Discover if everyday activity counts as exercise: Alia Crum’s Harvard study reveals believing it does lowers blood pressure and promotes weight loss. Harness mindset power from David Robson’s Expectation Effect, reframe chores as workouts, and boost physical wealth in Sahil Bloom’s 5 Types of Wealth framework.
You vacuumed the entire house, did three loads of laundry, scrubbed the bathroom, and climbed the stairs a dozen times carrying groceries. You’re genuinely tired. But when someone asks if you worked out today, you answer “no”—because that stuff doesn’t count, right?
Here’s what David Robson discovered while researching “The Expectation Effect”: Whether that activity “counts” as exercise depends entirely on whether you believe it does. And that belief doesn’t just affect how you feel about your fitness—it literally changes your blood pressure, your weight, your metabolism, and according to a study of over 60,000 people, your risk of dying.
This isn’t motivational fluff. This is neuroscience revealing that your perception of your physical activity is as important to your health outcomes as the activity itself.
The Hotel Maid Study That Should Change Everything
Alia Crum and Ellen Langer at Harvard University suspected something that seems impossible: that many people weren’t gaining the full benefits of their physical work simply because they didn’t recognize it as exercise.
They recruited 84 hotel cleaners from seven different hotels. As Robson explains in “The Expectation Effect,” these women were doing genuinely strenuous work—changing beds, vacuuming, scrubbing bathrooms, moving furniture—but few saw themselves as physically active.
The researchers visited four of the hotels and gave the cleaners specific information: that their daily work absolutely counted as exercise, and that “it does not need to be hard or painful to be good for one’s health… it is simply a matter of moving one’s muscles and burning calories.”
They broke down the calorie burn: changing linen for 15 minutes burns 40 calories, vacuuming for 15 minutes burns 50 calories, cleaning bathrooms for 15 minutes burns 60 calories. Over the course of a week, this easily met the US Surgeon General’s exercise recommendations.
They posted flyers with this information in the cleaners’ lounges so they’d have daily reminders that their work was, in fact, a workout.
One month later, the results were staggering.
Despite reporting no changes to their diet and no increased physical activity outside of work, the cleaners who received this information had:
- Lost an average of 1 kilogram each
- Dropped their blood pressure from elevated to normal
The cleaners at the three control hotels who hadn’t received the information? No changes whatsoever.
A simple shift in perception—understanding that their work counted as exercise—had triggered measurable physiological changes in their bodies.
Your Body Believes What Your Brain Tells It
You might be thinking: “Sure, but maybe they just worked harder after being told that information.”
Robson addresses this skepticism directly. While it’s possible the informed cleaners put a bit more “oomph” into their work, a follow-up study by Crum (now at Stanford) provides much more compelling—and frankly disturbing—evidence that expectations alone matter.
This study used data from health surveys tracking more than 60,000 people for up to 21 years. The researchers examined participants’ “perceived physical activity”—whether they felt they did more or less exercise than the average person—and compared it to their actual risk of death.
The findings should make you reconsider everything you believe about fitness.
People’s perception of their fitness predicted their mortality risk even after researchers controlled for:
- The amount of time they actually spent exercising
- Their diet
- Other lifestyle factors
- And here’s the kicker: objective measures from accelerometers
Some participants wore accelerometers during part of the study period—devices that objectively measured their movement. Yet even after accounting for what the devices recorded, perceived fitness still predicted mortality.
People who took a pessimistic view of their fitness were up to 71% more likely to die during the surveys compared to those who thought they were more active than average—regardless of their actual exercise routine.
Read that again. Your belief about your fitness level predicted your risk of death more powerfully than your actual physical activity.
As Robson notes: “If our expectations of a beta blocker can have a noticeable effect on our health, why should our perceptions of our physical fitness—which we carry with us in every activity, every day—be any less important?”
What Actually Counts As Exercise (Hint: More Than You Think)
Part of the problem is that most of us have no idea what qualifies as “moderate” or “vigorous” exercise—and Robson argues this matters enormously when it comes to forming fitness mindsets.
The recommendation that we should aim for 150 minutes of moderate exercise (or 75 minutes of vigorous activity) per week traces back to a landmark study by Jeremy Morris, who became known as “the man who invented exercise.”
