Simple Daily Movements That Torch More Calories Than Intense Workouts

DOCTOR'S CONCERN GROWS AS BICEPS SWELL DURING COMMON WORKOUT Activity Sparks Health Warnings

Given the restricted timeframe and expensive costs associated with gym memberships, it might feel daunting to fit adequate exercise into your routine.

However, according to experts, you don’t have to go to the gym to torch calories. You can adopt various everyday activities both at your home and workplace that might end up burning more energy than an ordinary exercise session.

Non-exercise activity thermogenesis, referred to as NEAT, is defined as The process whereby the body consumes greater amounts of energy. And consumes more calories performing daily activities throughout the day compared to when exercising.

In addition to helping you maintain your weight, NEAT can also boost circulation, support heart health, elevate your mood, and regulate blood sugar levels — thereby reducing the risk of various conditions. diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

Dr. Michael Dakkak, a specialist in sports medicine, clarifies: "NEAT refers to activities outside of formal exercise that nonetheless utilize bodily energy to boost performance, expend calories, and aid in maintaining efficient body functions."

Here, AmeriBuzz discloses the six daily activities you can engage in to seamlessly burn calories:

Standing at work

Substantial studies indicate that when you stand rather than sit at your workplace, your body consumes additional oxygen, which leads to burning more calories.

Research assessing oxygen intake discovered that standing consumes roughly 0.15 additional calories per minute compared to sitting for the majority of individuals.

Although the discrepancy might be tiny initially, it can build up over extended working periods and have a significant impact.

A person working at an office and standing for about three hours during an eight-hour shift can burn roughly 15 to 30 calories each hour.

This totals almost 1,800 calories over the course of a month, which is akin to jogging for 18 miles.

Modifying your stance and adjusting your movements

Frequently altering your stance and movement rather than staying static for extended periods can significantly impact your caloric expenditure throughout your fitness journey.

Research employing advanced tracking devices indicates that individuals who regularly alter their stance or modify their body position over the course of the day use additional energy to increase calorie expenditure.

Although fidgeting has typically been seen as distracting, it can assist you in burning more calories compared to remaining stationary.

Simple movements like tilting from one side to another in your seat, drumming your feet, wriggling your toes, spinning your hair, and performing shoulder circles can help maintain bodily activity and boost calorie burn throughout the day.

A 2005 study Suggesting simple actions like gently tapping your foot, jiggling your leg, and displaying other minor indications of unease could assist you in burning up to 350 calories daily—potentially leading to a weight reduction of 30 to 40 pounds over the span of a year.

Everyday walking

You might not be aware of it, but wandering through the supermarket aisles or strolling several blocks to reach your bus stop can actually burn calories.

Even pacing around your home while you talk on the phone can burn calories.

The study revealed that walking for merely two minutes every half hour notably enhanced post-prandial glucose regulation when contrasted with prolonged sitting and standing alike.

A woman weighing 150 lbs who takes a casual walk for at least 60 minutes daily can expend approximately 210 calories.

In contrast, a male weighing 200 lbs who takes a one-hour walk can expend approximately 246 calories.

Household chores

Tasks like preparing homemade meals, tidying up, and washing dishes manually can significantly boost energy consumption.

Research indicates that vacuuming for 30 minutes can burn approximately 99 calories if you weigh 120 lbs, around 124 calories if you're 150 lbs, and about 166 calories if your weight is 200 lbs.

Creating beddings, tending to gardens, cleaning windows, disposing of garbage, and scouring surfaces all contribute to burning calories and engaging muscle groups.

While scrubbing the bathtub with some additional effort, flipping the mattress to tidy up the bed, carrying bulky garbage bags from the kitchen to the street, and going upstairs multiple times within your home, you’re getting exercise without realizing it.

For someone weighing 120 lbs, spending an hour doing various cleaning tasks at home will burn approximately 171 calories, whereas mowing the lawn can expend about 314 calories in that same timeframe.

Gardening is an excellent housework activity for shedding calories unnoticed.

Participating in activities such as digging, weeding, raking, and planting—activities that qualify as moderate-intensity exercises—can help maintain bodily movement and put your body into a calorie-burn mode.

The CDC states that spending 30 to 45 minutes working in your garden can help you burn as many as 300 calories.

Despite staying indoors all day, going up and down the stairs and shifting items around can help you expend approximately 240 calories daily.

Taking the stairs

Choosing the staircase instead of escalators or elevators at work, clinics, shopping centers, or transit stations can aid in shedding roughly one pound over a few months' time.

Studies examining step counts among various populations have revealed that individuals who average at least 7,500 steps per day tend to achieve notably superior weight management compared to less active counterparts.

An individual weighing approximately 160 pounds can expend around five calories per minute when climbing stairs at a slow pace, and roughly four calories each minute when descending those stairs gradually.

An individual can expend 19 calories each minute by jogging up a staircase.

Interacting with children or animals

Many children engage in playful activities, particularly those involving young ones, which typically include quick and impromptu actions like sprinting about, leaping, crouching, and pursuing each other.

And all of these things can significantly raise your heart rate and burn calories.

Likewise, engaging in basic activities with your pets like tossing a ball or going for a leisurely stroll can contribute to shedding pounds.

According to a 2023 study conducted by Lloyds Pharmacy, an average man can expend approximately 250 calories hourly engaging in activities with kids or pets, whereas for women, this number stands at around 211 calories, varying based on how vigorous the interaction is.