Chances are that amongst all the other hip sounding, on-trend and in your face fitness acronyms - this is one you may not have come across. Now, we don't mean to add further acronyms to your fitness vocabulary but this one may actually make you feel a tad better about not always hitting your gym goals for the week.
We get it..sometimes things get in the way of the brilliant goals that you set for your week ahead. Get your Monday workout in, visit that HIIT class (another fitness acronym, really?!? Bear with us... we'll explain more), go for that jog or take a longer route to walk your dog.
Then before you know it, that new manager wants to meet for an after-work drink, your old mate is in town or your meeting has overrun. Bye-bye workout goal.
But, we tend to forget that exercise isn't just measured by the amount of work you put in at the gym. Your total energy expenditure is dependent on your overall activity level.
Now, this isn't to say you should just pack in the workouts and keep them as just an option and not a priority. Instead, let us bring your focus to an important component that will add to your workout schedule and your weekly fitness focus.
NEAT. Non-exercise activity thermogenesis.
NEAT is the energy expenditure that we don’t typically take into account. It might be energy expended as we work, wait in line for a coffee, walk across the garden, talk, tidy the house, or even just walk across a car park at Tesco (pick the furthest spot!)
These somewhat trivial-sounding physical activities can actually have an amazing impact on our metabolic rate and, as a result, stimulate greater energy expenditure over time. The power in this action (or sometimes lack of action!) depends on the amount and type of physical activity you engage in and, most importantly, its thermogenic cost – which means how much the activity drives energy expenditure above your resting metabolic rate.
Studies have shown that you burn an average of 350 kcals a day doing tasks you wouldn't second guess. Yep, read that again. So the next time you're beating yourself up for not meeting your buddy at spin class...think about how you can get your energy expenditure levels up without chucking on your gym gear. Here are some examples, because we love you -
1. Walk between stops/stations
2. Keep a step counter and aim for that 10,000 step mark.
3. Take the stairs at work! If you're slick enough, you can get a quick IG scroll in on the way up to the 7th floor and not be stuck in a lift with Greg from accounting. What a bore.
4. Go for a weekly shop ina store rather than online! (Go on a full stomach, we don't want to undo your hard work)
5. Hand deliver that note to your boss across the office rather than add to his/her email box. They might be more grateful than you think!
You get the point. NEAT is being more mindful of your daily tasks and thinking to yourself - how do I add to this activity to burn more energy. Disclaimer: We aren't saying sprint up and down the stairs and turn up to your 1 pm meeting a hot sweaty mess. That may not go down so well.
Comment below with some other things you can do, other than exercise, which helps keep your Total Energy Expenditure Levels up. Keep it friendly people.