How Incidental Exercise Can Help You Get Fit

Can't get to the gym? Try doing some "incidental" exercise instead. Incidental exercise is exercise you do when you're not engaged in a structured workout. It's the daily activities you do every day like raking leaves, running the vacuum cleaner, taking out the trash and scrubbing the floors. Most people don't count this as part of their exercise program, but new research shows that these activities count when it comes to fitness.

Can Incidental Exercise Get You Fitter?

You already know that taking brisk walks, jogging or cycling can improve aerobic capacity and the health of your heart, but what about moving furniture, washing the car or carrying out a heavy container of trash? According to an article published in The Journal of Psychopharmacology, these activities can improve cardiovascular fitness even if you don't do any formal exercise.

When they hooked an accelerometer to a group of overweight adults to record their daily activities, they found that those who moved around the most during the day had better cardiovascular fitness than those who spent more time sitting in a chair. This was true despite the fact that none of the participants did any formal exercise and their periods of exercise were unstructured and brief, for example, chasing after a child or sweeping the basement floor. It seems that even short periods of exercise can boost fitness levels at least to some degree.

How Many Calories Do You Burn in Incidental Exercise?

Incidental exercise adds up when it comes to calories burned too. Keep track of your daily activities by keeping an incidental activity diary. Write down every activity you do during the day even small things like taking out the trash and sweeping the floor. You may be surprised at how many calories you burned. Moving or carrying heavy objects for 15 minutes burns almost 140 calories, while working out vigorously in your garden for 30 minutes burns over 200 calories. Even painting the house for 30 minutes blasts away 126 calories.

When you stay active you lower your risk of death too. A recent study showed that people who sit for long periods of time have a greater risk of dying prematurely from all causes. It's important to stay active throughout the day.

How Can You Use This Information?

Don't give up your gym membership. There are still benefits to doing more sustained periods of exercise, but you'll burn more calories and get greater health benefits by finding ways to stay more active.

If you work a desk job, train yourself to get up at least every hour to move around. When you're at home, don't sit in front of the computer for hours at a time. Break up your computer time by cleaning the windows, taking out the trash or washing your car. You'll get more incidental exercise, burn more calories and get more done too.

References:

NY Times Blog. "Fidgeting Your Way to Fitness"

Health News Daily. "Attention Exercise Haters: Everyday Activities Improve Fitness"