Summer has a way of adding more movement to your day. The lawn needs cutting. The car could use a wash. A trip to the beach where you’re carrying chairs, coolers and bags across the sand. Even an afternoon wandering through a farmers’ market or festival can keep you on your feet for hours.
All that movement adds up. In fact, there’s a name for some of the energy you use doing everyday activities outside of planned workouts: non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or NEAT.
What is NEAT?
NEAT is the energy your body uses for everyday movement that isn’t deliberate exercise. That can include standing, walking, cleaning, climbing stairs, doing household chores and moving around throughout the day.
While your gym workouts give you dedicated time to build strength, endurance, mobility and other areas of fitness, the movement happening between those workouts add to your daily expenditure.
The Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines recommend that adults get several hours of light physical activity throughout the day, alongside at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic activity each week and muscle-strengthening activities at least twice a week. The guidelines also encourage breaking up long periods of sitting whenever possible.
Summer gives us plenty of opportunities to do just that. Here are eight everyday summer activities that are adding more movement to your day than you realize.
- Gardening and yard work
There’s a lot happening physically when you spend an afternoon in the yard.
Mowing the lawn keeps you walking while pushing and steering. Gardening can have you squatting, kneeling, reaching and moving between plants. Add digging, raking, pulling weeds, carrying soil or watering plants and you’re using your whole body in different ways.
Activities such as digging and raking involve the arms, shoulders, legs and core, while planting and weeding add plenty of reaching, pulling and repositioning. Not only do you get a tidier yard, fresh herbs or vegetables, but you also get a little more movement along the way.
- Washing the car
A driveway car wash can be surprisingly active. You’re walking around the vehicle, reaching across the roof, bending to clean the wheels, carrying buckets and using your arms to scrub, rinse and dry.
It’s also a good example of how NEAT works in your everyday. You probably wouldn’t log “wash car” as your workout for the day, but your body is still moving instead of sitting. And sometimes that’s the important part: finding more opportunities to be on your feet.
- Exploring a farmers’ market or summer festival
A summer farmers’ market, street festival, outdoor concert, amusement park or day spent exploring a new neighbourhood can mean significantly more time standing and walking than your usual routine.
Those steps can accumulate without a designated walking route or step goal. You’re simply moving because there’s somewhere you want to go and something you want to see. If you want to add a little more, walk to the event when possible, get off transit a stop early or take another lap before heading home.
- Spending the day at the beach or park
Getting to your spot might be the first activity of the day. There are bags to carry, coolers to haul, chairs to unfold and sometimes a long stretch of grass or sand between the parking lot and wherever you’re setting up.
Once you’re there, a beach or park day can naturally include walking, swimming, tossing a Frisbee, kicking a ball, playing lawn games or making repeated trips to the water. Just enjoy the day and move when the opportunity comes up.
- Playing with the kids or the dog
Some of the best movement looks a lot like play. Chasing kids through the backyard, walking around the splash pad, throwing a ball for the dog or heading out for an evening stroll.
You can make it as relaxed or active as you want. Join the game of tag. Walk instead of watching from the bench. Grab a ball and get everyone involved. It may be their playtime, but you’re getting something out of it too.
- Tackling outdoor chores and projects
Just like taking care of the garden, summer is prime time for all the jobs that have been waiting since winter. Cleaning the patio. Washing windows. Sweeping the deck. Painting a fence. Organizing the garage. Moving outdoor furniture. Finally dealing with whatever has been hiding in the shed. Or building a new shed.
These jobs tend to involve plenty of standing, walking, lifting, carrying, reaching and bending. Try looking at your to-do list differently: along with getting something crossed off, you’re creating another opportunity to spend less of the day sitting.
- Walking or biking for short trips
If the coffee shop, grocery store, library or friend’s place is nearby, consider leaving the car behind and walking or biking instead. Some errands become a lot more appealing on a sunny day. Changing how you get there builds more activity into the trip.
It can also be an easy way to add movement without finding another opening in your schedule. Build walking and those 10,0000 steps into the things you’re already doing rather than overthinking the number.
- Camping and summer getaways
Getting away from your normal routine can create a whole new one.
Setting up a tent, carrying gear, unloading the car, collecting firewood, walking around a campground or making your way to the lake can keep you moving throughout the day.
The same applies to cottage weekends and day trips. Exploring on foot, carrying supplies down to the beach or getting out on the water can make an otherwise relaxing getaway surprisingly active.
A workout may be the most intentional movement you do all day, but it doesn’t have to be the only movement. Pair those everyday opportunities with regular strength and cardio workouts and you have more ways to keep your body moving throughout the summer.
Just remember that hot weather changes how your body handles physical activity. Stay hydrated, take extra breaks when you need them and consider moving strenuous outdoor jobs to cooler parts of the day during extreme heat. So go ahead and cut the grass, wander the market or finally wash the car. Your summer movement might already be adding up.
Looking for a little more structure? Try GoodLife’s 14-Day Summer Workout Plan to build strength and momentum alongside all that everyday movement.