Remote days lose 21 of 49 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity: the commute was exercise

On their home-working days, 97 university employees in Finland moved considerably less than on their office days. They lost 21 of their 49 daily minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity: 43%.

The University of Turku measured it with a thigh-worn sensor over seven consecutive days, and the paper came out on 28 July in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. Each person was compared with themselves, with at least one day at home and one at the office.

Home-working days also added 44 minutes of sedentary time —sitting or lying down while awake— and 14 in bed, and removed 37 minutes of light activity. What was lost most was standing and cycling: the commute was exercise that nobody called exercise.

What changes in the body between a home-working day and an office day?

A typical office day for the group included 7.6 hours in bed, 10.6 hours of sedentary time, 5 hours of light activity and 49 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity. At home, that day tilted toward the passive: more bed and more chair, less standing and less cycling.

Person standing up beside a desk at home. Illustrative image generated with artificial intelligence.

How was it measured, and who took part?

The sensor, a Fibion SENS, recognises postures and activity types: sitting, standing, walking or cycling. That is why the study measures not only how much people moved, but which movement they stopped doing.

The sample had a mean age of 42 and was 84% women; each person had an average of 2.4 office days and 2.6 home-working days. These findings describe 97 university employees in Finland, not everyone who works from home. Time in bed was self-reported, while the sensor recorded postures and activity.

Where do the lost minutes of movement come from?

Kristin Suorsa, a University of Turku researcher, explains that the increase in sedentary time came mainly from spending less time standing: at home, there is not always somewhere to work standing up, as there often is in an office. Walking and cycling on office days were partly replaced by sitting, lying down and sleeping, probably because there is no commute.

That does not show that being at home, by itself, causes the shift. The study observes differences across the same people's days, but cannot isolate every cause. It also did not test whether an office or shared workspace improves health, mood or productivity.

Does this mean working from home is less productive?

That is not what the other available research shows. A meta-analysis published in ILR Review assembled 3,574 estimates from 82 studies and found a small, positive average effect of working from home on productivity. Less movement does not amount to a demonstrated drop in productivity.

A panel of 2,031 employees in Norway found daily mood was about 3% higher on home-working days. That panel is from 2020 and measures self-reported mood and performance, not objective productivity. The meta-analysis average also depends on context and cannot predict the outcome for one person or company.

Bicycle parked against a pale wall at the entrance to a workplace. Illustrative image generated with artificial intelligence.

What can people who alternate between home and elsewhere do?

The authors conclude that feasible ways to offset the difference are worth exploring, and the study itself points to where: what was lost most was standing time and the commute on foot or by bicycle. Those are the movements a home-working day would need to replace.

The WHO recommends that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week, and notes that all activity counts and that sedentary time should be limited. If the average difference repeated on two or three home-working days a week, it would add up to 42 to 63 fewer minutes a week, against that 150-minute minimum. Nearly a third of adults worldwide, 31%, already fall short of the recommendation.

One last finding, from the 2020 Norwegian panel and based on what each person reported: physical activity and morning routines were associated with better mood and better perceived performance when working from home.

The study makes clear that the trip to work counted as movement. In Medellín, someone who alternates home with a coworking day pass gets that commute back —NOI, in Ciudad del Río, has bicycle parking— although this study did not measure how much movement it restores.