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Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis

Many of us believe that a good sweat in the gym for 30 minutes or so a day, for 3-5 days per week is going to keep us ahead of the health risk curve to enhance our general well-being. In many cases this may be true, but only if we maintain enough other general activity throughout our day to avoid the sedentary effects associated with static positioning. 

In our ever-evolving world of technology our actual act to move is on a dramatic decline and the rise of obesity, diabetes, various cancers and heart disease is alarming.Many of us are seeking solutions and a growing trend has focused on standing as an alternative to what has become known as “sitting disease”. The reality is that whether we sit or stand … we need to move.

NEAT, quite simply, is unplanned movements that we can introduce to our daily routines in addition to regular exercise, that will cause us to challenge our metabolic systems more consistently and in turn deter these sedentary impacts. 

D. James Levine of the Mayo Clinic is a very vocal advocate of NEAT and has very clearly demonstrated through his research that if we move just a little bit more on a more continuous frequency, we can counter these effects and in fact, prevent them.

Sit-to-stand work stations are a valuable component, but realistically users only stand for possibly 20% of their day. So, an active sitting chair such as the CoreChair is an excellent complement.

Other options to consider in order to introduce NEAT in the workplace would include: taking the stairs; participate in walking meetings; and even walk while we talk on our phones.
When at home, we can easily find tasks that would involve movement: Watching T.V. from a stationary bike; taking frequent walks; working in the garden and many more. 

You don’t necessarily have to break a sweat, just keep moving. 

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