Multiple short bouts of exercise are better than a single continuous bout for cardiometabolic health: a randomised crossover trial.

Abstract

To compare cardiometabolic responses to five consecutive days of daily postprandial exercise accumulated in three 10-min bouts or a single 30-min bout to a no-exercise control. Ten insufficiently active adults completed three trials in a randomised order. Each trial comprised five consecutive days of 30min of exercise either accumulated in three separate 10-min bouts (ACC) after main meals; a single 30-min bout after dinner (CONT); or a no-exercise control (NOEX). Glucose regulation was assessed from an oral glucose tolerance test. Applanation tonometry was used to assess pulse wave velocity approximately 12h following completion of the final trial. Area under the 2-h glucose curve was similar for CONT (mean; 95% CI 917mmolL-12h-1; 815 to 1019) and ACC (931mmolL-12h-1; 794 to 1068, p = 0.671). Area under the 2-h insulin curve was greater following NOEX (70,328pmolL-12h-1; 30,962 to 109,693) than ACC (51,313pmolL-12h-1: 21,822 to 80,806, p = 0.007). Pulse wave velocity was lower for ACC (5.96ms-1: 5.38 to 6.53) compared to CONT (6.93m s-1: 5.92 to 7.94, p = 0.031) but not significantly lower for ACC compared to NOEX (6.52ms-1: 5.70 to 7.34, p = 0.151). Accumulating 30min of moderate-intensity walking in three bouts throughout the day is more effective at reducing markers of cardiometabolic health risk in insufficiently active, apparently healthy adults than a single daily bout. Both accumulated and single-bout walking were equally as effective at reducing postprandial glucose concentrations compared to a no-exercise control. Therefore, accumulating exercise in short bouts after each main meal might be more advantageous for overall cardiometabolic health.