This post was last updated on August 13th, 2026 at 02:59 pm
When it comes to physical fitness, I’ve felt for a long time that those mundane movements that happen throughout one’s day are more important than many researchers and fitness gurus seem to realize. In my world, walking from one room to another room counts for something. Big movements tend to receive the most attention, but what about all the tiny movements? The research is starting to show they matter, too.
A new study on the potential benefits of short bursts of physical activity found that climbing stairs or walking for as little as 10 seconds burns a surprising amount of energy. The study sought to separate the amount of energy it takes to move continuously versus moving for brief periods. The study’s author, Dr. Francesco Luciano of the University of Milan, said his study found that the body requires more energy to initiate a movement and less energy to move continuously. “We found that walking in shorter bouts requires more energy—and more oxygen—to cover the same distance, compared to covering it continuously. It’s like a car using more fuel during the first few kilometers,” he told The Times in London.
A few other recent studies also speak to the significance of these short bursts of movement. Several months ago, I interviewed a researcher from the University of Sydney, Dr. Emmanuel Stamatakis, who studies incidental physical activity, which includes all of our non-exercise movements. (Another researcher, Dr. James Levine, calls this type of movement non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or NEAT.) One of Dr. Stamatakis’ most recent studies found that as little as one-and-a-half minutes of vigorous incidental physical activity each day lowered the risk of heart failure among women by 40% and all types of cardiovascular disease by 30%. That’s a huge benefit for a tiny amount of work.
The idea that short bursts of movements can be beneficial is exciting from the standpoint that it means many of us shouldn’t have to significantly alter our daily routines to gain these health benefits. Ten seconds, for a lot of people, might mean the length of time it takes them to walk from the bedroom to the basement. It’s very doable!
The challenge in helping people to learn to move more
While these new studies offer good news, a problem is that everyone’s daily routine is unique and contains opportunities to move that others cannot replicate, even if they wanted to. For example, when I iron my dress shirts, I grab the ironing board and iron in our basement. I haul those two items upstairs and then I return to the basement to grab a jug of distilled water (for a grand total of four trips up and down the stairs) for the steam iron. I also hunt down hangars in the bedroom and my wrinkled dress shirts. Yes, this setup is more inconvenient than it has to be, but I’m being intentional in seeking to add a dose of physical activity to my day.
But can you imagine a doctor or physical trainer actually recommending this ironing routine as a legitimate way for millions of people to move more? Of course not.
One of the reasons it’s so difficult to communicate how to become more physically active is that everybody will have a different reason for needing to move throughout their home, whether it’s traveling the basement stairs or moving from one room to another. Most of the advice from researchers and doctors is generalized because people’s daily routines are so varied. Doctors might advise patients to walk more, but they cannot easily examine your home’s setup and analyze daily routines to figure out how an individual might walk more while accomplishing routine, household tasks.
Why the physically active mindset is so important
Ultimately, it’s up to each one of us to figure out how to pepper our daily routines with more short bursts of movement. To do this, it’s helpful to develop what I call the physically active mindset. When you have a physically active mindset, it becomes easier to see the numerous ways you can add movement to your daily routine.
Indeed, one of my favorite pieces of advice (part of my Frugalmatic Starter Kit) is to embrace what I call the “double-back.” The double-back happens when you walk from one room to another room, only to realize you must return to the previous room to grab something that you forgot or didn’t realize you needed. For example, let’s say you’re working on a plumbing project in a bathroom and realize that you need a certain tool from your basement. Rather than grumble about having to travel downstairs to grab it, consider this situation an opportunity to add a burst of movement to your day. It goes from being an inconvenience to an opportunity, according to the physically active mindset.
Sure, these opportunities might sound a bit silly when trying to describe them to someone else. Yet it is these types of seemingly insignificant events that, in my opinion, make for a truly physically active life, especially if repeated throughout the day and carried into different settings, including at work.
The physically active mindset embraces tasks that other mindsets dismiss as burdens or inconveniences. I’ll admit that I don’t always embrace the “double-back.” But rather than become irritated when I need to walk across our home to grab some necessary item, I remind myself that the double-back is an opportunity to move more.
With small bursts, it’s a ‘penny earned, penny saved’ situation
When we talk about the value of these short bursts of movement, it’s important to view them in their totality. It’s kind of like that old saying, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” A handful of pennies saved isn’t much, but if you’re saving your pennies each hour and each day over a period of weeks and years, it adds up. Something similar can be said about movement. A single trip up and down your basement stairs doesn’t make for a physically active lifestyle. But if you’re finding many different ways to add movement to your day, you are forming a physically active lifestyle, or at least you’re that much closer to forming one.