Incidental Activity: What Counts as Movement

Beyond Structured Exercise

Total daily energy expenditure comprises three main components: basal metabolic rate (the energy your body uses at rest), thermic effect of food (energy used to digest and process food), and activity thermogenesis. Activity thermogenesis includes both structured exercise and non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT)—all movement outside formal exercise.

NEAT often accounts for a substantial portion of daily energy expenditure, sometimes approaching or exceeding the energy used during structured exercise. Understanding NEAT helps contextualise how daily routine and lifestyle patterns influence overall energy balance.

What Is Incidental Activity?

Incidental activity encompasses all physical movement throughout your day that is not structured, intentional exercise. This includes walking to and from places, climbing stairs, household tasks, occupational activities, playing with children or pets, gardening, cleaning, shopping, and spontaneous movement.

These activities are often automatic and require minimal conscious decision-making. Yet their accumulated energy expenditure over hours and days is significant.

Examples of Daily Incidental Activity

• Occupational Movement: Walking around an office, standing at work, moving between tasks, manual labour involved in various jobs.
• Household Tasks: Vacuuming, mopping, laundry, cooking, washing dishes, tidying, yard work, gardening.
• Transportation: Walking to bus stops, parking further away, taking stairs instead of lifts, cycling for errands.
• Leisure Movement: Playing with children, walking pets, dancing, playing recreational sports, hobbies involving movement.
• Fidgeting and Postural Movement: Shifting position while sitting, tapping feet, general restlessness, spontaneous movement.
• Shopping and Errands: Walking through shops, carrying groceries, moving between locations.
• Social Activities: Walking while socialising, exploring new places, outdoor activities with friends.

Measuring Incidental Activity

Incidental activity is difficult to measure precisely because it varies significantly day-to-day and is often unconscious. Devices like accelerometers and pedometers estimate movement, though they do not capture all types of activity (like climbing stairs or carrying objects).

Research using these devices shows that individuals in the same occupation or living situation may have dramatically different daily movement patterns based on personal choices and habits. Someone who parks further away, takes stairs, and moves frequently throughout the day may accumulate significantly more movement—and greater energy expenditure—than someone in the same job who minimises movement.

Individual Variation in NEAT

Even among people of similar size and doing similar work, daily energy expenditure from incidental activity varies considerably—sometimes by 500+ calories daily. This variation reflects differences in occupational demands, personal habits, environmental factors (urban vs. car-dependent environments, for example), and individual tendencies toward movement.

Genetics influence baseline activity levels, but individual choices and habits also play significant roles. Over extended periods, these small daily differences accumulate substantially.

Incidental Activity and Metabolic Health

Beyond energy expenditure, incidental activity supports metabolic function in ways independent of total calories burned. Regular movement throughout the day supports insulin sensitivity (your cells' responsiveness to insulin), maintains muscle tone, supports cardiovascular health, and promotes mental wellbeing.

Some research suggests that frequent breaks from sitting—even without structured exercise—beneficially affect metabolic markers like blood glucose and insulin levels.

Environmental and Occupational Influences

Where you live and work significantly influences incidental activity. Urban environments with walkable infrastructure generally support higher incidental activity than car-dependent suburban or rural settings. Occupational factors matter too—jobs involving standing, walking, or physical tasks naturally include more incidental activity than desk-based work.

However, even within similar environments and occupations, individual choices determine actual activity levels. Someone working a desk job can choose to stand frequently, walk during breaks, and use stairs rather than lifts, substantially increasing incidental activity.

Incidental Activity and Lifestyle

Incidental activity can be deliberately increased through small behaviour changes: parking further away, taking stairs, standing during phone calls, taking walking meetings, gardening, household activity, and generally choosing movement when possible.

These changes do not require structured exercise time but accumulate throughout the day. Over weeks and months, such changes meaningfully affect total daily energy expenditure.

NEAT and Overall Activity Patterns

Total daily physical activity includes both structured exercise and incidental activity. Someone who exercises regularly but is otherwise sedentary may have similar total daily activity—and total daily energy expenditure—as someone with no structured exercise but high incidental activity.

Both movement patterns support metabolic function and energy expenditure, though they may have different effects on fitness, strength, and cardiovascular health. Understanding that movement throughout the day matters helps contextualise physical activity within daily life.