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The latest update to the World Health Organization’s guidelines on physical activity and lifestyle emphasizes that “every move counts toward better health.” These guidelines encourage people to reduce sedentary time by incorporating physical activity of any intensity and duration into their daily routines. This marks a shift from previous recommendations, which suggested accumulating at least 10-minute bouts of moderate or vigorous activity to achieve health benefits. However, new evidence shows that even short efforts—just one or two minutes—can have a meaningful impact on our health. That’s why promoting incidental physical activity is considered a promising strategy to reduce sedentary behaviour and physical inactivity across the population.

But what exactly is Incidental Physical Activity, and how does it benefit our health? Researchers from Universidad Santo Tomás, Universidad de Concepción in Chile, and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona have conducted a review study that offers a clear conceptualization of the term. They define incidental physical activity as movement that occurs unintentionally in daily life, resulting from actions whose main purpose is something else—such as commuting, working, studying, or performing household tasks.

The study also provides strong evidence that incidental activity is linked to a significantly lower risk of death from all causes, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes. It also has a positive effect on mental health and overall well-being. Because it’s more accessible and less intimidating than structured exercise, many people are able to maintain it over time—leading to lasting improvements in mood, energy levels, and self-perceived health.

However, measuring incidental activity still presents challenges, particularly in terms of how well current tools can capture the diversity of behaviours it includes, as well as the methods used to process the collected data. Improving these aspects will allow researchers to develop more robust models that explain how and why incidental activity works, while accounting for both individual and contextual factors. This perspective is essential to building a solid theoretical foundation and addressing today’s global challenges related to physical inactivity and its impact on public health.

Integrating physical activity into everyday life around the world is no small task—but it’s one worth striving for. Let’s move forward, together!