Episode 57Apr 8, 2026· 7:10
Your Chores Count: The Science of Everyday Movement with Physiotherapy Researcher Sunaina Chopra
About this episode
What if the workout you've been skipping credit for has been happening all along? Physiotherapy and PhD student Sunaina Chopra from the University of British Columbia breaks down the science behind non-conventional physical activity, and the research will genuinely surprise you. From gardening studies published in The Lancet to findings that show housework is just as effective as traditional exercise, this episode…
Listener reactions
💡1
🤝2
🔥2
😄0
5 reactionsM
MaryMay 22, 2026
🤝🔥
I found this podcast completely by accident, and now it’s my constant companion on trips.
A
AleksMay 20, 2026
I love it!
Share your reaction
Pick how this episode landed — then leave a public review or a private note to the host.
You
Your name will appear with your review0/300 Visible to everyone
Sign in to leave feedback
Full transcript
00:00
If you're trying to work out, as long as you're
00:01
moving, that's all that matters. What's up, you
00:09
guys? Famous Asha Grant here. Welcome to More
00:10
Movement, Please, the podcast where I hope to
00:12
inspire you to move your body more. Today, I
00:14
have another voice note for y 'all, and this
00:15
one comes to us from Sunana Chopra, and this
00:17
is what she had to say. Hello there. My name
00:22
is Sunana Chopra, and I'm a dual physiotherapy
00:25
and PhD student at the University of British
00:28
Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Let me start with
00:32
a question. Have you ever felt like if you can't
00:35
make it to the gym, your physical activity for
00:37
the day just doesn't count? If that sounds familiar,
00:41
you're definitely not alone. We've been taught
00:44
to think of exercise as something structured,
00:46
like lifting weights for a certain amount of
00:49
reps, running on a treadmill for a certain amount
00:51
of time, or playing sports. And while those are
00:55
really great ways to be active, they're not the
00:58
only ways to be active. In fact, a lot of the
01:03
movement we do in our everyday life, what we
01:06
might call non -conventional physical activity,
01:08
can be just as beneficial for our health and
01:11
well -being. So let's talk about what that actually
01:15
looks like. Thinking about gardening, it might
01:18
not feel like a workout, but you're squatting,
01:22
lifting, digging, reaching. It's a full body
01:25
movement. And research backs this up a lot. A
01:30
study published in The Lancet followed people
01:32
involved in a community garden over about two
01:35
and a half years. What they found was pretty
01:37
powerful, which is likely why it ended up in
01:40
such a prestigious journal. Not only did people
01:43
become more physically active, but their stress
01:47
and anxiety levels also went down. So gardening
01:51
not only supports us physically, but can also
01:54
make us feel better mentally. Now let's move
01:58
indoors for a second. Household chores. I know
02:02
it's not the most fun activity to do, but we
02:05
all still have to do it. Things like vacuuming,
02:08
mopping, doing laundry, even tidying up. These
02:11
all involve movement. One study compared traditional
02:15
exercise to household activity over 12 weeks
02:18
and found that housework was just as effective
02:21
for maintaining, if not improving, fitness. And
02:25
that's a really big deal, especially for people
02:28
who feel like they don't have enough time to
02:30
carve out a separate workout in their day. And
02:35
then there's something a lot of us already do
02:36
without even thinking of it as exercise. Playing
02:39
with kids or pets. Whether it's walking your
02:43
dog or tossing a ball around the living room
02:45
because, let's be honest, some dogs like mine
02:48
are just committed to staying cozy indoors. All
02:51
of that adds up. And not just for you, but for
02:54
your kids as well. Research shows that children
02:57
and youth who walk their dogs or play with their
03:00
pets are significantly more likely to meet physical
03:03
activity recommendations. And so the next time
03:06
your kids ask for a puppy, you might want to
03:09
mute this part if they are listening, but technically
03:12
they'd have a pretty solid evidence -based argument
03:15
for it in terms of physical activity and fitness.
