If anyone asked if I get enough exercise, my answer would be unequivocal: Yes, I make a point of carving out time to sweat, get my heart pumping and move around.
I probably would not mention that I prefer to drive the half mile to pick up my coffee instead of taking a 15-minute walk. Or that using the drive thru sounds infinitely more appealing than actually getting out of my car. Or that you’d rarely spot me choosing to trudge up the stairs at the end of the day.
None of these shortcuts on their own feel like that a big deal. After all, I worked out today, right? But added up these are slowly sapping a sometimes overlooked source of metabolic health.
It’s a concept that goes by the name non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or NEAT, for short.
I always park at the far side of whatever parking lot I end up in. I don’t always take the stairs up (damn you, knees) but I do always take them down. I do this because of NEAT!
How many calories does one burn doing… Space cowboy stuff? Seems like it would be a lot.
I have a space backpack that propels me most places. It’s easier to be lazy in space so I have to make up for it when I’m planet side.