After World War II, Morris wanted to understand why some people were more prone to heart disease. He studied London’s double-decker bus workers—specifically, drivers who spent their day sitting versus conductors who were constantly active, climbing 500-750 steps daily to collect fares and help passengers.
The conductors’ gentle daily activity roughly halved their risk of heart failure compared to the drivers.
Morris’s research inspired the exercise guidelines we follow today. But here’s what gets lost: many everyday activities meet these requirements, and we have no idea.
Physiologists use “metabolic equivalents” or METS to compare exercise intensity—the metabolic rate of an activity divided by the metabolic rate of resting. Moderate exercise is 3-6 METS; vigorous is anything above 6 METS.
According to the table Robson provides in “The Expectation Effect,” these everyday activities all qualify:
Housekeeping:
- Vacuum cleaning/washing the floor: 3 METS (moderate)
- Cleaning windows: 3.2 METS (moderate)
- Making the bed: 3.3 METS (moderate)
- Moving furniture: 5.8 METS (moderate)
DIY:
- Carpentry: 3 METS (moderate)
- Painting/wallpapering: 3.3 METS (moderate)
- Roofing: 6 METS (vigorous)
Gardening:
- Trimming shrubs: 3.5 METS (moderate)
- Chopping wood: 4.5 METS (moderate)
- Mowing the lawn: 6 METS (vigorous)
Leisure:
- Walking the dog: 3 METS (moderate)
- Playing with children outdoors: 5.8 METS (moderate)
- Dancing: 7.8 METS (vigorous)
Even your commute counts. A study from Imperial College London found that roughly a third of English people using public transport already meet governmental guidelines for physical activity just from waiting for buses, walking to stations, and changing trains.
How many of these activities do you do without even realizing you’re working out?
Why This Matters More Than You Think
The expectation effect doesn’t just change how you feel about exercise—it changes the actual benefits you receive from it.
Exercise is known to improve mood and mental health, partly through the release of endorphins. It also acts as a natural pain reliever. But as Robson documents, people’s beliefs play a large role in triggering these responses.
When people are educated about exercise’s potential to boost mood and reduce pain, and they expect to feel more energized and less achy, they’re significantly more likely to actually experience those benefits.
Your expectations literally determine whether your body releases the chemicals that make exercise feel good.
This means someone who views their daily housework, gardening, and stair-climbing as “real exercise” will likely experience better mood boosts and pain relief than someone who does the exact same activities while thinking “this doesn’t count—I still need to get to the gym.”
The Dangerous Side of Fitness Comparisons
Robson warns about the hazards of what researchers call “upward comparisons”—constantly judging ourselves against people who are fitter than we are.
While there’s nothing wrong with aspirational thinking, it easily slides into feelings of inadequacy. And those negative perceptions, as the 60,000-person study showed, may actually reduce the benefits of your workouts.
This is especially dangerous in the age of Instagram and TikTok “fitspiration” accounts featuring Photoshopped bodies and professional athletes. A 2020 study Robson cites found that female undergraduates who viewed fitspiration images before working out experienced:
- Worse body image
- Greater feelings of fatigue during exercise
- Significantly worse mood following the workout (instead of the expected “runner’s high”)
Those who had seen travel photos instead of fitness content had none of these negative effects.
The images were literally sabotaging the physical and psychological benefits of their exercise.
How to Actually Apply This
The implications of Robson’s research are clear: we need to fundamentally change how we think about physical activity.
Stop dismissing your everyday movement as “not exercise.” When you vacuum the house, carry groceries up the stairs, play tag with your kids, or power-walk through your commute, recognize that you’re engaging in genuine physical activity that meets the definition of moderate exercise.
This isn’t about lying to yourself or pretending a stroll around the block is the same as running a marathon. It’s about accurately recognizing what you’re actually doing—and allowing your body to respond accordingly.
Reframe how you describe your activities. Instead of “I didn’t work out today, I just did chores,” try “I got in a good 30-minute workout cleaning the house.” Instead of “I have to exercise,” try “I get to move my body in ways that make it stronger.”
