How to Boost Your Daily Activity (Without a Hardcore Workout)

Some days we wake up feeling energized and ready to take on the world. Other times, we’d rather roll over, hit snooze, and pretend we're sick to skip work. No matter how much energy we have, staying active is key to maintaining our health. But let’s face it, running a 5K, taking a fitness class, or jumping on the elliptical isn't always in the cards.

One of the most effective ways to stay active without the pressure of formal workouts is to embrace incidental exercise. These are brief, unplanned bursts of activity that don't require carving out an hour, breaking a serious sweat, or attending an exclusive studio session. It's a small change with big benefits, allowing you to enjoy the physical activity your body needs while avoiding the negative effects of sitting all day.

How can you make incidental exercise part of your routine? We reached out to certified personal trainers to dive into the concept of incidental exercise, its advantages, and simple tweaks you can make to see significant improvements.

What Does Incidental Exercise Mean?

As the name suggests, incidental exercise refers to short, spontaneous bursts of physical activity that happen naturally throughout your day. According to Aimee Nicotera, MS, a certified personal trainer, instructor, and health coach, this type of activity is often referred to as N.E.A.T. exercise, which stands for non-exercise activity thermogenesis. A paper published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine describes it as follows:

"Incidental [physical activity] refers to any action that’s part of daily life, not intended for recreation or health, and doesn’t require sacrificing discretionary time. Examples include walking or cycling for transportation, climbing stairs, or performing active tasks like carrying heavy groceries and doing housework."

Nicotera emphasizes that both N.E.A.T. and incidental exercise are valuable because they contribute to your total daily caloric expenditure, burning calories through movement outside of traditional workout routines.

Your baseline level of incidental exercise is the amount of physical activity you naturally get throughout the day, which varies from person to person, says Joyce Shulman, a certified personal trainer and the co-founder and CEO of Jetti Fitness. For someone with a job that requires sitting at a desk, incidental exercise is likely minimal unless they make an effort to move. On the other hand, a professional dog walker is likely getting plenty of incidental exercise, according to Shulman. And if you're caring for a toddler, your day probably includes incidental cardio (chasing them around) or strength training (lifting them up repeatedly).

No matter what your usual activities are, there are plenty of ways to increase your incidental exercise. "Even though incidental exercise tends to happen naturally, our daily lives offer many chances to boost that activity level," says Shulman. "The key is to identify those opportunities in your routine and seize them."

What Sets Incidental Exercise Apart from Intentional Exercise?

Intentional exercise is what most of us picture when we think about working out—like going for a run, attending a barre class, or using the exercise bike in your home gym. If you're into intentional exercise, you likely plan your workouts with specific goals in mind, whether they’re short-term (getting at least 30 minutes of active cardio) or long-term (building strength so you can finally do a push-up). If you want the benefits of a formal workout but can’t find time for a full hour at the gym, you might try something called exercise snacks. These are brief sessions of planned exercise, lasting anywhere from one to ten minutes, that can make a big difference in your health, mood, and energy.

Is Incidental Exercise Enough on Its Own?

Current physical activity guidelines recommend that adults engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise each week. How you divide these 150 minutes doesn't matter too much; what truly counts is consistency. It's more beneficial to do shorter exercise sessions daily, rather than trying to fit them all in on the weekend. As Nicotera puts it, 'We need to consistently elevate our heart rates, move our bodies, and even work up a sweat.'

Nicotera suggests that if someone manages to do just over 20 minutes of incidental exercise each day, they would reach the 150-minute weekly goal. This method is an excellent way to keep moving. 'If you're trying to increase your activity levels, incidental exercise can complement other structured workouts,' she explains. 'Even if incidental exercise is your only form of activity, it's still better than nothing and may be sufficient for maintaining good health, depending on the intensity.'

Nicotera provides several examples of ways to incorporate incidental exercise into your daily life.

Walking to lunch during your break,Opting for stairs over elevators or escalators,Getting up and walking to talk to a colleague instead of emailing or calling,Parking further away from the entrance to a building,Spending time outdoors playing with your children or pets,Doing yard work,Shoveling snow,Washing your car

While incidental exercise can help you reach the 150-minute target, it generally involves low to moderate-intensity activities, which aren't as intense as a heart-pumping spin class workout. According to Sara Haley, a certified personal trainer and pre- and postnatal exercise specialist, 'While incidental exercise helps boost overall physical activity, it probably won't provide the same intensity needed for cardiovascular fitness or substantial calorie burning.'

Furthermore, incidental exercise may not offer the strength and resistance training that adults require. As Haley explains, 'Most workout routines allow you to target specific muscle groups and focus on distinct fitness goals, and they support progressive overload, where you gradually increase the intensity or difficulty of your workouts.' However, 'Incidental exercise doesn't prioritize either of these elements.'

How to Incorporate More Incidental Exercise

While it's beneficial to engage in more intense workouts a few times each week, there are numerous simple ways to boost your daily activity levels through incidental exercise. Here are a few ideas to help you get started:

Walk whenever possible.

Haley suggests that one of the easiest and fastest ways to increase incidental exercise is to walk whenever you can. Look for opportunities to be on your feet, whether it's by walking while running errands or turning your one-on-one meetings into walk-and-talk sessions instead of sitting at a conference table.

Incorporate active outings into your routine.

On weekends, when spending quality time with loved ones, consider swapping sedentary activities for active ones. Nicotera suggests taking a nature walk in the afternoon instead of watching a movie or going on a scavenger hunt with your kids instead of scrolling through your phone while they play at the park. You can even explore your own city on foot like a tourist and discover new places.

Play music and dance along.

Haley recommends playing some lively music while you're doing chores around the house. Upbeat tunes will get you dancing and moving, raising your heart rate and boosting your physical activity levels while you prepare dinner.

Start a garden and take care of it.

'Gardening is an amazing source of incidental exercise,' says Shulman. Whether you're working in a large backyard, a small front lawn, or even a city-sized balcony, cultivating a green space qualifies as incidental exercise. You'll be bending, lifting, carrying, pulling, and pushing, exerting more effort than you might realize to get your garden flourishing.

Clean your house.

Whether you see housework as a therapeutic release or just a necessary task, it can double as a workout if you approach it the right way. Reach to vacuum that tricky corner, squat to lift the laundry basket, and channel your inner dancer with the mop as if you're auditioning for Dancing With the Stars. An Indiana University study even found that people with cleaner homes tend to be more physically fit—maybe it's a coincidence, or maybe it's just incidental exercise.