Mighty NEAT

MIGHTY NEAT

Reading my latest issue of IDEA Fitness Journal, I came along an article called The Smart Way to Move by Terry Eckmann, PhD. This fascinating piece is about NEAT, which stands for non-exercise activity thermogenesis. This is the energy we expend each day for everything that is not sleeping, eating or exercise-like activities. Thus NEAT is specifically all the non-exercise activities we perform on a daily basis such as doing yard work, washing dishes, walking from the car to the grocery store, etc.

I researched NEAT online and found that the term and the theory originated from James A. Levine, MD, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic, who is one of the country’s top specialists in obesity. He says America suffers from “sitting disease.” We spend nearly 10 to 15 hours of our day sitting—in cars, at our desks, and in front of the television. The age of electronics and the Internet has robbed us of the chance to burn up to 1,500 to 2,000 calories per day, leaving Americans less active—and much heavier—than we were thirty years ago. We are facing a human energy crisis.

Dr. Levine explains that there are 3 components of human daily energy expenditure. Basal metabolic rate is the energy required for core body functions and is measured at complete rest without food; it accounts for about 60% of daily energy expenditure in a sedentary person. The thermic effect of food is the energy expended in response to meals and accounts for about 10% of daily energy needs. The remainder of the human daily energy expenditure is activity thermogenesis, which can be subdivided into exercise activity thermogenesis and non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). Dr. Levine’s book, Move a Little, Lose a Lot, gives you step-by-step instructions for small changes that can give radical results.

Here’s more from the IDEA Fitness Journal article: Sitting for extended periods of time has been linked with heart disease, diabetes, cancer and obesity. Just by the very act of standing and moving, you can boost your metabolism, lower your blood pressure, and increase your mental clarity.

The brain benefits from movement. Simple activities can boost NEAT while building and strengthening the brain. Movement increases the flow of oxygenated blood to the brain and triggers the release of glucose, which is stored in the body as glycogen. Proper glucose levels are associated with stronger memory and cognitive function. When a person sits for longer than 10 minutes, the brain downshifts and it becomes more difficult to pay attention.

The issue is that you cannot incite your body’s full capacity to burn calories if you are sitting for too long. Extended inactivity is actually a depressant for thermogenesis and for your brain.

In addition to your daily dose of active exercise, add in NEAT

Here are some suggestions from an Everyday Health article by Wyatt Myers (www.everydayhealth.com) to increase your NEAT time each day and avoid the sitting disease.

• 

  Exercise while waiting in line

  Walk around your house or outside while you’re on phone calls.

• If you have a meeting with your work associate, do it while walking (and your brain will work better too).
• Use the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator.
• Take quick 10-minute walks every 2 hours of your workday to refresh your mind and boost your metabolism.
• Walk to drop mail at the post office or mailbox.
• Consider using one of the stand-up desks that are becoming popular.
• Wash your dishes by hand, rather than using the dishwasher.

• When watching TV, during every commercial break get up and move. Do a few stretches, walk around the house [perhaps skipping the kitchen].
• Carry Your Groceries: Combine strength training and errands on your next trip to the store: If you live within walking distance of your market, see whether you can carry groceries in your arms rather than a cart. If you drive, turn unloading the car into an at-home exercise, and add a few bicep curls every time you lift a bag out of the trunk.
• Turn Waiting in Line Into Exercise: Waiting in line can turn from an unfortunate reality of life into a NEAT opportunity to get in some easy exercises for weight loss. Stand on one leg or step side to side when waiting at the grocery store, post office or the movies or waiting for an elevator, a bus, or a train.
• 

  Dance while you clean

  Or how about this? Dance While You Clean Cleaning is one at-home exercise that we all have to do — you might hate it, but it’s NEAT at its finest. Hannah-Marie Williams, a certified personal trainer and exercise physiologist in New York, suggests amping up the calorie burn and turning on the music. “A good inspirational tune can add some extra pep to your step as you vacuum, iron, and tidy up around the apartment or house,” she says. “The music, along with the joy dancing freely generally brings, can cause the brain to signal the release of serotonin, creating emotional benefits while you torch calories.”

Another suggestion: If you have a fitness tracker on your wrist (Fitbit, Apple Watch, Garmin, Misfit, etc) you can start noting the extra steps you’re adding in with NEAT. You could also do this with a pedometer that you click on your belt.

Regularly adding in more NEAT activities, along with your daily exercise plan, can make a huge difference in your longevity, wellness and all around joy of living.

Let me know through a comment if you have other special NEAT techniques that you’re already using and want to pass on.