Understanding Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT Exercise)

If you’re up to speed on the recommendations about how often to exercise, you already know that the goal is at least 150 minutes of cardio exercise per week. And two strength-training sessions.

That’s the bar to aim for. And it can be a tough one for many people to reach.

But you may not realize that there’s a lot of other stuff you do (and can do more of) to keep your body moving.

That stuff falls under the category of “non-exercise activity thermogenesis.” Or NEAT for short.

What is NEAT? Why does it matter? And how can you use NEAT to help reach your health goals?

Here’s what sports medicine physician Michael Dakkak, DO, has to say.

What is non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT)?

Non-exercise activity thermogenesis is all the little things you do during the day that keep your body moving — the movements you do that aren’t, technically, exercise.

“NEAT accounts for the activities we do that aren’t ‘exercise’ but still use the body’s energy to improve your performance, burn calories and help keep your body operating efficiently,” Dr. Dakkak explains.

Non-exercise activity thermogenesis is, essentially, anything that falls between sitting perfectly still and doing a full-blown cardio workout, like running, using an elliptical or jumping rope.

It may not sound like much. But over time, all the little movements you do can add up. And they can be meaningful.

Examples of non-exercise activity thermogenesis

NEAT activity can be just about anything that moves your body in some way but doesn’t get your heart rate up.

There are countless ways that you do NEAT every day. And you probably don’t even realize it.

But with a little extra mindfulness, you can incorporate more non-exercise activity thermogenesis into everyday situations.

Here are just a few examples.

Walking

A brisk walk may get your heart pumping to low-intensity cardio-exercise levels. But the steps you take around the grocery store or from your desk to the bathroom? Those are NEAT.

NEAT is the reason you hear advice about parking farther from the door when you’re out and about. Not because you’re going to get significant fat-burning exercise on your walk in. But because every bit counts.

Sneak more steps in your day with NEAT activities, like:

• Taking the stairs instead of the elevator
• Walking in place (say, when you’re brushing your teeth or cooking dinner)
• Using a walking pad at your desk or using a standing desk
• Walking in circles around the house while you’re on the phone with a friend
• Doing a couple butt kicks or high-knees on your walk to the kitchen

Fidgeting

Does your top leg bounce a bit when you’re sitting cross-legged? Do twirl your hair? Turn your pen over and over across your fingers?

Without realizing it, you probably do a certain amount of fidgeting behavior throughout the day. (Or perhaps someone has pointed it out to you and you’re now all too aware of it.)

Those little movements? They’re NEAT.

And without all that much effort, you can harness them to get even some extra movement in your day. Try things like:

• Using a stress ball (grip it, toss it from hand to hand, dribble it on your desk or whatever works for you)
• Doing shoulder rolls, ankle rolls, neck rolls, truck rotations and other quick-and-easy moves to keep your muscles moving
• Leaning side to side in your chair
• Bouncing as you wash your hands
• Wiggling your toes

You get the idea.

The goal isn’t to fidget to the point of distraction. Rather, to recognize a slew of opportunities to do just a little something to keep your body from being perfectly still.

Household chores

When your house isn’t so neat, consider it your opportunity to get NEAT. (Get it?)

Vacuuming, carrying laundry to the washer and scrubbing the shower walls? They’re all good, body-moving non-exercise activity thermogenesis.

Think about it. When you’re dusting the bookshelf, you’re twisting, reaching and wiping. When you’re doing dishes, you’re scrubbing, lifting and bending.

All these motions help you get a little extra activity in your day.

Add even more NEAT activities to your chores list by doing things like:

• Taking more trips to put away folded laundry
• Handwashing dishes before putting them in the dishwasher
• Putting things away where they belong, not just where it’s convenient
• Moving furniture to vacuum behind it (and enjoying the long-lost treasures you find)

Benefits of NEAT

NEAT exercise isn’t going to radically change your health. You’re not going to lose 10 pounds in a month from it. And healthcare providers still recommend working to get to 150 minutes of aerobic exercise a week regardless of how much non-exercise activity thermogenesis you do.

But you can think of NEAT as an opportunity to make small but meaningful changes to give your body an extra edge.

“NEAT helps you burn some extra calories here and there. Over time, that matters. And it can help you maintain a healthy lifestyle, better body composition and improve your quality of life,” Dr. Dakkak reinforces.

Just what can NEAT do for you? Consider these benefits:

Improved overall health

Think of non-exercise activity thermogenesis as a part of an overall healthy lifestyle that, ideally, also includes more intense strength training, cardio exercise and stretching.

As a part of an overall healthy lifestyle, NEAT can help keep your body from sitting less and moving more. Which is a recipe for supporting your health long term.

There’s no formalized recommendation for how much NEAT activity to do in order to achieve specific health goals. After all, quantifying the benefits of thousands of micro-activities you do a day doesn’t lend itself easily to formal scientific inquiry.

But as Dr. Dakkak points out, it’s well understood that people who move more and sit less tend to enjoy a variety of health benefits, like:

• Less weight gain
• Improved circulation
• Better heart health
• Fewer aches and pains
• Healthy blood sugar levels
• Better focus
• Improved mood
• More energy
• More independence as you age

A gateway to exercise

If traditional exercise isn’t a part of your life, it can be tremendously difficult to start from scratch.

While exercise is important for a wide range of reasons, it’s also important to ease into it.

Doing too much too soon puts you at risk for injury. And it can be unsustainable to go from never exercising to suddenly holding yourself accountable to hitting the gym five days a week.

For a lot of people, a major change in routine isn’t so simple. And it can be demoralizing when you can’t keep it up.

Starting your journey to fitness can be made easier when you begin with NEAT activities that can fit easily into your day.

“For people who aren’t accustomed to exercise, NEAT can be a motivator,” Dr. Dakkak encourages. “It’s a step in the right direction when you just sit less than you’re doing right now. If you keep moving, you’re going to keep going.”

Adaptable

If your knees hurt or your shoulder’s acting up or your carpal tunnel is flaring, you can be shut down from doing the exercises that you might do otherwise.

But because NEAT comes in so many forms, you can still keep it up.

“A lot of people are living with conditions that can limit them from doing certain things,” Dr. Dakkak recognizes. “But we all have the opportunity to do non-exercise activity thermogenesis in some form.”

Consider NEAT to be a step toward dipping your toe into a healthier lifestyle pool. Or a way to get even more bang for your buck if you’re living an already pretty active.

As Dr. Dakkak likes to say, “If you’re living life, you should be living it NEAT.”