Movement Snacks
After spending long stints bound to a chair, with nothing but the promise of a forthcoming coffee break to maintain some semblance of motivation, the idea of Movement Snacks was born. Well, in reality, the history is a little more complex and invokes the classic question of which came first - the chicken or the egg?
It has long been known that regular physical activity is tremendously beneficial for our health. For many of us, much of life these days revolves around sedentary activities, and it has been shown that interrupting this with active breaks improves focus and concentration, along with the myriad of physical and mental health benefits offered by exercise. At times, the task of meeting physical activity recommendations may feel daunting. Especially as students, academic demands can be high, and balancing work, life, and exercise can be a challenge. With this initiative, we aim to reinforce the idea that doing some physical activity is better than none. We believe that sustainable habits are built on feasible building blocks, and integrating brief stints of exercise is a simple step to promoting and maintaining an active lifestyle.
During her bachelor’s in physiotherapy in Germany, Lotte Heimes was part of an initiative where she went into classrooms and led sequences of light exercises to students. Upon arrival at Karolinska Institutet, the Health Promotion team recommended breaking up time spent sitting and studying with bursts of activity, which they dubbed “Movement Snacks”. With this inspiration in mind, Lotte and a classmate, Dominique, began doing small-scale Movement Snacks during class breaks and invited their peers to join in. While the KI Health Promotion team works closely with staff, we recognized that there was a paucity of health promotion activities for and by students. With the seed of an idea and a perfect environment for it to be sown, Movement Snacks were born. Over the next few months, Movement Snacks was further conceptualized, developing a theoretical basis and beginning to sort out how it could be implemented.
Movement Snacks were piloted in a Master’s programme at Karolinska Institutet, and the project ultimately took on an emerging design. Brainstorm and feedback sessions were conducted with students in the pilot program, and employing a participatory approach allowed the details of the project to be ironed out in a manner that would be acceptable to the participating students.
In their current form, Movement Snacks consist of 3-15 minute sequences, including light cardio, stretching and mobility, coordination and strength exercises. The content of the Movement Snacks varies, along with the length, and is intended to be adaptable to various styles of instruction, space and target audience.
After a tremendously successful pilot program, the Movement Snacks project has taken flight. The team received funding from the Department of Global Public Health at KI, allowing us to expand the reach of the program. New instructors were recruited, multiple train-the-trainer sessions were held and Movement Snacks have now been scaled up into 5 different programs at the university. We are delighted to see how much our brainchild has grown over the last year and look forward to its continued success and implementation. Hopefully, you, dear reader, may draw some inspiration from our undertaking, and we encourage you to bring your own version of Movement Snacks to your classrooms and workplaces. At the very least, the next time you find yourself sitting for a long period of time, try peppering a few minutes of light activity. Who knows, you too may benefit from the improvements in focus, and motivation, and alleviate some aches and pains along the way.
Finally, we would like to thank Helle Mölsted Alvesson. None of this would have been possible without her unwavering support and enthusiasm for the project.