03:19
So what's the takeaway here? Movement doesn't
03:23
have to be perfect. structured, or time -consuming
03:26
to be meaningful. It doesn't have to happen in
03:29
a gym, and it definitely doesn't have to look
03:31
the same for everyone. What matters most is that
03:35
it fits into your life. If you're someone who
03:38
loves the gym, amazing, keep going. But if you
03:42
are feeling overwhelmed, short on time or funds,
03:45
or not just motivated to be outside with all
03:49
of your busy life, this is your sign to think
03:52
differently. Your walk with your dog counts.
03:55
Your time spent gardening counts. Cleaning your
03:58
space counts. It all contributes to your overall
04:02
health and well -being. So next time you catch
04:05
yourself thinking, I didn't work out today, maybe
04:09
pause and ask, how did I move today? Because
04:12
chances are you did more than you think, and
04:15
that's something to be really proud of. How good
04:23
is that, y 'all? Like, you do not have to actually
04:25
physically go to a gym to work out. I've talked
04:28
about this before, especially the week that I
04:29
was dealing with Snowmageddon and I could not
04:31
get to the gym at all. I still was working out
04:34
from home. But she talks about how it's not just...
04:38
exercise that counts as movement. It's the gardening.
04:41
It's the doing the chores. It's the running around
04:43
with your puppy dog. It's the playing around
04:45
with your kids. You don't have to actually subscribe
04:48
to a specific method of movement for it to count
04:51
as movement. what she said and look at your own
04:55
life. How much movement are you actually doing?
04:57
And if you feel like whenever you do like a personal
05:00
audit of yourself that you're not moving enough,
05:02
let that be your sign that it's time to get up
05:04
and move some more. Something as simple as just
05:06
getting up and jumping up and down or going onto
05:08
YouTube and finding your favorite song and just
05:11
dancing right there at your desk or, you know,
05:13
even in the car, you can be moving more than
05:15
you are. You would be surprised just how much
05:18
movement you could get in if you start. consciously
05:20
thinking about moving your body. And so that's
05:24
the whole point of this of this entire podcast,
05:26
right, is to find more movement, please find
05:28
all the ways that you can move your body more.
05:31
And don't think about the fact that you have
05:33
to do it a specific way. If you get too hung
05:35
up in the specifics and you and you force yourself
05:38
to like only do certain things to consider it
05:40
counting, then you might not move your body at
05:42
all. And that's the whole point is I want you
05:44
to move your body, just move your body. So if
05:47
you have to garden today. maybe do some extra
05:50
squats. Or if you have to walk the dog, maybe
05:54
take an extra lap around the block. Or if you're
05:56
going to be playing around your kids, maybe do
05:58
a little challenge with your kids to see who
06:00
can do the most jumping jacks or do the most
06:02
pushups or do anything that gets your body moving
06:05
more. So I hope this helps you guys. I hope this
06:08
was beneficial. If you too would like to leave
06:10
a voice note for me and want me to react to it,
06:13
or if you're on your own fitness journey and
06:15
you want to share it, I would love to hear from
06:17
you guys. Go to famousashleygrant .com backslash
06:19
fit. I love hearing from y 'all. It just makes
06:21
my day. So if this was helpful for you, please
06:24
share this episode. And I cannot wait to hear
06:27
more from y 'all because I just, like I said,
06:30
I get such a kick out of it when you guys send
06:31
me voice notes. It's one of my favorite things
06:33
in the whole world. So thank you for tuning in.
06:35
Hope this was helpful. Onwards and upwards, my
06:37
friends. Have you worked out today?
Support this podcast
Get discounts when you shop.
Support More Movement Please — for free.
Install the Donato extension once, and a share of merchant commissions from your normal online shopping goes to this podcast. No subscription, no extra cost.
You save money with automatic discounts
The podcast earns from your regular shopping
No payment info needed — ever
Takes 10 seconds · No payment required · Remove anytime