How a Mindset Shift Can Turn Daily Movement Into Real Exercise

Extracise™: Fitness Hiding in Plain Sight

When I was working toward my degree in Exercise Physiology, a particular study we reviewed in a core class made a lasting impression on me. It centered around a group of hotel employees in New York City—individuals who spent 10-hour days performing physically demanding tasks: carrying heavy vacuum cleaners up multiple flights of stairs, logging over 10,000 steps a day, and constantly on the move.

Here’s the surprising part: despite this high level of physical activity, many of these employees were categorized as unfit based on standard health markers—elevated blood pressure, high body fat, unhealthy waist-to-hip ratios, and elevated BMI.

The researchers were baffled. How could people with such physically active jobs be in poor health?

So they dug deeper.

What they discovered was powerful: the employees didn’t view their work as exercise. They saw it solely as labor—a means to earn a paycheck. The physical demands of their jobs were invisible to them in the context of fitness.

To test the impact of mindset, researchers from Harvard divided the workers into two groups. One group (the control group) continued on as usual. The other group received a simple intervention: education about how their daily tasks—climbing stairs, scrubbing, pushing, lifting—were forms of physical exercise. They were told that their work met the Surgeon General’s recommendations for daily activity. Examples of how their tasks qualified as exercise were provided.

The result?
After just four weeks, the educated group saw significant improvements across the board: lower blood pressure, reduced body fat, healthier waist-to-hip ratios, and lower BMI. The control group? No change.

What’s more fascinating is that their actual behavior didn’t change—only their mindset did. This study demonstrated that simply believing you are engaging in exercise can lead to measurable improvements in health. This is the placebo effect in action, fueled by a shift in perception.

That study has stayed with me ever since.

It taught me a profound truth: how we perceive movement determines how our body responds to it. That awareness—the act of acknowledging movement as exercise—is the difference between simply “doing a chore” and improving your health.

I’ve carried that idea into my daily life. Every time I take the stairs instead of the elevator, carry a heavy grocery bag, or do bicep curls with a gallon of water, I remind myself: this is fitness.

In fact, this mindset became so core to my philosophy that I gave it a name:

Extracise™

It’s the extra exercise hiding in plain sight—when we move with intention, even during the most ordinary tasks.

When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at begin to change.

So I invite you to find your Extracise™ throughout the day.

✅ Take the long route
✅ Skip the elevator
✅ Park a little farther
✅ Carry the heavy bag instead of grabbing a cart
✅ Dance while cooking
✅ Do calf raises while brushing your teeth

And most importantly—believe it counts.

Because it does.

Final Thought:

Fitness isn’t something that only happens at the gym. It’s woven into the choices we make all day long. So step into your movement, shift your mindset, and embrace the Extracise™ that’s been there all along.

Want more Microshifts that change the way you move, think, and live?
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🔬 Referenced Study:

Crum, A. J., & Langer, E. J. (2007). Mind-set matters: Exercise and the placebo effect. Psychological Science, 18(2), 165–171. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01867.x