[Source: Kim Sa-rang's Instagram]
[Source: Kim Sa-rang's Instagram]

Actor Kim Sa-rang, 48, recently surprised fans with a glimpse of herself trying on wedding dresses during a trip to New York.

On Friday, Kim shared a video on her social media account captioned "Trying on wedding dresses in New York," showing her visiting a vintage boutique in the city and browsing through a selection of gowns.

In one clip, she stood before a mirror in a deep-neckline dress adorned with shimmering embellishments, exuding an effortlessly elegant look.

Known for staying in shape through regular exercise, Kim had previously shared a vlog showing herself using fitness equipment at home, saying she could feel a noticeable difference from just five minutes of daily exercise.

For those who find it difficult to carve out long stretches of time for a workout, Kim's approach — breaking physical activity into several short sessions throughout the day — offers a practical alternative.

Can just 5 minutes of exercise a day actually work?

Research suggests short workouts may be more effective than many assume. A team at Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Australia published a study in 2025 in the European Journal of Applied Physiology examining the effects of roughly five minutes of daily bodyweight exercise at home on physical fitness.

The study enrolled 22 adults between the ages of 32 and 69 who were generally sedentary. Over four weeks, participants performed four exercises at home each day — chair squats, chair-assisted body reclines, wall push-ups and heel drops — completing 10 repetitions of each in about five minutes. The routine focused on eccentric contractions, in which muscles generate force while lengthening.

After four weeks, several fitness markers improved. Lower-body strength as measured by an isometric mid-thigh pull rose by an average of 13 percent, push-up performance improved by 66.1 percent, sit-up capacity by 51.1 percent and flexibility by 9.1 percent. Heart rate recorded during a three-minute step test also fell by 4.8 percent. Improvements were also observed in mental health and vitality indicators.

However, not every health marker improved. Body composition, resting heart rate, blood pressure and some blood indicators showed no significant change. With only 22 participants, the study has clear limitations and cannot support a broad conclusion that five minutes a day is sufficient. The researchers themselves framed the five-minute routine as a realistic starting point for building toward more exercise, not an endpoint in itself.

Multiple short bursts throughout the day: the concept of 'exercise snacks'

In exercise physiology, the practice of replacing a single long workout with several brief bouts of physical activity spread across the day is known as "exercise snacking."

A systematic review and meta-analysis published recently in the British Journal of Sports Medicine defined exercise snacks as moderate-to-vigorous physical activity lasting five minutes or less, performed at least twice a day on three or more days per week. The researchers analyzed data from 11 randomized controlled trials involving a total of 414 participants published through April 2025.

Among physically inactive adults who adopted exercise snacking, cardiorespiratory fitness improved significantly. In adults aged 65 and older, gains in muscular endurance were also observed. Notably, compliance — the rate at which participants completed their planned sessions — averaged 91.1 percent, while adherence to the overall program stood at 82.8 percent, both relatively high figures.

Those numbers point to one of exercise snacking's key strengths: because each bout is short, people find it easier to stick with.

That said, exercise snacking is unlikely to replace all forms of structured exercise. The same analysis found no significant evidence of improvement in body composition, blood pressure or blood lipid levels — markers of cardiovascular and metabolic health. The certainty of evidence for muscular endurance gains in older adults was also rated low.

Take the stairs, skip the elevator: weaving movement into daily life

One of the main appeals of exercise snacking is that it requires neither a gym membership nor a dedicated block of time. Standing up from a desk to do a few squats, climbing stairs briskly instead of taking the elevator, or doing wall push-ups at home are all ways to fold short bursts of activity into an ordinary day.

The idea that brief exercise "doesn't count" is also at odds with current physical activity guidelines. The WHO's 2020 guidelines on physical activity dropped a previous requirement that activity had to last at least 10 minutes to be counted toward daily totals. Any duration of movement can now contribute. WHO emphasizes the principle that "any amount of physical activity is better than none."

That does not mean five minutes a day is enough to meet recommended targets. WHO advises adults to accumulate 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity, along with muscle-strengthening exercise targeting major muscle groups on two or more days per week.

Ultimately, the value of five-minute workouts and exercise snacking lies not in the claim that five minutes is sufficient, but in the idea that doing something — however brief — is far better than doing nothing because a full workout feels out of reach.

If 30 minutes feels daunting, starting with five is a perfectly reasonable entry point. What matters most is not how long any single session lasts, but building a habit of moving regularly and gradually increasing overall activity as circumstances allow.


mss@heraldcorp.com