Climbing stairs, mopping floors, gardening, playing energetically with kids – any form of movement that is a normal part of daily living is known as incidental activity. And the latest science is showing that it has very real benefits for our health, lowering the risk of getting some cancers and experiencing major cardiac events.
This relatively new area of study has been made possible by the advent of wearable technology, says Emmanuel Stamatakis from the University of Sydney, who is leading the research.
“Until now, we’ve relied on questionnaires,” he says. “We couldn’t measure incidental activity simply because people didn’t remember it. Now, these devices look at physical activity at a very high resolution and they are working 24 hours a day. They have opened new horizons for us in understanding its health effects.”
Using data from the UK Biobank, an international team of researchers examined the incidental physical activity of more than 25,000 non-exercisers in middle age and beyond, then tracked them for almost eight years to see how their movement patterns were related to their health status. Many of these people were highly sedentary.
“They don’t do any physical activity, including incidental,” says Stamatakis. “They live their lives from the car, to a desk, to the sofa, so they’re moving very little in their day-to-day routines.”
His findings so far suggest that even relatively small amounts of regular movement can have big results. For instance, 4-5 short bursts of vigorous activity – of about one minute each – every day is thought to reduce the risk of some cancers by up to 32%.
Short bouts of 10 minutes at moderate-to-vigorous intensity are associated with a decrease in major cardiac events (heart attack/stroke) and death by any cause. And even moving consistently at moderate intensity for 1-3 minutes brings some benefits.
As a guide, Stamatakis says if you can sing as you’re doing an activity that means it is light intensity. If you can talk but not sing, it is moderate intensity. And if you can hardly speak then you’re entering the vigorous zone.
“Vigorous intensity is extremely potent,” he explains. “It has very good health returns without much time investment.”
He isn’t suggesting that those who are very unfit push at high intensity for a long time, as that has risks. He recommends about a minute. However, at a lower intensity, the longer the better.
“A lot of people are surprised they can get benefits just from moving. They think they have to join a gym or wear special shoes. But if you tweak your daily activities, you can create opportunities to move. For shorter trips, leave the car at home and walk. Use staircases instead of lifts. Carry shopping instead of parking at the door of a mall. Anything that raises the heart rate and gets you huffing and puffing for a minute is good, as long as it’s repeated several times during the day and becomes a habit.”
Stamatakis isn’t arguing against structured exercise. His point is that despite all the official guidelines and public education about its importance, many people still aren’t willing or able to do any. In New Zealand, the latest statistics suggest that only about half of all adults manage the recommended 2.5 hours of physical activity a week, and one-in-eight are active for less than 30 minutes a week.
“So, our mission is to help those who find it hard to stick to an exercise programme make the most of their opportunities to be more physically active in their day-to-day lives,” says Stamatakis.
His group is focused on preventing cancers, cardiovascular events and dementia. Having explored the UK data, they are studying other countries – currently a large cohort in the US – and hoping to replicate their findings that regular small bursts of movement can lower the risk of disease.
“The take-home message here is any type of activity is good for your health, but the more effort you put into those daily tasks and the longer you keep up that energy, the more benefits you are likely to reap.”
