Does 5 mins of activity add up?

MagsRad

I am curious....because I work in an office a large part of my day is spent sitting. Since I am trying to lose weight and become more physically fit, I have been walking to the office (about 5 mins each way) and taking the stairs several times a day (about 5 mins each time) in order to break-up all of the inactivity. My question is, do these 5 mins of activity do anything for my calorie burn? Are they beneficial? My instinct is that they are since when I am taking the stairs (at least 3-8 flights) my heart rate is certainly up!

Any thoughts and/or feedback is appreciated.

jomo1113

I do the same thing. Every hour I get up and hike up and down the stairs in my office for about 5 minutes. It really gets my heart rate going, and I can really feel it in my legs. By the end of the day I've racked up another 40-45 minutes of exercise. Everything I've ready says as long as you get your heart rate up, short durations work just as well as long intervals of exercise.

tracyjaynie

I hope so ... I have even been tracking my house cleaning. Moving furniture, vacuuming, mopping it must count. Right

Alexstrasza

Any bit of activity helps. However it's still important to try and do other long span excercises, even if it's only for 30 minuts.

Although doing them the way you are is beneficial, it's not as beneficial as a long constant workout.


Again though, any bit of activity is good!

lizard053

Every little bit of extra movement you do in a day adds up! Keep it up!

sun33082

In the past year we had a wellness coach from the local hospital visit us at work and she talked about this. She said little bits of activity do add up. You won't build up your stamina that way, but the activity definitely counts and can help you get healthier. So definitely count it

Captain_Tightpants

Everything adds up in terms of calorie burn.

But for improved cardiovascular health my trainer tells me I have to keep my heart rate elevated for at least 20 mins. Not certain of how true that is, maybe some of the more advanced workout gurus could weigh in?

Alexstrasza

I hope so ... I have even been tracking my house cleaning. Moving furniture, vacuuming, mopping it must count. Right

In my opinion, no.

Unless it is very vigurous non-stop housework, I don't think it should count towards your overall excercise. Yes it will help, but I wouldn't log it as excercise.

The reason I say this is because cleaning, or walking around the grocery store, or at the office, etc, are all normal daily activities. So the calories you're eating are already being used towards your daily normal functions.

You still need to do real workouts. If cleaning and going to the store were workouts, I think far more women would be in shape.

mandylooo

They do a little, but as you get fitter and your metabolism becomes more efficient, they will do less. I'd take care with what you record on this front - it may be stint your progress as you may end up rerecording things which are already accounted for in your BMR x 1.2. See what the scales and tape measure do and base your decision to record on that.

The important thing is accurate recording - getting your calorie balance right, which may or may not mean recording short walks and housework depending on the individual.

marquesajen

I don't think it is as beneficial as a long period of exercise, but I think it is a good idea to do it! I sit at work a lot too, so I get up and walk around, use the stairs, etc to get my heart rate up. Not too mention sitting for so long strains my neck and shoulders, so I have to stretch.

SandyChampWins

Yes it does! I do my hula hoop 5-7 minutes 3x a day!

gnrshelton

Anytime you move more than normal it has benefit. If your asking if that will help with weightloss maybe not. BUT it is definately benificial to your health to move more so keep it up. Maybe during lunch you could walk around the building a few times or walk the stairs up and down as many times and you can. Keep on moving!

bcattoes

Yes, any activity is going to burn calories and help with weight loss. And there have been studies showing that exercise in 10 min increments throughout the day is as good as the same amount of prolonged activity for cardio-vascular health. (I know you said 5 but the study used 10 :ohwell: )