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Do You Even “NEAT”?
Health | November 21, 2017
Aside from working out with me in the ZGYM, are you getting in enough movement everyday? I’m not talking about going for another workout, or participating in a sport. I’m referring to Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. Otherwise known as NEAT. In the fitness industry, we’re all about working out, pumping up our muscles and breaking a sweat. But unless you’re an ultra-fit professional athlete, there’s no way you’re going to be exercising all day.That would not only be insane, it would fall under overtraining if you’re not too careful. And we’ve already talked about the risks of doing so.
NEAT, as the name implies, is not related to exercise or working out. As much as we all want to be in shape and sculpt our bodies, we can’t forget that there’s more to life than just working out for a set number of time. Our bodies were made to move and function in a variety of ways that aren’t related to beating our PR at the gym.
Now you may be wondering what exactly NEAT is….
NEAT comes in the form of the simple things we do everyday without consciously being aware of the fact that we’re moving our body. What does this look like?
- Chores– Washing the dishes, gardening, cleaning the house, doing yard work.
- Play– Chasing your kids, Frisbee, swimming (for fun- i.e., not going for laps around the pool or finishing a mile)
- Traveling by Foot– Walking in the mall, to the post office, around the neighborhood
You may already be doing NEAT without even knowing it. The problem is– we’re no longer doing enough of it. Today, we are suffering the consequences of modern convenience. Instead of taking the stairs, we use the elevator. People go mad in parking lots if it takes more than a minute to walk to the store.
We’ve become slaves to sitting; all day, we sit in the car on the way to work, where we spend most of the day sitting in front of our desk, and then we drive back home- still sitting- where we’re too tired to exercise and choose to sit in front of the TV until it’s time for bed. Rinse and repeat.
Too much sitting is becoming a huge cause for concern. It can mess with our circulation, cardiovascular health, and metabolism. It ruins our posture, and makes us more susceptible to injury and back pain. And the solution isn’t to temporarily work out for a few minutes and go back to sitting all day. What we have to do is focus on the regular movements we get in everyday through NEAT.
Why else should you care about NEAT? If your goal is to lose weight, NEAT will help to keep your metabolism running strong instead of slowing down to a sluggish pace from too much sitting. If you want to maintain muscle strength, then incorporating NEAT will keep them from going into atrophy from staying sedentary (your legs, hips, glutes and back bear the brunt of the couch potato lifestyle). If you want to prevent yourself from premature aging and developing diseases, you’ll definitely want NEAT to help lower the risk.
Here’s how you can incorporate NEAT everyday, on top of managing your diet and exercise:
- Do Your Chores– Your mom was right! Roll up those sleeves, and tidy up. Why not skip the car wash, save some money, and wash the car yourself? Get the whole family involved and make it a team effort. It will also teach your kids responsibility and basic life skills they’ll be able to take when they grow up.
- Walk, Walk, Walk- Park far away from the store. Take the stairs. Arrange “walking meetings” with your work associates. Walk around the house during phone calls. Take a 10-minute walk every couple of hours at work. If you can walk to the store, post office, or even work, use your own two feet for commuting. Go for an evening walk after dinner. Take the dog for a walk around the block. If you have kids, do the same with them for some special bonding.
- Change Your Work Environment- Sit down on a stability ball or Active Balance Chair, or forgo sitting altogether and make a standing workstation.
- Fidget Around- If you’re commuting or chair bound at work, keep adjusting your sitting position. Fidget like a small child trying to get comfortable. Raise your heels, tap your toes, bend and extend your legs.
Try to find an opportunity to incorporate some non-workout related movement every day! Get creative, and see what you can make of every situation (and let me know what you come up with!).
Private Member |
saint john new brunswick, canada
I discovered the concept of NEAT a few months ago and wanted to incorporate it into my day. Thankfully i dont have a sit down job, so that helps. I work in a large hospital so on a couple of my breaks i use it to walk the halls, from one end to the other.
Private Member |
lethbridge, alberta, canada
I am NEAT every day. As much as I love to curl up on the couch once in a while, it would be tough to be sitting all the time. Thanks for the article Zuzka, such a good reminder to move all day long, not just during the Zgym!
Private Member |
Thank you for this post. I am currently at work, I assist my husband who is a lawyer. Often we are in full day conferences around long conference tables where testimony is given for 8 + hours. During breaks I often do jump lunges or plies in the bathroom, but durning real marathon sessions of sitting quietly, I would love to know some exercises I could do with/for my feet/legs/butt that I could do in a chair, pulled up to the conference table (the lower half of me is hidden and free to move so long as I don’t make huge obvious motions). I am already in the habit of contracting my stomach muscles and I squeezing my glutes, but I would bet someone as creative as you could come up with a whole routine that would tone or target small muscles without anyone knowing. Would you call that -incogNEATo-
Private Member |
san antonio, texas
“IncogNEATo”….love this Vanessa!
Sounds like you are pretty creative too!
Private Member |
Thank you!
Private Member |
san antonio, texas
Great article Z. I’ve always incorporated NEAT into my daily life . Since moving from New York City to Texas, I’ve swapped mostly walking to mostly driving 😒. I definitely park far away from stores, just so I can get more movement. Thank You for the reminder to keep increasing movement when and wherever I can.
