No, Exercise Snacking will not make you any better at Jiu-Jitsu

John Davis

“Exercise snacking” refers to performing very short bouts of exercise (typically 1–5 minutes) multiple times per day. Common examples include stair climbs, bodyweight squats, pushups, or short sprints. This strategy has been proposed to improve cardiovascular fitness, glucose metabolism, and health outcomes, particularly in sedentary or time-constrained individuals.

It’s an expression coined by Dr. Rhonda Patrick several years ago and re-appropriated by several other people.

Sports training relies on the principle of specificity, meaning that adaptations are specific to the type, intensity, and movement patterns of the training performed. BJJ demands:

  • High levels of anaerobic capacity

  • Repeated bouts of isometric and dynamic strength

  • Grip endurance

  • Technical and tactical execution under fatigue

General bodyweight exercises like squats or pushups do not replicate these sport-specific demands. Without targeted strength or conditioning drills that mimic BJJ stresses, exercise snacking offers limited transference to grappling performance.

Where ‘exercise snacking’ is efficient is if you lead a sedantary lifestyle. The principle of the research that validates the concept details that even exercising less than 10 minutes adds up over a day and contributes to the recommended weekly 150–300 min of moderate-intensity activity which is proven to reduce mortality and risk for certain types of cancer.

The principle of overload states that to stimulate physiological adaptation, the training load must exceed the athlete’s habitual load.

Studies show that exercise snacking improves markers like VO₂ max, insulin sensitivity, and glucose uptake in sedentary or overweight individuals. However, evidence in trained athletic populations is scarce, and the low intensity and short duration of exercise snacks are unlikely to meaningfully improve maximal strength, anaerobic power, or conditioning in well-conditioned BJJ athletes.

BJJ training already produces significant physical stress, including:

  • Musculoskeletal strain (especially to the joints, spine, and connective tissues)

  • Central nervous system fatigue

  • High metabolic demands (aerobic and anaerobic)

Adding repeated micro-bouts of non-specific exercise throughout the day may impose cumulative mechanical and metabolic stress, increasing the risk of overuse injuries or interfering with recovery. Without careful management, exercise snacks can become recovery disruptors rather than recovery enhancers.

The time and recovery bandwidth used for exercise snacking could be more effectively allocated to:

  • Structured strength training (focused on maximal force and power development)

  • Anaerobic conditioning (targeted high-intensity intervals or sport-specific circuits)

  • Mobility work (addressing range of motion deficits relevant to grappling)

  • Technical drilling or positional sparring

For athletes, the key is not to “add more exercise,” but to apply the most effective and relevant stimulus possible.

BJJ athletes already manage packed training schedules, dietary planning, and recovery routines. The additional compliance burden of frequent micro-workouts may undermine psychological resilience and long-term adherence.

Exercise snacking typically lacks structured progression. People often perform the same exercises at the same volume indefinitely, which fails to deliver long-term adaptive stimulus or allow for recovery cycles.

Literature:

  • Francois, M. E., & Little, J. P. (2015). Effectiveness and safety of high-intensity interval training in patients with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Spectrum, 28(1), 39-44.
    https://doi.org/10.2337/diaspect.28.1.39

  • Jenkins, E. M., Nairn, L. N., Skelly, L. E., Little, J. P., Gibala, M. J., & MacInnis, M. J. (2019). Do stair climbing exercise “snacks” improve cardiorespiratory fitness? Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 44(6), 681-684.
    https://doi.org/10.1139/apnm-2018-0599

  • MacInnis, M. J., & Gibala, M. J. (2017). Physiological adaptations to interval training and the role of exercise intensity. The Journal of Physiology, 595(9), 2915-2930.
    https://doi.org/10.1113/JP273196

  • Bishop, D., Jones, E., & Woods, K. (2018). Recovery from training: a brief review. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 22(3), 1015-1024.
    https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e318168ecf6

  • Bompa, T. O., & Buzzichelli, C. A. (2018). Periodization: Theory and Methodology of Training. Human Kinetics.

  • Kraemer, W. J., & Ratamess, N. A. (2004). Fundamentals of resistance training: progression and exercise prescription. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 36(4), 674-688.
    https://doi.org/10.1249/01.MSS.0000121945.36635.61

  • Aagaard, P., & Andersen, J. L. (2010). Effects of strength training on endurance capacity in top-level endurance athletes. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 20(Suppl 2), 39-47.
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0838.2010.01197.x

  • Mujika, I., & Padilla, S. (2001). Cardiorespiratory and metabolic characteristics of detraining in humans. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 33(3), 413-421.
    https://doi.org/10.1097/00005768-200103000-00013

  • García-Pallarés, J., & Izquierdo, M. (2011). Strategies to optimize concurrent training of strength and aerobic fitness for rowing and canoeing. Sports Medicine, 41(4), 329-343.
    https://doi.org/10.2165/11538560-000000000-00000

  • García-Pallarés, J., et al. (2010). Physiological and performance adaptations in elite judo athletes. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 5(3), 377-384.
    https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.5.3.377

John Davis