In dealing with people who desperately want to lose weight and fat on a daily basis, I continually get the impression people either do not understand or choose to ignore the basics of metabolism. I realize I've posted on this and related topics over and over again on this blog, but I'm a big believer in reinforcing the basics, and, based on the questions I get over and over again, there is a need for this.
Let's take a look at the components of your metabolism and how you expend energy:
1. Your Basal or Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR): this is the number of calories used by your body each day at rest and represents an astounding 70% of your total calorie expenditure. It might be hard to believe, but even if you simply sat on the floor all day long, your body would still burn a certain number of calories in order for it to function (the energy used to keep your heart beating, respiration, release of hormones, cellular processes, etc.). An easy-although inexact- way to estimate your basal metabolic rate is to multiply your current body weight by 12.
2. Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT)/General Movement: any muscle contraction in the body burns calories. Getting up and down out of a chair, putting groceries away, opening doors, climbing stairs, etc. all burn calories. Obviously, some people receive more general physical activity per day than others. A construction worker doing manual labor all day long will obviously burn more calories through general physical activity than a white-collar worker who sits at a desk all day.
3. Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (EAT)/Structured Exercise: exercise and the "stuff" you do while training with me is physical activity, but it is structured, and the rate of energy expenditure per minute of activity is much greater than the general activity listed above. This type of activity also helps to maintain lean muscle mass, which is important for preventing a decline in resting metabolism (discussed above) as we age. Finally, consistent EAT improves various components of fitness and performance: muscular strength, conditioning, mobility, flexibility, injury prevention, etc.
4. The Thermic Effect of Feeding (TEF): quite simply, this is the number of calories your body uses in order to process and assimilate the food you eat, and actually represents about 10% of the calories your body uses daily (assuming a mixed diet). The TEF value of protein is 20-25%, the TEF value of carbohydrates is 5% and the TEF value of fat 2-3%. So, if you eat 100 calories worth of pure protein, you’ll only absorb 75-80 of those calories. If you eat 100 calories of pure carbohydrate, you’ll absorb 95 of those calories, and, if you eat 100 calories worth of pure fat, you’ll absorb 97-98 of those calories. It becomes obvious eating a diet higher in protein is a great way to increase the thermic effect of feeding, meaning you’ll expend more energy through processing and end up “netting” fewer of those calories.
Take a look at the above again...where do you fall short and what areas can you manipulate to improve your weight/fat loss efforts?? Here are my suggestions for improving each of the 4 areas above:
1. RMR: strength train. If you want to prevent a decline in your RMR, lift some weight. If you put a consistent mechanical stress and overload on all of your major muscle structures, you'll be able to offset the age related loss of lean muscle tissue. If is important the weight you lift challenges you: lifting very light weights will not stress the higher threshold muscle fibers (type II fibers).
If you begin to lose muscle tissue as you age (and you will if you don't do something about it), your RMR will slow down. For every pound of muscle you lose, you will expend 6 fewer calories daily. Let's say you lose 5 lbs. of muscle from age 30-40. That's 30 less calories per day you are expending. 30 calories per day X 365 days/year=10950 calories. That's 3 lbs. worth of calories. If you've heard the phrase "creeping weight gain", this is what we are are talking about. I often hear folks past age 30 tell me "I'm not eating anymore than I used to but I'm still picking up weight". They are telling me the truth: their input probably hasn't changed, but their output has because they are losing muscle.
2. NEAT: move more on a daily basis. We've all heard the advice to take the stairs instead of the elevator, park further away at the grocery store, etc. I used to laugh at this advice. I don't anymore.
I'm telling you, adding in just more, low intensity general movement whenever possible can really, really add up. There was an article in last month's issue of Men's Health magazine which highlighted the importance of NEAT. It can actually have a bigger impact in terms of calorie expenditure than running 20+ miles/week. The key is to consciously move more, fidget more, etc. Go out for more walks. Cut your own lawn if you are not already. Get a dog. Play with your kids. Intentionally park further away when you go to the store...all this stuff.
3. EAT: get in more structured workouts. In addition to burning more calories and directly impacting RMR, assuming the program is sound, you are going to get stronger, get in better condition, move better and pain free, prevent injuries, relieve stress etc.
