Even seemingly boring movement like window washing benefits the body
We live in an era when the fitness industry is bigger than ever before. Exercise apps, smart watches measuring every step, online coaches and expensive gym memberships – it seems as though movement is only possible in sportswear, with a bottle of protein drink in hand and the right playlist in your ears. And yet, more and more scientists and health experts are returning to a simple truth: your body largely doesn't care whether you burn calories on an elliptical trainer or while washing windows. What matters is that you move.
This seemingly trivial insight has very deep roots in how our bodies and minds function. So-called NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) – that is, the energy expenditure associated with all physical activity that is not intentional exercise – accounts, according to research, for a significantly larger portion of the average person's total daily energy expenditure than sport itself. In other words, what we do outside the gym has a greater impact on our health than most of us are willing to admit.
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Household chores as movement we underestimate
Let's take a specific example: Jana, a thirty-year-old teacher from Brno, had long complained of fatigue and weight gain. She had no time for sport, and work was exhausting her. But one day during a spring clean, she spent an entire afternoon washing windows, mopping floors and moving furniture. The next day she felt surprisingly good – aching muscles, but also a pleasant sense of accomplishment and energy. She didn't realise that over those few hours she had burned approximately the same number of calories as during an hour's walk at a brisk pace.
There are millions of people like Jana. And their experience is no coincidence – it's physiology. Washing windows is a physically demanding activity, engaging the muscles of the arms, shoulders, back and core. You stand, stretch, shift your weight and repeat movements in various planes. Exactly the way our joints and muscles like it. Moreover, unlike the stereotypical repetition of movements in the gym, household chores naturally alternate between different types of loading – and this is extremely valuable from the perspective of functional movement.
According to a study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, the difference in NEAT between two people of the same weight and height can reach up to 2,000 calories per day. That is a figure that no hour of exercise three times a week can compensate for, if you spend the rest of the day motionless in front of a screen.
Of course, this does not mean that intentional sport is unnecessary. Regular aerobic exercise and strength training have irreplaceable benefits for the cardiovascular system, bone density, mental health and longevity. But excessive focus on "real" movement while ignoring everyday activity is a mistake that can have real health consequences – particularly for people who sit at work for eight hours a day.
A sedentary lifestyle is now identified as one of the greatest health risks of modern times. The World Health Organization states that physical inactivity is the fourth most common risk factor for premature mortality worldwide. And yet the solution need not be dramatic – it can begin with a bucket of water and a cloth for the windows.
Movement as medicine for body and mind
It is fascinating how readily we accept the idea that movement must be an effort to be worthwhile. As though the rule were: if we're not suffering, it doesn't count. Yet our bodies were not designed this way. Evolutionary biology tells us that homo sapiens was in motion for almost all of the hundreds of thousands of years of our existence – gathering, hunting, building, carrying, digging. This was not movement organised into hourly blocks with breaks. It was movement distributed naturally throughout the entire day, functional, varied and purposeful.
Washing windows, mowing the garden, hand-washing laundry, carrying shopping on foot or moving boxes when relocating – all of these activities fit precisely into this evolutionary pattern. The body is prepared for them, indeed created for them. And it responds to them positively, even though modern society has stopped regarding them as "sport."
The psychological perspective is equally interesting. Physical work connected to a visible result has an extraordinarily positive effect on the psyche. Clean windows, a tidy house, a mowed lawn – these are immediate, tangible rewards that the brain processes very willingly. Unlike the abstract "I worked out today," household chores bring a sense of competence, control and order. Psychologists call this "behavioural activation" – the activation of behaviour that interrupts cycles of passivity and depressive states.
As British psychiatrist and author Mark Williamson wrote: "Movement is not just about the body. It is one of the most effective tools we have for caring for our mental health – and the form it takes does not matter."
Research repeatedly shows that even mild physical activity – such as walking around the house, working in the garden or indeed washing windows – reduces cortisol levels (the stress hormone), increases endorphin production and improves mood. The effect sets in much faster than most people think. Sometimes twenty minutes of physical work is enough to significantly improve one's mental state.
Also interesting is what happens to our perception of household chores depending on how we frame them. Research from Harvard led by psychologist Ellen Langer showed that hotel chambermaids who began to perceive their work as exercise (rather than drudgery) recorded measurable improvements in health indicators after four weeks – even though their actual activity had not changed at all. The mere awareness that we are moving and that it is meaningful influences biological outcomes. This is a powerful argument for stopping treating household chores as a waste of time and starting to see them as an investment in health.
There is yet another dimension that receives less attention – and that is the quality of the environment in which we perform movement. Washing windows is not just about the movement itself. It is also about caring for the space in which we live. Clean air, natural light passing through clean glass, an ordered interior – all of this has a demonstrable effect on our wellbeing and productivity. Studies show that people in well-lit and clean spaces sleep better, are less anxious and perform better. So washing windows is actually a triple investment: in movement, in psychological wellbeing and in the quality of the environment.
On the practical side, it is worth noting that the choice of cleaning products in household chores also has a health and ecological dimension. Conventional chemical preparations can irritate the respiratory tract and skin, while natural alternatives – vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice or eco-friendly cleaning products – are gentler on both the body and the environment. Regular movement combined with caring for the home can thus be part of a broader approach to a sustainable and healthy lifestyle.
How to get the most out of everyday activities
Accepting the idea that "mundane" movement has value is the first step. But how can one consciously incorporate it into life without it feeling like yet another item on an already overcrowded list of obligations?
The key is a change of perspective, not of schedule. Rather than looking for extra time to exercise, one can begin to see everyday activities as opportunities for movement. Walking to get the newspaper instead of taking the car. Mopping the floor by hand instead of using a robotic vacuum. Washing windows by hand instead of using a pressure washer. Carrying shopping in a bag instead of a wheeled trolley. Each of these choices is small, but together they make a significant difference.
Another useful tool is consciously engaging the body even in seemingly passive situations. Walking around the room while on the phone. Stretching your calves while waiting for the bus. Standing on one leg while cooking to train your balance. These micro-activities don't look like exercise – and yet they contribute to the overall movement profile of the day in a way that is scientifically supported.
For those who want to be more systematic about movement, the concept of so-called "movement snacks" may be inspiring. These are short, two- to five-minute bursts of movement distributed throughout the day. Research shows that this approach is comparably effective to a single longer workout in terms of metabolic health – and for many people it is mentally far more accessible.
There are people who, after reading something like this, feel relieved – because someone has finally told them they don't have to go to the gym to be healthy. But there are also those who worry that this is merely an excuse for laziness. The truth lies somewhere in between. Household chores will not replace intentional sport – but they can complement it meaningfully, and in many cases are better than nothing. And for a large portion of the population who, for various reasons, do not engage in organised sport, they can literally be a safety net for basic physical health.
It is worth reflecting that for most of human history, movement was a natural part of everyday survival – not a performance or a hobby. It was only the Industrial Revolution and the digital age that turned it into something that needs to be organised, planned and purchased. Perhaps it is time to partially return to this original relationship with movement. Not out of nostalgia, but out of pragmatism. Because our bodies are designed to move – and they are grateful for every opportunity we give them to do so. Even when that opportunity comes in the form of a bucket of water, a cloth and frosted windows in February.
