Metabolism and NEAT

These notes combine advice from 28 reviewed passages across 9 workouts.

Overview

NEAT, or non-exercise activity thermogenesis, is the energy the body spends on everything done outside formal exercise, such as sitting down and standing up. How quickly those everyday actions are done is related to how much energy they use. [4] [7] [20]

Coach’s claim

The body keeps spending energy at rest through basal metabolism, and everyday movement adds substantially to total calorie expenditure. Weight control depends on calorie intake together with the whole expenditure side, with formal training as only one part. [3] [5] [19]

How the body uses energy

Coach’s claim

The body draws on carbohydrates first, then fat, then protein as energy sources. [1] [21]

Coach’s claim

Basal metabolic rate covers the calories used at rest for breathing, heartbeat, and body temperature. For a person around 70 to 73 kilograms and 25 years old, this generally comes to about 1,500 to 2,000 calories per day, even with no physical activity. [16]

NEAT and daily energy expenditure

Coach’s claim

An active person can burn around 700 to 800 calories per day through non-exercise activity, while a sedentary person’s NEAT can drop to around 100 calories, a difference of 600 to 700 calories. [17]

Coach’s claim

People who seem able to eat anything without gaining weight tend to move constantly outside formal exercise, so they burn calories throughout the day. [6]

Coach’s claim

People who move slowly through the day are more prone to weight gain, while active people with high NEAT burn calories faster. [12]

Coach’s claim

Someone who does two hours of strength training a week but is otherwise inactive may still burn few calories, especially if food is also reduced. [10]

Coach’s claim

Cutting food out too aggressively lowers energy and training quality, and daily activity drops, so the intended calorie deficit may not form and weight can rise. [22]

Adults often suppress children’s spontaneous movement by telling them to stop climbing, getting down, playing, and rolling on the floor, and that suppression lowers their NEAT. [8]

Raising NEAT

Keep your NEAT high in daily life, because formal training is only one part of total daily expenditure. [13]

Increase walking, which is a good option for daily activity. [23] [24]

Coach’s claim

Uphill walking burns quite a lot. [24]

Plank transitions, and the way movement transitions are arranged inside a workout, count as a small NEAT practice. [14] [15]

Speeding up metabolism

Coach’s claim

Metabolism is influenced by what you eat, how you sleep, and the training you do. [25]

Coach’s claim

Coffee can raise metabolism slightly, which is why some athletes use it, and several other foods can speed up metabolism as well. [26]

Coach’s claim

For women, metabolism can begin slowing noticeably around ages 29 to 32, and regular sport helps balance it. [27]

Coach’s claim

You can start resistance training with small, light weights, and as muscle increases, the rate of fat burning rises. [18]

Coach’s claim

Metabolism can speed up, and the nervous system can work faster at the same time. [2]

Coach’s experience

In his own daily life, he always jumped from places and climbed walls when he could, treating this as movement outside exercise. [9]

In his own experience, he deliberately slowed his everyday movement for a while and saw his weight increase because the continuous non-exercise movement was gone. [11]

In his own experience, a period of hunger lowered his NEAT and other daily functioning, so he avoided repeating that situation. [28]

Sources

1. 2024-02-28, 487.9-492.8s

Workout: workout:2024-02-28

Passage: passage:2024-02-28:000185-000186

2. 2025-02-27, 2026.0-2033.8s

Workout: workout:2025-02-27

Passage: passage:2025-02-27:000647-000650

3. 2025-04-22, 2669.6-2698.6s

Workout: workout:2025-04-22

Passage: passage:2025-04-22:000695-000702

4. 2025-04-22, 2702.9-2714.9s

Workout: workout:2025-04-22

Passage: passage:2025-04-22:000705-000709

5. 2025-04-22, 2810.1-2826.9s

Workout: workout:2025-04-22

Passage: passage:2025-04-22:000744-000750

6. 2025-04-22, 2858.6-2900.9s

Workout: workout:2025-04-22

Passage: passage:2025-04-22:000762-000770

7. 2025-04-22, 2930.3-2942.1s

Workout: workout:2025-04-22

Passage: passage:2025-04-22:000791-000795

8. 2025-04-22, 2976.8-3001.3s

Workout: workout:2025-04-22

Passage: passage:2025-04-22:000799-000805

9. 2025-04-22, 3001.4-3008.1s

Workout: workout:2025-04-22

Passage: passage:2025-04-22:000806-000809

10. 2025-04-22, 3018.3-3035.4s

Workout: workout:2025-04-22

Passage: passage:2025-04-22:000816-000818

11. 2025-04-22, 3053.9-3066.4s

Workout: workout:2025-04-22

Passage: passage:2025-04-22:000826-000835

12. 2025-04-22, 3197.8-3204.9s

Workout: workout:2025-04-22

Passage: passage:2025-04-22:000904-000906

13. 2025-04-22, 3221.5-3227.0s

Workout: workout:2025-04-22

Passage: passage:2025-04-22:000917-000919

14. 2025-04-22, 3262.9-3272.3s

Workout: workout:2025-04-22

Passage: passage:2025-04-22:000926-000928

15. 2025-04-22, 3272.4-3298.5s

Workout: workout:2025-04-22

Passage: passage:2025-04-22:000929-000937

16. 2025-04-22, 3526.3-3568.9s

Workout: workout:2025-04-22

Passage: passage:2025-04-22:001001-001010

17. 2025-04-22, 3608.6-3620.1s

Workout: workout:2025-04-22

Passage: passage:2025-04-22:001015-001018

18. 2025-05-15, 5170.9-5184.0s

Workout: workout:2025-05-15

Passage: passage:2025-05-15:001904-001909

19. 2025-05-15, 5214.9-5239.4s

Workout: workout:2025-05-15

Passage: passage:2025-05-15:001920-001923

20. 2025-05-21, 2246.6-2264.3s

Workout: workout:2025-05-21

Passage: passage:2025-05-21:000738-000743

21. 2025-06-13, 4817.9-4821.0s

Workout: workout:2025-06-13

Passage: passage:2025-06-13:001706-001707

22. 2025-06-13, 4857.4-4894.4s

Workout: workout:2025-06-13

Passage: passage:2025-06-13:001728-001743

23. 2025-07-18, 1872.9-1875.0s

Workout: workout:2025-07-18

Passage: passage:2025-07-18:000350-000350

24. 2025-07-18, 1890.5-1896.5s

Workout: workout:2025-07-18

Passage: passage:2025-07-18:000355-000357

25. 2025-07-18, 1899.2-1910.6s

Workout: workout:2025-07-18

Passage: passage:2025-07-18:000358-000361

26. 2025-07-18, 1923.2-1947.8s

Workout: workout:2025-07-18

Passage: passage:2025-07-18:000363-000371

27. 2025-12-02, 1901.5-1927.6s

Workout: workout:2025-12-02

Passage: passage:2025-12-02:000515-000522

28. 2026-01-28, 4015.7-4031.3s

Workout: workout:2026-01-28

Passage: passage:2026-01-28:001055-001060