MOVING MORE, EVERY DAY

To boost your health, build more incidental movement into your day. You can get creative with how.

"Purposeful exercise” is going for a walk or run, working out, playing a sport, or anything else where you spend a period of time deliberately increasing your physical fitness. Then there’s “incidental exercise” or “incidental movement”. This is where you’re doing a task that just happens to involve moving your body, so you’re getting some exercise along the way.

A growing body of research shows that increasing incidental movement in your day can improve health and wellbeing.

WHAT’S THE EVIDENCE?

In 2018, the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans from the US Department of Health and Human Services was updated to say that any amount of physical activity that you accumulate during your day counts towards your total goal. Every little bit – even just a few minutes – gives you benefits.

These are a few of the other relevant recent studies:

• A 2017 South Korean study showed that twice-weekly gardening sessions of about 50 minutes improved blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and reduced inflammation and oxidative stress in women over 70.

• A 2017 US study found that, in adults over 65, doing any amount of incidental exercise, such as housework, gardening, and home maintenance, as well as spending a lot of time walking and standing, reduced stress levels and improved sleep quality.

• A 2019 Canadian study had sedentary young adults vigorously ascend a three-flight stairwell (60 steps), three times a day, three days a week, for six weeks. At the end, their cardiorespiratory fitness had improved.

• A 2020 Scandinavian study found that after incidental activity (such as climbing stairs), adolescents generally felt better and more energised.

• Numerous studies have found that interrupting sustained periods of sitting down with brief repeated bouts of lightintensity walking reduces insulin demand, improves glucose uptake, and can also improve blood pressure and other indicators of health.

STEPS TO FITNESS

One of the most commonly suggested ways to get incidental exercise is to avoid lifts and escalators and take the stairs instead. This is sound advice, and you can customise it.

If you have the opportunity, start with one flight, once a day, and build up over time, setting yourself goals if that helps. Remember that walking down flights of stairs works different muscles from walking up and is also beneficial.

You might want to use the rail to pull yourself up, with either one hand or two. That way you work your upper body, too.

You can also try “interval training” – moving at a slow or moderate pace for a time, then putting on bursts of vigorous activity.

Do keep a hand on the railing if you’re worried about balance. Watch your posture and think about your knees and hips when climbing stairs. If you feel pain in these joints while climbing or are concerned about anything else, stop. Check with a medical professional before doing any more.

MORE WALKING, LESS DRIVING

Wherever you’re travelling to, get off the bus a stop or two early, or park your car some distance away from where you’re going so that you walk the rest of the way. The same goes for taxis and rideshares – give them a drop-off point that is a little distance from your real destination.

You can play with this concept. Psychologically, does walking at the end of a trip or at the start work better for you? Maybe, instead, you want to do the walking part first, and then hop on a bus or into a taxi and go all the way when you’re done.

Or perhaps you’re always in too much of a rush to take the extra time to walk? If so, think about your schedule. Consciously build some extra time into your day for walking wherever it works best and you’re most likely to use it.

CLEANING UP

All the regular housework, gardening, and household maintenance you do is good for you, and these tasks work many parts of your body at once.

You could think about increasing the intensity of some of them sometimes: sweep, vacuum, scrub,

or weed with extra vigour, even just for a few minutes. Aim to make yourself puff.

You could also set your sights on a hard-to-reach task you’ve been putting off – mopping a ceiling, scrubbing into some tiny corners, sweeping cobwebs from your porch, or washing a high window. Having a double purpose – getting the job done as well as giving yourself a workout with extra bending and stretching – is often a good motivator.

Then there’s the rest of your neighbourhood. Why not take a bag and do a litter clean-up around your street, or a local park or beach? You’ll get a walk, as well as the extra movement involved in picking things up, and you’ll be doing everyone else a favour at the same time. Maybe a friend or family member would join you.

WALK AND TALK

Research from Stanford University in 2014 showed that, while walking, people were more energised and had more creative ideas.

In 2015, a Miami University pilot study put this to use and tested how useful and feasible walking meetings were in the workplace. It turns out that the walking made small meetings more productive and promoted staff bonding – as well as giving everyone some exercise.

Why not suggest it at your own work or for another project you’re part of?

The university developed protocols for walking meetings that can be easily followed:

• These meetings work best with groups of two or three people.

• Half an hour of walking or slightly longer works well.

• Arrange the meeting in advance. Don’t spring it on anyone, and ensure people are free to say no.

• Make sure everyone has comfortable walking shoes, water, and anything else important – for example, sunblock, sunglasses, a hat, or a jacket.

• End the walk at a place where discussion can be wrapped up and paper work done – and where there won’t be tempting high-calorie food.

• As with a traditional meeting, make sure everyone knows the meeting’s objective before you start, and take a printed agenda if appropriate.

EXTRA TRICKS

• If you’re meeting a friend for coffee, see if they’d like to get takeaway and go for a walk while you catch up.

• Working in the city and buying your lunch? Instead of going to your usual nearby favourite, walk to somewhere new that’s further away.

• When you go to the supermarket, do a few extra laps with your trolley or basket while you’re there.

• When you unload groceries at home, give each one a few extra lifts before putting it away.

• Pace while you’re on the phone. • Walking a dog or playing fetch is great exercise, but cats can help too. It’s easy to forget that many older cats still like to play. Make or buy a cat toy or two, and see whether they’ll chase it.

• Any time you’re waiting for something (for a kettle or pot to boil, for your microwave to go ding, for washing to finally finish, for ads to be over …) you’ve got a ready-made timer going, just waiting to be used for exercise. See what you could fill that short time with. Jogging on the spot? Star jumps? Squats? Stretches? Seeing how many laps you can do of the house? Tell yourself: Just do it and it’ll be over in no time.

• Some researchers have dubbed short bursts of exercise “exercise snacks”. If this makes them feel more appealing to you, then think of them this way.

Wherever you’re traveling to, get off the bus a stop or two early, or park your car some distance away from where you’re going so that you walk the rest of the way.

REFERENCES

Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. From the US Department of Health and Human Services: Cardiovascular Benefits and Recommendations. doi.org/10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.118.005263

Relationships between incidental physical activity, exercise, and sports with subsequent mood in adolescents. doi.org/10.1111/sms.13774

Daily Well-Being Benefits of Physical Activity in Older Adults: Does Time or Type Matter? doi. org/10.1093/geront/gnw250

Do stair climbing exercise "snacks" improve cardiorespiratory fitness? doi.org/10.1139/apnm2018-0675

Gardening intervention as a low to moderate intensity physical activity … doi.org/10.21273/ HORTSCI11232-16

Intermittent walking … in inactive middle-aged men. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2016.08.012

The effects of stair climbing … in postmenopausal women with stage 2 hypertension. doi.org/10.1097/ GME.0000000000001072

The Walking Meeting (WaM): Pilot Study, Miami, 2015. dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd13.160111