Micro-Walks Could Have A Surprisingly Big Impact

With social media awash with videos of people running marathons and battling through Hyrox competitions, the fitness world can sometimes feel unapproachable. But here’s something lots of us can get on board with: micro-walks, which a new study suggests can offer significant health benefits.

New Study Shows Benefits Of Micro-Walks

Researchers from the University of Milan looked into the energy demands of long versus short walks. They found walking in 10 to 30-second stints uses more energy and burns more calories than covering the same distance in one continuous session. 

Participants walked for varying lengths of time on both a stair climber and a treadmill, including short bursts with breaks, and longer durations of up to four minutes without breaks. The researchers worked out the metabolic demands for each of the walks, concluding that the ‘micro-walks’ used up to 60 percent more energy than longer episodes – despite the walks covering the same distance. 

‘When we walk for shorter bouts, we use more energy and consume more oxygen to cover the same distance,’ said Francesco Luciano, one of the authors of the study. ‘It’s like having a car that consumes more fuel during the first few kilometres than it does afterwards.’

The main message of the study, said Dr Luciano, is that fleeting bursts of activity – which could be something as small as going to the kitchen to make a cup of tea – can have a surprisingly big impact on our health. ‘The message pertains to our daily lives: whenever possible, we should break up periods of sitting by taking a few steps,’ he concluded.

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This follows increased interest surrounding micro-workouts, which are trending on TikTok right now. Also known as exercise snacking, these involve short bursts of exercise lasting between five and 15 minutes, which have been proven to offer many health benefits including a boost in cardiovascular fitness and metabolic capacity.