- DOCTOR'S CONCERNS GROW AS BICEPS SWELL DURING COMMON WORKOUT
Given the restricted timeframe and expensive gym membership fees, it might feel difficult to fit in adequate physical activity.
However, according to experts, you don't have to go to the gym to torch calories. You can adopt various activities daily at your home and workplace that might end up burning more energy than an ordinary exercise session.
Non-exercise activity thermogenesis, referred to as NEAT, is defined as the process whereby the body expends greater amounts of energy And consumes more calories throughout the day performing various activities than during exercise sessions.
In addition to helping you maintain your weight, NEAT can also boost circulation, support heart health, elevate your mood, and regulate blood sugar levels — thereby reducing the risk of various conditions. diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
Dr. Michael Dakkak, a specialist in sports medicine, clarifies: "NEAT encompasses the activities we engage in outside of formal exercise routines. These actions consume bodily energy, enhance physical performance, aid in calorie burning, and support overall efficient body function."
Here are six simple daily activities that can help you burn calories without much effort:
Standing at work
Substantial studies indicate that when you stand rather than sit at your desk, your body consumes additional oxygen and consequently burns more calories.
Research assessing oxygen intake discovered that standing typically demands about 0.15 additional calories per minute compared to sitting for the majority of individuals.
Although the discrepancy is tiny initially, it can build up over extended work periods and result in significant variance.
A person working at an office and standing for about three hours during an eight-hour shift can burn roughly 15 to 30 calories each hour.
This totals almost 1,800 calories over the course of a month, which is akin to jogging 18 miles.
Modifying your stance and adjusting your movements
Frequently altering your stance and movement rather than staying static for long periods while seated can notably impact your caloric expenditure throughout your fitness voyage.
Research employing advanced tracking devices indicates that individuals who regularly alter their stance or modify their body position during the day use additional energy, thus burning more calories.
Although fidgeting has typically been seen as distracting, it can assist you in burning more calories compared to remaining stationary.
Simple movements like tilting from one side to another in your seat, drumming your feet, wriggling your toes, spinning your hair, and performing shoulder circles can help maintain bodily activity and promote calorie burn throughout the day.
A 2005 study Simply tapping your foot, jiggling your leg, and showing other general signs of restlessness might assist you in burning up to 350 calories daily—equivalent to losing between 30 to 40 pounds over the course of a year.
Everyday walking
You might be unaware of this, but wandering through grocery store aisles or strolling several blocks to reach your bus stop can burn calories.
Even pacing around your home while you talk on the phone can burn calories.
The study revealed that merely walking for two minutes every half hour notably enhanced post-meal blood glucose management when contrasted with uninterrupted sitting and standing activities.
A lady weighing 150 lbs who takes a casual walk for at least 60 minutes each day could expend roughly 210 calories.
Conversely, a gentleman weighing 200 lbs who takes a walk for one hour has the potential to expend approximately 246 calories.
Household chores
Tasks like preparing homemade meals, tidying up, and washing dishes manually can significantly boost energy consumption.
Research indicates that vacuuming for 30 minutes can burn approximately 99 calories if you weigh 120 lbs, around 124 calories if you're 150 lbs, and roughly 166 calories if your weight is 200 lbs.
Tidying up beds, tending to gardens, cleaning windows, disposing of garbage, and scouring surfaces all help in burning calories and engaging muscle groups.
While scrubbing the bathtub with some additional effort, flipping the mattress to tidy up the bed, carrying bulky garbage bags from the kitchen to the street, and constantly going upstairs within your home, you’re getting exercise without realizing it.
For someone weighing 120 lbs, spending an hour doing various cleaning tasks at home will burn approximately 171 calories, whereas mowing the lawn can expend about 314 calories in that same timeframe.
Gardening is an excellent housework activity for burning calories unnoticed.
Participating in activities such as digging, weeding, raking, and planting—activities that qualify as moderate exercises—can help maintain bodily movement and keep your metabolism active for burning calories.
The CDC reports that spending between 30 to 45 minutes working in your garden can help you burn as many as 300 calories.
Despite staying indoors all day, going up and down the stairs and shifting items around can help torch approximately 240 calories daily.
Taking the stairs
Choosing to use the stairs instead of elevators in places like your workplace, a clinic, shopping centers, or transit stations can assist you in losing approximately one pound over a few months.
Studies examining step counts among various populations have revealed that individuals who average at least 7,500 steps per day tend to achieve notably superior weight management compared to less active counterparts.
A person weighing 160 pounds can burn approximately five calories per minute when climbing stairs at a slow pace, and around four calories each minute when descending those stairs gradually.
An individual can expend approximately 19 calories each minute by jogging up a staircase.
Interacting with children or animals
Many of the games played by children, particularly those involving toddlers and young ones, consist of quick and impromptu actions like sprinting about, leaping, squatting, and pursuing each other.
And all of these things can significantly raise your heart rate and burn calories.
Likewise, engaging in basic activities with your pets like tossing a ball or going for a leisurely stroll can contribute to shedding pounds.
According to a 2023 study conducted by Lloyds Pharmacy, an individual can burn approximately 250 calories per hour for men and around 211 calories per hour for women engaging in activities like playing with kids or pets, with calorie expenditure varying based on how vigorous the interaction is.
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