After long hours at the office and the million other errands we do each day, the last thing we wanna do is pull on a set of spandex and head to the gym. Just thinking about it has my body screaming – enough!

But at the end of the day, we need to stay active. Or we can develop depression, anxiety, heart disease, and pack on the pounds. But a fabulous movement has taken over – Exercise Snacking.

No, I’m not talking about ripping open a bag of greasy chips or stuffing down those Oreos hidden at the back of your kitchen cabinet. I’m not talking about controlling your eating habits. It’s about staying active throughout the day with bite-sized exercises rather than a huge, intimidating workout.

Martin Gibala, professor of kinesiology at Canada’s McMaster University“ urges, “Let’s get people out of the mindset that exercise is this special thing we do. You can just be active, even if it means setting your watch to trigger you to do some squats or wall sits for one minute after an hour of sitting.”

Your exercise snack is completely up to you. It can be as formal or informal as you like. Whether its walking through the house while on a phone call or doing a 7-minute Standing workout – the freedom is yours.

Beginner Exercise Snacks For The Uninitiated (that would be me)

I started off slow with a few simple exercises like leg raises, neck and hip rotations while I work. Then sit-ups, squats, and lunges in between tasks at home. I may not look like a Marvel movie character, but I don’t feel like Homer Simpson either.

I discovered that exercise snacking really works for me. It breaks up my day and keeps me active. But it was time to up the difficulty. I found the perfect and inexpensive way to up my exercise snacking.

I bought a few simple things from Bala – a company that encourages people to move with their beautiful and functional fitness equipment. You can build a fun at-home gym with Bala or just pick up a few of their exercise pieces and make your snacking more productive.

Here’s the Bala gear I’ve been using:

Disclaimer: I’m only a writer, so before you take my word for any exercises & equipment, please ask a professional!

Bala’s colorful bands are constructed with resistant fabric and include a silicone-lined inseam that minimizes slippage. There’s such a range of arm exercises that I do with this band while walking to pour myself another cup of coffee. Bonus: it travels easy.

Resistance band workouts are great ways to use your own body weight to build muscle. Bala offers bands ranging in resistance levels, which is ideal for your home workouts. A resistance band set can give you the same burn on your upper body that will make you regret moving.

These high-end dumbbells are incredibly sleek and extremely versatile. They work for walking, strengthening, and I use them while binging Stranger Things.

Bicep curls have never looked trendier with these sleek bars that are trés chic. There are tons of health benefits that come with even short bursts of exercise, so keeping these heavy duty bars handy is a great way to get in some movement.

Designed to develop core strength, you can either over inflate or half-fill according to what you want to achieve – it’s truly helped my abs. The Bala Pilates ball is non-weighted so it provides more ranges of motion. I’m on it every free moment I get. And by the end of the day, my abs have had enough.

After a few weeks of Exercise Snacking, I can already see incredible progress – and no longer feel like a complete couch potato. Once I create a habit, there’s no stopping me!