How effective is Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis?

Gul Panag has been assimilating Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis into her lifestyle, and it has now become a way of life for her

It was seven years ago that this writer chanced upon a friend pacing back and forth on the Mumbai Press Club rooftop, looking anxiously at his watch every five minutes. The obvious (we don't approve) joke about whether his wife was going to call was cracked and in response, he showed the dial of his smartwatch; he was trying to complete his daily step count.

Cut to 2023, when the practice of tracking your activity and expended calorie count has evolved into a science - Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis or NEAT.

Actor-entrepreneur Gul Panag has been experiencing the benefits of NEAT for around seven years, she tells us. Panag, who turns 45 in January, has been a committed fitness enthusiast for the better part of her adult life. "The beauty of it," she says, "is this: once you start, your thinking evolves and you plan your entire day around it. You must be cognisant of activity but not obsessed with it. I am constantly active now. I walk my dogs instead of letting my staff do it. When I am on the phone and don't want a call drop when I enter the lift, I take the stairs to my eighth-floor residence. But I do it slowly, without breaking into a sweat."

Deepa Vaswani

She adds that all the things we can do at home every day, like vacuuming the house or cleaning the car, contribute towards NEAT. If the average Indian homemaker were to track her NEAT, she would be crossing 10,000 steps every day.

"I frequently travel to Delhi for work and one of my favourite bits is if I have to board from the last gate; it's easily a one-kilometre walk. When you land in Mumbai, it is an almost 800-metre walk from the gate to the baggage claim area. NEAT makes me consciously track these details; I am constantly aware of how active I am."

Experts say that NEAT is critical because it contributes equally towards your fitness goals, as it does to the daily workout and diet. With time, those conscious about fitness find their goals changing. While running is the exercise of choice for people in their 20s, the focus shifts to strength training later because after 35, body muscle mass is on the decline and the risk of injury is high. NEAT, on the other hand, is both accessible and important across age groups.

Deepa Vaswani is a Pune-based nutritionist and fitness trainer; she used to be a banker before this. Vaswani says that NEAT is not just about getting your steps in, but a holistic combination of diet, sleep and activity. "Fitness is not a one size fits all. Training and nutrition work best as a team. One cannot do without the other. [With NEAT] You are not actively exercising, but by remaining active, which means you are still burning calories."

This is something that Panag also swears by. "Exercise can not be a counter-measure for a bad diet," is one of her observations during our call.

Vaswani simplifies the concept by comparing it to Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption or EPOC, and Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness or DOMS. EPOC is the extra oxygen that your body needs after a rigorous workout while DOMS, this writer's constant companion thanks to a four-days-a-week weight training routine, is the muscle pain that kicks in 16 to 24 hours after a workout, and typically lasts up to 36 hours.

"In all these processes," says Vaswani, "the principle is the same. Your body is burning calories even though you are not actively exercising. With EPOC, this happens because your body, through its internal organs is, working to process the extra oxygen. With DOMS, the process of muscle recovery ends up burning calories. Which means that even though you are done with your workout, the process of thermogenesis is ongoing. NEAT employs this same principle, and the only requirement is that you remain consciously active about it."

She gives us another example - consuming a high protein, high fat diet is also a form of NEAT, as the body burns calories while processing and digesting the foods. This is why the ailing are usually served a more carbohydrate-dense meal, because you don't want to put their system to work and exhaust it any more than it is.

Vaswani says that Panag, a long-time friend, is inherently analytical.

"She reads a lot and asks questions, and she has always been fitness-oriented, so if you give her the rationale behind something, she takes the time to understand it."

And to Panag, as we sign off from the phone call, we have one last question; how many steps did she finish during this call? She takes a second to check her smartwatch before answering, "Two hundred…that's shameful. If I were outdoors instead of at home, I'd have clocked over one kilometre by now!"

10 tips to up your NEAT

.  Optimise form and technique to maximise muscle recruitment. Muscle is metabolically active tissue, so the more muscle you have, the better your metabolism
.  Alternate between cardio respiratory or endurance training, and yoga
.  Prioritise protein & fat to nourish your body
.  Take the stairs instead of the lift, if and when you can
.  Get your daily dose of vitamins & minerals, because micros will support macros
.  Walk or cycle to run your errands
.  Get 7-8 hours of sleep each night because the body has to rest and repair in order to function optimally
.  Drink water basis your thirst. The body knows what it needs, and when
.  Pay attention to the signs your body gives you and know when to take a break
.  Track your health & fitness, because you manage what you measure. Consult a professional to customise a routine that is designed specifically according to
your goals