. And despite having an ageing population, the nation\u2019s healthy life expectancy<\/a> (the years we can expect to live in good health<\/a>) is falling. <\/p>\n

There seems to be a significant disconnect between wanting to be fitter and healthier, and actually achieving it. So what\u2019s going wrong? <\/p>\n

\"MostMost of us are making conscious efforts to be healthier. But why, in many cases, is it not having the desired effect? (lado2016 – stock.adobe.com)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just a case of everything going downhill,\u201d independent sport and exercise scientist Dr Ash Cox<\/a> tells me. \u201cSport England\u2019s Active Life<\/a> survey found that about two-thirds of people are meeting the 150 minutes of exercise per week guidelines. And the number of gym<\/a>-goers has been increasing. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople participating in exercise isn\u2019t necessarily the issue. It\u2019s their environment.\u201d <\/p>\n

The healthy behaviour that could benefit us more than the gym <\/p>\n

Exercise is brilliant for improving every aspect of your fitness. It is a non-negotiable part of a healthy routine. But when you\u2019re trying to get in shape, hitting the gym for an hour does not do as much heavy lifting as most people think. After all, spending 60 minutes at the gym, Monday to Friday takes up less than 3 per cent of your week, leaving 163 hours unaccounted for. <\/p>\n

For those with limited time on their hands<\/a>, this realisation represents a significant and accessible opportunity. <\/p>\n

Formal exercise tends to contribute roughly 5 per cent of our total daily energy expenditure. For context, most people use about twice as many calories each day digesting, absorbing and processing their food. <\/p>\n

Around 70 per cent of our daily energy output is spent simply keeping us alive and carrying out the various autonomous functions that it entails. But the greatest lever we can pull, responsible for the remaining 15 per cent, is NEAT \u2013 non-exercise activity thermogenesis. <\/p>\n

This is a fancy way of saying \u201cmovement that isn\u2019t formal exercise,\u201d whether that\u2019s walking, gardening, fidgeting or otherwise. One of the best things we can do for our health, Dr Cox says, is simply finding ways to move more throughout the day. <\/p>\n

Read more: A sports scientist\u2019s guide to getting the same strength gains in half the time<\/a><\/p>\n

\"MostMost people spend a significant portion of each day sitting down (Wasana – stock.adobe.com)<\/p>\n

How environment impacts our health in unexpected ways<\/p>\n

You already know exercise and wider movement are good for you \u2013 everybody does. But most people have individual and understandable reasons why they don\u2019t do much of either \u2013 often related to time, energy, stress and money. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we have seen in recent years is a widening of the gap between socio-economic groups,\u201d Dr Cox says. \u201cCost of living is increasing and a gym membership usually costs above \u00a330 per month now. That is often one of the first things people will get rid of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without a designated space to exercise, people tend to exercise less. But this is not the biggest problem. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve also engineered physical activity out of life,\u201d Dr Cox continues. \u201cWe\u2019ve developed a society where we actively have to seek movement out. We have desk jobs, we have Uber Eats<\/a>, there is no need to be active<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd for some people, that socio-economic divide is removing one of the movement options they previously had on the table \u2013 the gym.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many people are countering the cost of living crisis with more intense work schedules, leaving them time-poor, Dr Cox adds. And, when these individuals are stressed to the gills and forced to make snap decisions over which behaviours offer the best immediate rewards, exercise often falls by the wayside. <\/p>\n

Pair this with the fact that cities are rarely an enticing prospect for recreational cyclists and, as nights draw in, runners swerve parks due to safety concerns. What you have, despite the best efforts of many excellent charities and organisations, is a dwindling number of exercise options for many. And people\u2019s health suffers as a result. <\/p>\n

In short: we are in a movement drought, and our environment is making it increasingly difficult to fight our way out. <\/p>\n

Read more: If I\u2019d known this when I first joined the gym, I would have made much faster progress with my strength training<\/a><\/p>\n

\"ManyMany people find themselves with few movement options on account of their environment, and this takes its toll on their health (Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n

How to add more movement into your day<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople don\u2019t want to be unhealthy \u2013 there\u2019s a reason why health and fitness is a multi-billion-pound industry,\u201d says Dr Cox. \u201cI just don\u2019t quite think we understand how to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The biggest change he encourages people to make for better health is to stop seeing the gym as the \u201cticket to ride\u201d for becoming an active person.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe entry point should be, and has to be, increasing your daily movement,\u201d he says, pointing to a paper published this week in the British Journal of Sports Medicine<\/a> to support his argument. It found that upping your walking speed could reduce your risk of death and heart disease, despite subjects taking far fewer than the widely-pushed \u2013 but scientifically arbitrary \u2013 10,000 steps per day. <\/p>\n

