Fitness
At 55, Zoe Ball relies on NEAT exercise to stay fit without the gym – here’s how to make it work
If the thought of gruelling gym sessions leaves you cold, you’re in good company. Almost eight years on from her Sport Relief cycling challenge, where she cycled over 350 miles from Blackpool to Brighton, beloved radio broadcaster Zoe Ball has turned to a more sustainable, low-intensity form of movement: NEAT exercise.
Standing for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis, NEAT exercise refers to any movement you do that isn’t planned exercise, like walking or doing chores. For Zoe, it means gardening. ‘We cannot underestimate the power of gardening and how good it is for your health,’ she said on a recent episode of Dig It, the podcast she co-hosts alongside radio presenter Jo Whiley. ‘What I love about it the most is it doesn’t matter if I’m out there for two, three minutes, half an hour. The world is quite overwhelming at the moment, and when the kids drive me mad or anything like that I just get out there – whether that’s to tidy up, sweep up or just sit on a bench with a cup of coffee and watch the birds and all the insects.’
Back in lockdown, she even referred to gardening as ‘life-changing’ in an interview with the Radio Times, explaining that 15 minutes every evening had provided some much-needed solace.
While Zoe waxes lyrical about the mental benefits, the physical pros are unparalleled. Non-intentional exercise makes up significantly more of your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure – how many calories you burn across each day), compared to the time you spend exercising in a gym or doing a planned workout. NEAT makes up around 50%, while a planned workout typically counts for roughly 10%. The more you fit movement into your day, the more energy you expend.
‘NEAT exercise is a great way to control and maintain a healthy weight,’ explains GP and trainer Dr Folusha Oluwajana. ‘Increasing your NEAT increases your metabolic rate as you will burn more calories throughout the day. People with higher NEAT levels are often more successful at achieving and maintaining weight loss.’
As for gardening in particular, research published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health found that tasks such as digging, raking and weeding meet the criteria for moderate-intensity exercise and count toward weekly physical activity recommendations. Other research has linked regular gardening to lower BMI, improved wellbeing, and reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.
Need some inspo? Check out Zoe’s recent garden transformation.
Examples of NEAT
- Washing the car
- Using a standing desk
- Walking upstairs over using the lift or escalator
- Dog walking
- Carrying grocery shopping
- Playing with children or pets
- Walking instead of taking public or private transport
As Women’s Health UK’s fitness director and a qualified Pilates and yoga instructor, Bridie Wilkins has been passionately reporting on exercise, health and nutrition since the start of her decade-long career in journalism.
After earning a first-class degree in journalism and NCTJ accreditation, she secured her first role at Look Magazine, where she launched the magazine’s health and fitness column, Look Fit, before going on to become Health and Fitness writer at HELLO!
Since, she has written for Stylist, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Elle, The Metro, Runner’s World and Red. Today, she oversees all fitness content across Women’s Health online and in print, spearheading leading cross-platform franchises, such as ‘Fit At Any Age’, which showcases the women proving that age is no barrier to exercise.
She has also represented the brand on BBC Radio London, plus various podcasts and Substacks – all with the aim to encourage more women to exercise and show them how. Outside of work, find her trying the latest Pilates studio, testing her VO2 max for fun (TY, Oura), or posting workouts on Instagram.
Fitness
Scientists Say Most Adults Need 4 Times More Exercise Than Recommended for Major Heart Benefits
Substantial heart health benefits may require 560-610 minutes of weekly exercise, with lower fitness individuals needing even more activity to achieve similar protection.
Adults may need far more exercise than current public health guidelines recommend to significantly lower their risk of heart attack and stroke, according to an observational study published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Researchers found that adults needed between 560 and 610 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each week for a substantial reduction in cardiovascular risk. That is roughly 3 to 4 times higher than the current recommendation of at least 150 minutes weekly of activities such as brisk walking, running, or cycling.
The findings also suggest that people with lower fitness levels need slightly more exercise than highly fit individuals to achieve the same cardiovascular benefits.
Researchers said current exercise recommendations may need to move away from a one-size-fits-all approach and instead provide personalized goals based on a person’s fitness level.
VO2 Max and Cardiovascular Fitness Explained
Cardiorespiratory fitness differs widely between individuals and is considered a strong indicator of heart health. Researchers noted that low cardiorespiratory fitness is closely linked to a higher risk of heart attacks, strokes, and early death.
One common way to measure fitness is through VO2 max, which reflects the maximum amount of oxygen the body can use during intense exercise. The measurement shows how efficiently the heart, lungs, and muscles work together to deliver and use oxygen.
Researchers from Macao Polytechnic University in China investigated how physical activity levels and cardiorespiratory fitness, measured through VO2 max, influenced cardiovascular disease risk.
UK Biobank Study Tracks Exercise and Heart Events
The study analyzed data from 17,088 participants in the UK Biobank study collected between 2013 and 2015. Participants had an average age of 57, while 56% were women and 96% were white.
Participants wore wrist devices for seven consecutive days to track their normal exercise levels. They also completed a cycling test to estimate VO2 max.
The researchers included additional information such as smoking habits, alcohol use, self reported health and diet, body mass index, resting heart rate, and blood pressure.
Over an average follow-up period of 7.8 years, researchers recorded 1,233 cardiovascular events. These included 874 cases of atrial fibrillation, 156 heart attacks, 111 cases of heart failure, and 92 strokes.
560–610 Minutes Weekly Linked to Stronger Risk Reduction
Adults who met the current guideline of 150 minutes of exercise per week saw a modest 8% to 9% reduction in cardiovascular risk, regardless of fitness level.
