NEAT. An important part of living a healthy life and keeping the fat off. NEAT is the acronym for non-exercise activity thermogenesis. It is everything we do when we are not eating, sleeping or exercising. It is not the run in the park, or the HITT class or the weights session in the gym. It is the walk to the office, doing the housework, walking the dog, even activities like typing. It all counts.

 Of course not all NEAT is created equal. Walking the dog in the park is going to expend far more calories than a couple of hours on the iPad. Plus there are the benefits of being out in the fresh air, interaction with others and just moving the body.

It should all be so simple. During our waking hours we are active with the tasks of daily living. We keep moving. Plus over the course of the week we do 150 minutes of exercise (or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise or a combination of both). The latter to increase our heart and breathing rate and improve our strength and power.

However, what often happens is that many overestimate the benefits of NEAT whilst some disregard it as not being important. The person who claims that as they do a lot of walking they don’t need to do anything else to the gym goer who spends an hour pushing weights two or three times per week but spends the rest of their waking hours sitting at a desk or lounging on the sofa. Both are not doing the best for their health.

Walking is great. There is currently a lot in the media about the benefits of walking sometimes suggesting that it is the only exercise you need to do. Great if you live in the Lake District or anywhere that has more than gentle undulations. Not so good in Essex where a hill is hard to find. But if you can’t walk up hills or walk fast enough to increase your heart and breathing rate or then you shouldn’t be including it in your 150 minutes of exercise. It is NEAT.

When I was recovering from heart surgery the advice was to walk. As soon as I got out of ITU I pottered  around the ward carrying my epicardial pacing machine. When I got home I walked to the newsagent. Over the following days and weeks I walked for longer and faster. But I couldn’t raise my heart rate into the recommended range. Maybe if there was a hill to navigate I could have done. But as I wasn’t able to drive to find one that wasn’t going to happen.

 Unlike a lot of heart patients I had been very fit before the surgery and my body had remembered this. It didn’t need to raise my heart rate for what it considered a stroll. Eventually I spoke to the physiotherapist who ran the cardiac rehabilitation classes. She gave me permission to start running. Which I did. Heart rate elevated and it felt good.

Back to the present day the amount of NEAT I do is not bad. On a normal working day I walk the dog (sometimes twice) and walk to the train station and back. I clock up about 12,000 steps. Where I fall down is having lunch at my desk (I should get off my butt) and when I get home I sit on the sofa for two to three hours watching tv. Although I do go to the gym 3-4 times during the working week. And I always run up the escalator to escape the underground.

At the other end of the NEAT spectrum is the gym goer who believes that an hour in the gym every couple of days will negate the sitting they do during the rest of their waking hours. Sitting according to recent studies is the new smoking. It is bad for our health both mental as well as physical. But our lives revolve around sitting be it in the office or watching box sets. A recent study suggests that the risk of sitting all day disappears if you do 60-75 minutes of exercise per day. But not many people would be prepared to do that or have the time.

But when does neat become exercise and vice versa. For exercise to retain its health benefits it has to be progressive. When things start to feel easy something has to change if you are to retain the health benefits. If you are into running you need to run faster or longer or both. If it is strength training the weight or repetitions increase, or the rest between sets reduced. 

For someone that is unfit and starts walking on a daily basis they will elevate their heart rate and feel breathless. They are exercising. Over time their fitness will improve. If they continue to walk at the same rate for the same distance it will become easy. Exercise has become NEAT.

For a gardener NEAT is tending their pot plants, pulling up weeds but digging over a flower bed is exercise. Walking the dog becomes exercise when he runs off to say hello to a dog the other side of the park. Walking my dog is very good for my heart but not my anxiety levels.

NEAT is important. Introducing exercise into a busy lifestyle can be challenging. Increasing NEAT is much easier. Doing both is doing the best for your health and fitness.