I have a timer on my phone, and every hour I will do something \u2013 10-15 squats, a few press-ups, getting some steps in at a slightly higher intensity<\/p>\n

Dr Ash Cox, independent sport and exercise scientist<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I used to look after patients who were waiting for gastric bands, and they were given physical activity advice to lose weight, it started as simply as parking on the other side of the supermarket car park and walking to the door with some intent.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll movement adds up. Do the school run on foot; take the stairs when you can, and do it with some intensity; move around the office. <\/p>\n

\u201cDedicated exercise is such a small part of someone\u2019s day, and it has to be squeezed in. But the biggest wins come from habitual physical activity. Put more movement into your life, and go about it with more intent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Movement snacks<\/a> \u2013\u00a0digestible chunks of exercise sprinkled throughout the day \u2013 are another sustainable way to achieve this.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to do this when I would lecture or go to conferences,\u201d Dr Cox says. \u201cI have a timer on my phone, and every hour I will do something \u2013 10-15 squats, a few press-ups, getting some steps in at a slightly higher intensity. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t seem like much, but over weeks, months and years it adds up to a significant amount of activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more: The enjoyable exercise better than walking for lifelong fitness<\/a><\/p>\n

\"FindingFinding a nourishing and sustainable diet \u2013 that works for you and your lifestyle \u2013 is one of the best things you can do to improve your health (Getty Images\/iStockphoto)<\/p>\n

The other pieces of the puzzle <\/p>\n

Exercise and movement are significant pieces of the wider health puzzle. But there are other factors that influence how we look, feel and function \u2013 diet being paramount among them. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe often get task paralysis with our diet because there is so much information coming at you nowadays,\u201d says Dr Cox. <\/p>\n

We are bombarded with advice on what to eat, and what not to eat, on social media. Supermarket shelves are slapped with \u201chigh protein\u201d labels and all manner of other health claims, while supplements often promise the earth. And the food that is most affordable and readily available to us is often disproportionately high in calories while low in genuine nutritional value. <\/p>\n

\u201cEven when we do get a grasp of what a \u2018good\u2019 diet is, we don\u2019t monitor it properly, because many foods nowadays are so dense in terms of calorific content,\u201d Dr Cox continues. \u201cSomeone might burn 400 calories with a morning gym session, then almost cancel that out with a 300-calorie latte, which they don\u2019t register as part of their diet. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe other classic example I use is cereal portions. If you\u2019ve ever poured a bowl of cereal as per the portion on the box, it\u2019s pathetic.\u201d Yet the boxes still sport health perks in bold and nutritional profiles that score \u201cgreen\u201d on the UK\u2019s front-of-pack food traffic light system.<\/p>\n

Sadly, I can\u2019t give you a blanket prescription to counter this. A good diet is down to the individual\u2019s needs, Dr Cox stresses. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve worked with clients in the past who had to work a night shift,\u201d he says. \u201cThey had been trying to fast in the mornings as well. That will work for some people, but not them.\u201d<\/p>\n

But there are some general rules you can follow, Dr Cox adds. Namely, understanding what\u2019s in your food (the piece linked below is a good place to start), swerving \u201coverly processed foods\u201d where possible, then applying trial and error to work out which diet strategy works for you and your lifestyle. <\/p>\n

Read more: A personal trainer set out to learn everything he could about fat loss \u2013 this was his most important finding<\/a><\/p>\n

\"TheThe wealth of health and fitness information online can be overwhelming and misleading (PA)<\/p>\n

The final piece of advice<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government and practitioners like me are in a difficult position because the public want simplicity, and they want a fix-all solution,\u201d Dr Cox says. \u201cBut we just don\u2019t have that for everyone. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I would advise people to do if they are confused is to seek out a trusted professional, make sure they are qualified, and ask them questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

This can cut through the overload of health and fitness information in the modern world and provide actionable, individualised advice to take away. But it is not within everyone\u2019s budget. <\/p>\n

If this is the case, Dr Cox says the best piece of health advice he received is to find one trusted professional, then follow their work, as well as that of people they associate with. \u201cFind someone you respect, someone who is giving out sensible information that\u2019s underpinned by evidence, and take value from them,\u201d he recommends. <\/p>\n

If you can build a few beneficial behaviours into your regular routine based on their trusted insights, better health awaits. <\/p>\n

Read more: That diet your friend swears by isn\u2019t magic \u2013 this is why it works<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You want to be fit and healthy. You put a lot of effort into being fit and healthy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":775755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[6647,102,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-775754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=775754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/775755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=775754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=775754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=775754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}