However, achieving a more substantial reduction of greater than 30% required between 560 and 610 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise weekly. Only 12% of participants reached that level of activity.
Lower Fitness Levels Require More Physical Activity
The analysis showed that participants with the lowest fitness levels needed about 30 to 50 additional minutes of exercise each week compared with highly fit individuals to gain similar benefits.
For example, a person with low fitness needed about 370 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise each week to reduce cardiovascular risk by 20%, compared with 340 minutes for someone with high fitness.
The researchers say, “This finding highlights the steeper challenge faced by deconditioned populations.”
Researchers Call for Personalized Exercise Guidelines
Because the study was observational, the researchers said it cannot prove cause and effect. They also acknowledged that participants may have been healthier and fitter than the general population. Additional limitations included estimating cardiorespiratory fitness rather than directly measuring it and not tracking sedentary behavior or lighter physical activity.
The team said the findings support current exercise guidelines as an effective minimum target for cardiovascular protection. However, they added that more personalized recommendations could help motivated individuals further reduce their heart disease risk.
“Future guidelines may need to differentiate between the minimal moderate to vigorous exercise volume required for a basic safety margin and the substantially higher volumes necessary for optimal cardiovascular risk reduction,” they conclude.
Reference: “Joint non-linear dose–response associations of device-measured physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness with cardiovascular disease: a cohort and Mendelian randomisation study” by Zhide Liang, Senyao Du, Shiao Zhao, Xianfei Wang, Qiang Yan, Baichao Xu, Sanfan Ng and Ziheng Ning, 19 May 2026, British Journal of Sports Medicine.
DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2025-111351
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“In space we don’t experience any forces, our muscles, our bones immediately start to diminish because we’re not being loaded by those forces,” says Dr Dan Cleather, professor of strength and conditioning at St Mary’s University who is on the team developing the British equipment, HIFIm.
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Coming on the heels of the exercise-crazed 1980s, with its ubiquitous leg warmers and tights, were the 1990s. During the decade, cardio-packed martial arts workout videos and stationary bike spinning classes came into vogue, as well as some new gym lingo. And, while the decade did get some things right when it came to health and fitness — like the Health At Every Size Movement and the culmination of the U.S. government’s push to promote its Healthy People guidelines — it also got some things very wrong, especially when it came to its fitness jargon. We just can’t forget the fact that these popular ’90s catchphrases sounded quite ridiculous, not just today, but even back then. With that said, here are some of the classic cringeworthy slogans of the era, which you might recognize if you’re a Millennial, Gen Xer, or Boomer.
Tae Bo Nation (and Work It)
By the late 1990s, fitness guru Billy Blanks seemed to be touting his Tae Bo kickboxing-meets-martial-arts videos on every screen. Thus, his calls to form a “Tae Bo nation” and to “Work it!” became commonplace.
Interestingly, Blanks refused to follow a script for his Tae Bo videos (via Men’s Health). Consequently, his enthusiasm was totally legitimate (and smile-inducing) for everyone involved. As Blanks told The New York Times in 2026, “Even though we were working out hard, we were having so much fun with doing it.”
Unlike many fitness trends that completely disappeared, Tae Bo has demonstrated some staying power, with today’s generation rediscovering the classic workout, albeit without the “Work it!” catchphrase or the tight neon outfits.
Abs of steel
The 1980s saw the birth of “Buns of Steel” workout videos, featuring glute-burning exercises. The slogan took on a new form in the 1990s and became “Abs of Steel,” a branded workout featuring toned fitness instructor Tamilee Web that eventually took off as a catchphrase as well.
Even nowadays, it’s used as a figure of expression (or even ironically in memes) because of how everyone associates well-developed abs with toughness. Obviously, though, everyone knows that toned abs aren’t literally as hard as steel. (Check out these ab exercises that should be in your workout routine.)
Boo-yah!
In the ’90s, it wasn’t that uncommon to hear someone utter, “Boo-yah!” after any great accomplishment, like winning at sports or completing a particularly intense workout. In fact, the strange term became a one-word catchphrase after ESPN reporter Stuart Scott kept saying it during the early part of the decade.
According to Scott’s college friend Fred Tindal (via The Ringer), “boo-yah” was a misspelling of how someone used to describe the sound of a thunderstorm to them (“crack crack crack crack crack boo-yaw”). Interestingly, while Scott popularized the phrase, he didn’t invent it; experts traced its roots to West Coast hip-hop (per Slate).
Stop the insanity!
Fitness star Susan Powter gained popularity in the 1990s for her passionate cry to “Stop the insanity,” a rallying call for people to move beyond restrictive dieting and fad fitness trends toward true holistic health. Though it earned Powter positive attention (and a guest spot on “The Tonight Show”), her catchphrase also became the subject of jokes and spoofs on various TV shows of the era.
Ultimately, Powter’s following faded. But while her catchphrase is no longer popular, its message remains significant, as evidenced by the growing movement towards fitness at any size.
Squeeze your way to shapely hips and thighs
Longtime actress and model Suzanne Somers shook up the 1990s when she starred in ThighMaster exercise product infomercials, where she claimed it was possible to “squeeze your way to shapely hips and thighs.”
Consumers seemed to buy into the silly slogan: On the “Hollywood Raw” podcast, Somers claimed that they “stopped counting” when they reached 10 million copies sold (via Yahoo!).
But does Somers’ ThighMaster actually work, as the catchphrase suggests? “[With the ThighMaster], you’ll build muscle, but it’s not going to be functional in any way,” fitness expert Justin Price told the Los Angeles Times, reinforcing what we know about spot reduction being fiction.
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