Private Member |
This is more important than is ever emphasized and what people realize. After being in school for Physical Therapy, the amount of reading and sitting, class time etc…its killing me. I worked as a personal trainer for years, constantly standing and moving all day! Then I had my daughter and now take care of her and do school. Wow. What a not so amazing difference. I recently turned my “bar” area of my kitchen into my desk. I now stand and study for hours throughout the day. And Ill tell you at first it was very annoying. But if you can just focus on what your doing and keep going. It got easier and all my little aches and pains – tension head aches, QL and SI pain, hip flexor tightness and patellar tendon tenderness – are almost gone. Seriously! Not exaggerating! My feet feel tired by the end of the day but in a good way 🙂 deff recommended – not a PT yet…but it would benefit almost everyone.
Private Member |
blaustein, germany
Hello Zuzana and Zgym members. I have a car but it sits most of the time because I ride my bike to work and back home. If you get used to riding the bike, you don’t like taking the car; that’s the way it is for me. Here in Germany there are bike trails everywhere, so its easier to do. There are places in the US where there are designated bike lanes. It’s a great way to move about, even to go shopping. Fishing is one of my passions and my dog and I go to the river by bike. The fish out of the river is healthier to eat than most of the fish that we buy and really fun to catch.
We heat with wood therefore the wood has to be cut and split, I love doing that. I ain’t gonna write a long thing here but I felt like opening my mouth about letting these little things that somehow come natural to me, be apparent to you as to how much fun it can be. You know what! On top of it all, I eat what I feel like eating and don’t worry about it. I think that a lot of you know what I mean.
Have a wonderful day, and thank you so much Zuzana!
Private Member |
st. peter, minnesota, usa
I don’t have a job right now, so NEAT is not hard for me. When I was studying for my degrees I had to do a lot of sitting, but I would sometimes read on an exercise bike or treadmill instead (it wasn’t a long walk from my lab to the gym). I also fidget and wiggle (a lot) when I’m sitting. I started that in 6th grade, thinking it must be better for me than sitting still!
I used to use my bicycle for transportation, but not so much now that I live in a small town and need to drive to cities for our family activities and most stores. But if we use our fancy car we always park way in the back of the lot, hoping to avoid getting door dings on our vehicle (so extra walking). 🙂
Private Member |
switzerland/, france
didn’t know it had a name, but totally into it for many years. I am a great fidgetter. Society is not ready yet, as my colleagues or family don’t understand when I don’t want to sit on a chair (ie. stand up and work my Egoscue at the same time, or sit on the floor). Natural movement and all joints in 3D is my go to objective for every day. I actually move more when in the office than working from home, but the latter I have access to doing headstand, using my FeetUP trainer and suspending on my pull-up bar.
Both Egoscue, MovNat and Katie Bowman’s work are my references that helped me.
I got mostly motivated to nail NEAT as it seems that some medics use the test of standing up from a floor seated position without help (no hands) to evaluate your life expectancy.
Private Member |
blaustein, germany
Hello Laila, is there an Egoscue clinic near you?
Private Member |
switzerland/, france
as you can see, I live in France.
Private Member |
blaustein, germany
Sorry, I did not undrstand your responce, but I assume that there is not a clinic near you. Thanks anyway!
Private Member |
switzerland/, france
if you search for a clinic on the Egoscue website (which I assume you didn’t) you would see there are only based on the USA.
Private Member |
blaustein, germany
Yes I understand what you mean. That’s why I was wondering because I thaught they were all located in the USA too, not so, but also in Japan and Mexico. In Basel and Bern there are several Physical Therapists that practise the Egoscue Method.
Private Member |
Ahoj Zuzko,jsem ráda za to to téma,zrovna dneska jsem byla na masáži,říkala jsem si,to bude super relax paní mě namasíruje záda,nohy prostě komplet celé tělo.Paní mě nemile překvapila,že moje tělo není v tak dobré kondici,jak jsem se domnívala.Hlavně mě šokovala tím,že mi nefungují břišní svaly,přestože cvičím každý den.Prý se to musí nejdříve srovnat a pak posilovat.Jsem z toho zoufalá,teď vůbec nevím co můžu cvičit.Prosím,poradíš.Jinak tvá cvičení jsou super.Zdraví Renata z Chebu.
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
Ahoj Renato, jak to myslis ze ti nefunguji brisni svaly? 🙂 podme se na to podivat logicky. Brisni svaly mas od toho abys mohla stat a neprepadla dozadu – tvoje telo zatina tyto svaly automaticky aniz by ses na tom musela vedome podilet. Brisni svaly ti take pomahaji s chuzi a do schodu. Brisni svaly se podileji na tom kdyz si lehas nebo kdyz se zvedas. Nevim co ti pani napovidala ale ver mi, brisni svaly ti fungujou. Navic, pokud chces srovnat svalovou nerovnovahu, posilovani urcitych svalu je absolutne nezbytne a specielne pokud jde a posileni brisnich svalu. Mas nejake bolesti? Pater, krk, ramena, boky nebo kolena? Pokud ano, tak zkus Postural Therapy v ZGYM. Mam routine na vsechny bolesti a nerovnovahy ktere je zpusobuji: https://zuzkalight.com/category/zgym/series-title/postural-therapy/
Private Member |
Oh yes. I walk my dogs every day. That’s nearly 4km already. And I hate driving, so I walk everywhere I can. When I was in college, I lived 20min of walking distance away and sometimes I’d go to classes twice a day and get an hour of walking altogether. My shoes are always falling apart, but walking makes me happy and I can easily have the necessary endurance for a longer walk than most of my friends who always take the car.