This isn’t just semantic wordplay. Your brain’s predictive processing system uses your expectations to calibrate your physiological responses—including blood pressure, metabolism, hormone release, and long-term health outcomes.
Focus on the overall arc of activity, not the gym-or-nothing mentality. As Robson notes, governmental health campaigns should emphasize that even 15 minutes of moderate exercise daily can increase life expectancy by three years. The gold standard is 30 minutes five days a week, but something is always better than nothing.
Avoid comparing yourself to fitness influencers. If scrolling through workout content leaves you feeling inadequate rather than motivated, that’s a sign it’s harming rather than helping your fitness mindset—and potentially reducing the benefits you gain from your actual movement.
The Bigger Picture
The hotel maid study is just one example of what Robson calls “the expectation effect”—the way our beliefs about what we’re experiencing directly shape our physiological responses in measurable, concrete ways.
Your body isn’t passively measuring calories burned and muscles engaged. It’s constantly running predictions based on what your brain expects, and those predictions influence everything from hormone release to cardiovascular responses to metabolic rate.
When you believe your daily activities don’t count as “real” exercise, you’re not just selling yourself short psychologically—you’re potentially preventing your body from gaining the full benefits of all that movement.
And according to a study of 60,000 people followed for 21 years, those beliefs might literally be a matter of life and death.
The next time you finish a day of physical work—whether that’s housecleaning, yard work, chasing kids, or climbing stairs—don’t brush it off as “I still need to exercise.” Recognize it for what it actually is: movement that counts, exercise that matters, and physical activity that’s making you healthier.
Your body will believe you. And it will respond accordingly.
FAQ SECTION
Q: Does housework really count as exercise, or is this just feel-good pseudoscience?
A: According to David Robson’s research in “The Expectation Effect,” housework absolutely counts when measured objectively. Vacuum cleaning registers as 3 METS (moderate exercise), and activities like moving furniture hit 5.8 METS—both meeting official exercise guidelines. The Harvard hotel maid study showed cleaners who recognized their work as exercise experienced measurable health benefits (weight loss, lower blood pressure) in just one month. This isn’t about pretending light dusting is a marathon—it’s about accurately recognizing genuine physical activity.
Q: If I believe I’m exercising while sitting on the couch, will that make me healthy?
A: No. Robson’s research shows expectations affect how your body responds to actual physical activity—not that beliefs create fitness out of thin air. The hotel maids were already doing strenuous work; recognizing it as exercise enhanced the benefits they received. The 60,000-person study found that perceived fitness predicted mortality after controlling for actual activity levels, suggesting that negative perceptions can blunt the benefits of real movement. You need both: genuine activity AND recognition that it counts.
Q: How much everyday activity do I need for it to actually matter for my health?
A: According to “The Expectation Effect,” the recommendation traces back to the London bus conductors study: 150 minutes of moderate exercise (3-6 METS) per week. That’s 30 minutes, five days a week. But Robson emphasizes that even 15 minutes daily can increase life expectancy by three years. Walking the dog (3 METS), playing with kids (5.8 METS), mowing the lawn (6 METS)—these all count toward your weekly total. A third of English commuters already meet guidelines just from their daily travel.
Q: Can changing my mindset really affect my blood pressure and weight like in the hotel maid study?
A: Yes, based on the peer-reviewed Harvard research Robson cites. The hotel cleaners who learned their work counted as exercise lost an average of 1 kilogram and saw blood pressure drop from elevated to normal in one month—with no reported changes to diet or outside activity. Your brain’s predictive processing system uses expectations to regulate metabolism, hormone release, and cardiovascular responses. When you believe you’re exercising, your body responds differently than when you view the same activity as “just work.”
Q: What about intense gym workouts—are those still better than everyday activities?
A: Robson doesn’t argue against gym workouts. The point is that viewing everyday activities as “not exercise” creates a false dichotomy. The research shows that recognizing all your physical activity—including non-gym movement—improves health outcomes. Someone who does moderate daily activities AND recognizes them as exercise will likely fare better than someone who has negative fitness perceptions despite occasional gym visits. Both structured workouts and everyday movement contribute to health, especially when you acknowledge both count.