JJ Virgin explains how non-exercise activity like fidgeting, standing, taking stairs, and walking after meals can account for 5-15% of daily movement. Formal exercise is only about 5% of how much you move, so the small stuff adds up to make a big difference in metabolism.
How can we add more activity into your day? Can you stand up more than you sit down? Could you get a walking treadmill so when you're on conference calls, you could be walking on that treadmill? Can you add in a walk after your meals? How can we add more activity into your day? Because actually we tend to think of exercise and how mission critical it is, but a lot of times that will only be about 5% of your activity throughout the day. Now, granted, what is doing to your muscles and how it's creating oxygen debt has a bigger metabolic effect after. But what we do want to think about is this NEAT, or non-exercise activity thermogenesis, both from things that we don't really think about, right, like fidgeting, and from things that you can actively do, like taking the stairs, parking farther away, can count for 5 to 15% of your daily activity. It can make a big, big, big difference.
