Could You Be A Movement Snacker? - Ruth Torr

13 May 2024

by Ruth Torr

In response to the 2024 Mental Health Awareness Week theme of “Movement: Moving more for our mental health”, Ruth Torr, UCA Teaching & Learning Lead for the School of Film, Media & Performing Arts, introduces the concept of movement snacking. This approach encourages brief, regular physical activities throughout the day to disrupt sedentary habits that contribute to mental fatigue and stress. With her extensive background in drama, dance, and performing arts, and a career that spans

Could you be a movement snacker?

Tired of getting up from your chair and shuffling whilst your spine recovers? Not if you are a movement snacker.

Many of us save movement for The Gym or The Class or The Walk. It becomes a Big Deal and difficult to fit it or attempt if we are tired or ill.  Movement snacking is taking a physical break from your desk, the shop counter, the couch and doing some running on the spot or some stretching or rotations of the spine. A movement snack is usually 3-5 minutes and happen every hour or so. You can choose something that will increase your heart rate and change your body’s holding pattern (if you have been huddled over the laptop, you could stretch out).

I shamelessly advocate for movement snacking and urge staff doing my Pilates classes to do this at work as it will inspire and/or give permission for others to join in. Perhaps colleagues could support each other by requesting movement snacks in meetings and giving approving (not dismissive) looks when their colleague lies on the floor for a stretch? No equipment or special training is needed.  Just a listening to your body, awareness of your body and a willingness to disrupt the sedentary environment we find ourselves in.

The idea was demonstrated by Dr Oly Perkin on the BBC TV programme Trust Me, I am a Doctor in 2018 and is advocated by other movement snack enthusiasts such as Dr Aishah Iqbal. Perkin’s PhD research with participants over 65, proved that this kind of exercise was as, if not more, effective in improving fitness and wellbeing compared to traditional exercise. The BBC programme makes it clear that there have been equally successful studies with younger participants. Dancing or more stretch based activities have been suggested to me by my Aston Pilates teacher, Paul Brennan. Aston Pilates is worth a mention here because Judith Aston has taken Joseph Pilates’s 36 exercises and transformed them into more co-operative moment. Instead of isolating muscle groups, like weight machines do, Aston Pilates encourages our bodies to move co-operatively so that a shoulder bridge also works your arms and mobilises your back as well as targeting your glute muscles. These then make excellent movement snacks as the exercise involves many muscle groups.

Anna Bartter writes about the impact on mood of movement snacking, saying that even a five-minute walk around the office can improve how you are feeling and reduce fatigue. Perhaps we also take deeper, fuller breaths when we move. Fincham writes about the power and importance of breathwork to relieve stress, especially the pace of breathing. Usually, we consider slowing the breath to be desirable, but we might also consider deepening the breath as part of breathwork. Pilates, Yoga, and gym exercises also advocate specific breathing patterns and using the breath in time with movement. Why, then, aren’t we all movement snacking or at least taking regular breaks?

Phan’s et al’s article on why people do not take breaks says that heavy workload is the main reason for wanting a break but not taking it. The article cites many studies that indicate that this is counter-productive as staff work far more productively if they have breaks. The heavier the workload, the more stressed we are and the more we need a break and yet we are less likely to actually go for a break. Managers can be bad role models here, not taking breaks and frequently starting work early and staying late. Existing teams who are not “break takers” may give negative feedback to a newcomer who takes breaks and so the whole group become inhibited about something which would help them all. We lose ourselves in the meta-world of email communication, the virtual world of Teams or the surreal world of time tabling. We know we must breathe, move, and fortify ourselves. It makes sense and yet the temptation to just do one more thing before we take a break or fit in a “quick call” between meetings is so great that we forget what would actually make us more productive in favour of ticking something off the list.

I am awful at Yoga. I don’t seem to bend in the right places. I love it though, I find a deeper breath pattern and I am not counting reps or waiting for it to be over. I am present in the moment, even if I am uncomfortable or I am not doing the same version that everyone else is doing.  My movement snacks feature forward folds, down dogs and various warriors, much to the bewilderment of those around me. The Pilates classes I teach with staff every week are full of wise people who know that investing in 40 minutes of movement with a nice group of like-minded colleagues will set them up for a productive day. We breathe, we laugh, we stretch and mobilise. We are present and “in the moment”.

Truth is, I care more about my health and wellbeing than what I look like when I do my snacking or what others think of my work ethic. Maybe it is because I am in my 50s (less self-conscious, more confident) or because I have made myself unwell in the past. Either way, I urge you to come to Pilates (or similar), take breaks – of any kind – and movement snacks especially. I think you’ll love it. 

😊