Modern life is busy, and committing to an organised sport, an evening run or a gym schedule can be tricky.

Of course, those who are passionate about a certain form of physical activity will make the time to do it. The skyrocketing demand for mountain bike skills training at Mount Stromlo, which we've reported on today, is a case in point.

But what do we do about those who need a little extra encouragement?

The need to act is clear, with new data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics two weeks ago revealing Australia's obesity problem is escalating, with almost half of young adults now overweight or obese. Physical inactivity is a major reason for this.

The key to getting people moving when they're not motivated to set aside time, it seems, is what Physical Activity Foundation chief executive Lucille Bailie calls "incidental exercise".

"It's activity that you don't even notice that you're doing," she said.

This is something the foundation has been pushing for years as part of its Ride or Walk to School program, which encourages families and groups of children to meet at a point on the way to school, then cycle or walk the rest of the way together.

An evaluation of the program's achievements between 2013 and 2016 found that rates of active travel increased at participating schools, despite a decline in active travel across the general ACT school population.

"If you're chatting with your friend about what's going to happen at school or what you did last night, you don't even realise you're being physically active," Ms Bailie said.

Another form of incidental exercise is commuting to work by bike, which cycling advocacy group Pedal Power is highlighting this week after new analysis of Census data revealed there are 19 established ACT suburbs in which no women report riding to work.

As life gets increasingly busy, it's crucial that governments, schools, universities and businesses focus on providing and promoting opportunities for people to do incidental exercise.

The ACT government should be commended for appointing an active travel minister, and for creating more infrastructure like the Belconnen Bikeway, on which construction began during the week.

But we must also be mindful of the need to promote this infrastructure and put in place measures that make it easier for people to use. Businesses, for example, should think about providing showers and storage areas to remove one of the barriers that prevents people cycling to work.

It's also important that we have role models. Pedal Power ACT has recognised this by starting a female cycling ambassador program to demonstrate that women from all walks of life can commute by bike, benefiting themselves and their community.

Good work like this must continue, or as Ms Bailie points out, the consequences could be dire.

"Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for being overweight or obese, which can lead to diabetes, heart disease and some forms of cancer," she said. "That's a pretty awful health outlook."