NCT06924346

Exercise Snacks in Obesity

Efficacy of Exercise Snacks in Real-World Settings in Individuals Living With Obesity

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 80 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University of British Columbia · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 35 Years – 64 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

To conduct a randomized control trial to determine the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a 12-week technology-enabled exercise snacks intervention with behaviour change counselling for improving cardiorespiratory fitness and various markers of cardiometabolic health in previously inactive adults living with obesity.

Detailed description

Participants will be randomized into an Exercise Snacks or a Placebo Exercise group for 12 weeks. The former will involve bodyweight exercises performed with vigorous effort and the latter will involve low-intensity stretching and mobility exercises. Following baseline testing, individualized interventions will be delivered via a customized mobile application ("app") or web platform. Participants will be instructed to perform a minimum of 4 isolated bouts of prescribed exercises per day on at least 5 days per week. Each bout will be one minute in duration. The interventions will be individualized and consider exercise preferences and physical abilities (e.g., fitness, musculoskeletal issues), and be adaptable to multiple environments (e.g., home, work). To facilitate this, participants will have a pre-intervention meeting wherein any physical limitations will be documented, and a research assistant trained in health behaviour change techniques will provide a brief exercise counselling session designed to individualize the intervention to the participant's preferences, abilities, and lifestyle. After 12 weeks, participants will be asked to return to the lab for follow-up testing.

Conditions

• Obesity

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Exercise Snacks	The "movement breaks" will be individualized to exercise preferences and physical abilities (e.g., fitness, musculoskeletal issues) and adaptable to multiple environments (e.g., home, work) delivered via mobile phone application. Participants will be encouraged to incorporate the movement breaks into their daily schedule based on baseline exercise counselling.
OTHER	Placebo Exercise	The "movement breaks" will be individualized to exercise preferences and physical abilities (e.g., fitness, musculoskeletal issues) and adaptable to multiple environments (e.g., home, work) delivered via mobile phone application. Participants will be encouraged to incorporate the movement breaks into their daily schedule based on baseline exercise counselling.

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-07-14
• Primary completion: 2026-05-01
• Completion: 2026-05-01
• First posted: 2025-04-11
• Last updated: 2026-04-02

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: Canada