Michael Mosley, 68, skips the gym for NEAT: can 10-minute moves and small daily errands transform your energy?

The question is simple and uncomfortably modern: if you stitched together ten-minute moves and small daily errands, would your energy change in a week you actually live, not the week you fantasise about?

It’s 8.07am in a British kitchen and the kettle is muttering. The phone is already blinking. You’re not about to drive anywhere for a workout, nor do you want to. So you prop the mug under the spout, do ten slow calf raises, lean on the counter for a few push-ups, and pad up the stairs with the laundry basket instead of waiting till evening. Two minutes here. Five there. The day hasn’t even started and you’ve moved more than you did all yesterday morning.

Michael Mosley calls this quiet stream of movement NEAT: Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. It sounds technical; it feels like life. He’s 68, still skipping the gym queue for walking, carrying, standing, striding between tasks. What if this “background” effort is the bit that changes how you feel by 3pm?

The quiet power of NEAT

Watch Michael Mosley in a café and you see it. He stands to read the menu, takes the long route to the till, spends a minute on his feet while the milk steams. Nothing heroic. No Lycra. Just a decision that chairs are not home base. NEAT works like that: tiny sparks scattered through the day that stop you slipping into the long, heavy sit.

James Levine’s research once showed daily calorie burn from NEAT can differ by up to 2,000 calories between similar people. That’s wild, but forget the number and picture your street. One neighbour walks the dog twice, pops to the shop, hangs washing, waters the pots, tidies the hallway. Another commutes, sits, sits at lunch, sits at home. Same postcode, different batteries by evening.

NEAT is energy metabolism’s backstage crew. It keeps blood flowing, prevents the slump after lunch, chips away at glucose peaks by asking big muscles to wake up. Sit all morning and your body idles; stand for two minutes every half hour and you trigger small surges of activity that add up. The magic isn’t in one move, it’s in not letting the day congeal.

Ten-minute moves, real-life errands

There’s a simple circuit Mosley loves: three ten-minute “power pockets” that wrap around errands. Morning: a brisk walk to the shop or bus stop, with two flights of stairs taken fast on the way back. Midday: a standing lunch prep and a kitchen counter lean for 60 seconds, repeated thrice between chopping and stirring. Evening: a TV ad-break routine—squats to the sofa, five slow lunges per leg, a gentle plank on your elbows.

Common traps? Waiting for the perfect window. Going too hard and then doing nothing for three days. Turning NEAT into a to-do list so rigid it snaps. We’ve all had that moment when the day gets away from us and the sofa wins. Start small and local: one floor of stairs not two; a walk around the block, not a 5k. It’s less sexy than a “transformation”, yet it sticks. Let’s be honest: nobody does that every single day.

You’ll feel the shift in ordinary places—at the sink, at the printer, by the loo door—because that’s where NEAT lives. This is movement that feels like life, not a regime.

“I stopped thinking of movement as a workout, and started treating it like brushing my teeth—automatic.”

• Turn kettle time into calf raises or wall press-ups.
• Take calls standing at the window, not hunched at the desk.
• Carry your shopping in two lighter bags and walk an extra street.
• Climb the first two floors, then lift the rest if you need.
• Do ten slow squats before you switch on the TV.

What changes when you live this way

Something subtle happens after three or four days. You clock the stairs without a sigh. Your afternoon brain fog eases. You sleep slightly deeper because you’ve sprinkled effort through sunlight hours instead of dumping it all at 6pm. You also get a quiet nudge of pride from moving in public spaces. Not a performance. A private rhythm.

Friends will tell you their step counts rose without thinking, that their mood steadied, that their appetite felt less feral. You may find the scales don’t shout, at least not straight away. Energy shows up first, then posture, then stamina on hills. Small moves tend to pay in feelings before they pay in numbers. The numbers do come.

NEAT isn’t a downgrade from the gym; it’s the foundation that makes the gym tolerable. If you love classes, keep them. If you don’t, ditch the guilt. Ten-minute moves and everyday errands aren’t a consolation prize. They’re the fabric of a day that doesn’t drain you. The trick is to place them where they’ll actually happen. That’s the Mosley way: friction low, payoff high.

Think of this as a gentle heist on modern life. You steal back snippets of movement from places that forgot they had any: the commute, the kettle, the stairs to the loo, the short walk to post a letter. You change nothing dramatic, then you look up a week later and your energy has edged forward. One notch. Then another. Not perfect. Real.

FAQ :

• Does NEAT really beat a gym session?It’s not a duel. One intense session can’t undo ten hours sitting, while NEAT cushions every hour. Combining both is gold.
• How many steps should I aim for?Anywhere from 6,000 to 8,000 is a solid start. The real win is fewer long sitting stretches, more short upright bursts.
• Will ten-minute moves help with weight?They can, especially by smoothing glucose swings and nudging daily burn. The first change you’ll notice is steadier energy.
• What if I have joint pain?Favour gentle options: standing while reading, light marches, slow sit-to-stands, short walks on forgiving surfaces. Build gradually.
• How do I remember to move?Use anchors you already have—kettle boils, ad breaks, phone calls, loo trips. Put a sticky note by the remote or the mug.