{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,11]],"date-time":"2026-09-11T05:07:54Z","timestamp":1789103274880,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,11]],"date-time":"2026-09-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789084800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Physiol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Short-duration exercise snacks are considered a time-efficient strategy for interrupting sedentary behavior, but the metabolic effects of different exercise durations remain unclear. This study compared energy expenditure and substrate oxidation among the 1-, 2-, and 3-min exercise snack protocols during exercise and a 30-min recovery period under a standardized target workload.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Twenty sedentary male college students completed three exercise snack protocols in a randomized crossover design with a 7-day washout interval between trials. All protocols were performed on a cycle ergometer using a standardized incremental loading scheme (30 W every 10 s to 180 W). The 1-min protocol ended upon reaching 180 W, whereas the 2-min and 3-min protocols maintained this workload until exercise completion. Energy expenditure, fat oxidation, glucose oxidation, and associated physiological indices were continuously monitored during exercise and the 30-min recovery period.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>All three exercise snack protocols elicited significant acute metabolic responses. During exercise, total fat oxidation was greater in the 2-min than in the 1-min protocol (0.71 \u00b1 0.22 vs. 0.37 \u00b1 0.12\u00a0g, p &amp;lt; 0.001), and was not significantly different from that observed in the 3-min protocol (0.71 \u00b1 0.22 vs. 0.78 \u00b1 0.34\u00a0g, p = 0.179). During recovery, energy expenditure rate declined in all protocols but followed different trajectories. In the 1-min protocol, it returned to resting level by 25\u00a0min (p = 0.095), whereas it remained above resting throughout the 30-min recovery period in the 2-min (1.87 \u00b1 0.21 kcal\/min) and 3-min protocols (2.07 \u00b1 0.32 kcal\/min; both p &amp;lt; 0.001). Fat oxidation rate increased whereas glucose oxidation rate decreased during recovery. At 30\u00a0min of recovery, fat oxidation rate was not significantly different between the 2-min and 3-min protocols (0.15 \u00b1 0.02 vs. 0.17 \u00b1 0.04 g\/min, p = 0.068).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A 2-min exercise snack may be sufficient to increase energy expenditure and fat oxidation while eliciting sustained post-exercise metabolic activation. These findings provide evidence to support the potential application of exercise snacks as a time-efficient exercise strategy for sedentary adults.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fphys.2026.1929244","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,11]],"date-time":"2026-09-11T04:35:47Z","timestamp":1789101347000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A two-minute exercise snack may be sufficient to enhance energy metabolism and fat oxidation in sedentary male college students"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Zhihao","family":"Gao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Physical Education and Health, Guangxi Normal University","place":["Guilin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yanbai","family":"Han","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Physical Education and Health, Guangxi Normal University","place":["Guilin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yongbo","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Physical Education and Health, Guangxi Normal University","place":["Guilin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhuoyue","family":"Cheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Physical Education and Health, Guangxi Normal University","place":["Guilin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhiyu","family":"Xiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Physical Education and Health, Guangxi Normal University","place":["Guilin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yiming","family":"Han","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Physical Education and Health, Guangxi Normal University","place":["Guilin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2053","DOI":"10.1249\/MSS.0000000000000654","article-title":"The effects of breaking up prolonged sitting time: a review of experimental studies","volume":"47","author":"Benatti","year":"2015","journal-title":"Med. 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