4. TEF: change the composition of your diet in favor of more protein. As noted above, protein has the highest TEF value. By simply rearranging the percentage of protein, carb and fat in your diet, you can make a positive impact. NOW, it's important you understand I said rearrange the the composition of the diet...NOT add in more protein (calories) on top of what you are already eating.
So, there you have it...a crash course in metabolism and how to manipulate if for better weight/fat loss. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.
Personal Trainers Cincinnati: Eat Clean. Train Dirty. Live Fit!
Showing posts with label NEAT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NEAT. Show all posts
Monday, April 26, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
The Role of NEAT in Fat Loss and Maintenance of Fat Loss
I received this email from one of my readers and thought it-and my response-would make a good blog post. Enjoy!
PJS
PJ:
In my effort to drop about 40 lbs., I recently met with a dietician who told me I should be more focused on just moving more, whenever I can, than on working out really intensely 3 or 4 days/week for an hour. She said doing more general activity and moving around a lot more can make a far greater impact on weight loss as compared to killing yourself in the gym a few days per week and being so sore and tired that you don't want to do anything else the rest of the day. What do you think about this advice? Thanks!
Arnold from Delaware
Arnold:
There was a time when I would have told you your dietician was full of crap and that the whole "just park farther away in the grocery store parking lot, play with your kids more, and take the stairs instead of the elevator" line of thinking was for people who didn't want to pay the price and train hard. My thoughts on that have changed.
Two years ago, I opened my first training facility. Since that time, my weight has decreased by about 15 lbs. and stayed that way, without me consciously counting calories and quantifying my food intake in an effort to lose this amount of weight and keep it off. Sure, I've made highly nutritious food choices 80-90% of the time, and have intuitively ate appropriate portions, but I certainly havn't weighed and measured anything.
In that same time period, my approach to training (not working out mind you...there is a difference) has stayed pretty much the same as it has for years now: I strength train and condition 4-6 days/week for 20-60 minutes depending on what the training session entails. My point is that I have not added extra structured workouts.
So, why have I lost roughly 8% of my body weight and kept if off over the last two years? I'm just moving more (but not training more). When you own a fitness facility and train clients all day, you move a lot. I spot people, I load plates, I demonstrate exercises, I clean the place, etc. Also, the increased anxiety that has come with being "out on my own" as a self employed individual has caused me not to be able to sit still very well. Much to my wife's annoyance, I fidget a lot and I pace around a lot.
My point is that all of this general activity, also called NEAT (non exercise activity thermogenesis), has caused me to get leaner and stay that way, despite the fact I havn't been obsessive about my nutrition and have not added additional or longer sessions to my training schedule.
Here is the deal, you should definitely perform structured TRAINING throughout the week in an effort to increase and/or maintain strength and lean body mass and your conditioning/work capacity. As an off tangent side note, TRAINING is structured, goal oriented, and competitive: you are trying to progress and improve or at least maintain fitness gains you have made in the past. This is different than what most people do when they go to the gym, which is "workout" or, as my colleague Tony Gentilcore says, "try". "Working out" and "trying" is simply going to the gym and having no rhyme or reason for doing what you are doing...it's basically mindless mechanical work. You see a machine or pick up a dumbbell and just perform some arbitrary number of reps with whatever weight you deem to be appropriate. Yes, "working out" burns calories, but that shouldn't be the only goal of your structured, dedicated workouts.
Now, with the above being said, NO AMOUNT OF STRUCTURED TRAINING IS GOING TO MAKE UP FOR THE FACT THAT YOU SIT ON YOUR ASS FOR THE BETTER PART OF THE DAY AND DON'T MOVE...at least not in terms of weight/fat loss or maintenance of fat loss. This is what the dietician you met with was getting at, in a round about way (and I disagree with her that you should avoid hard training), and I agree with her on this.
I always tell people, even if you perform a ridiculously intense 1 hour training session 6 or 7 days/week, the best case scenario is that (dependent upon you body weight and the type of training being done which can impact how many calories you continue to burn after the workout...another blog post), you'll burn 700-1000 calories (and that's generous). Mind you, very few people are going to do this anyway. But let's say you did...that's still only 1.5-2 lbs. worth of calories you've burned through these structured training sessions. You know how easy-and quickly-you can eat an additional 700-1000 calories? Without going into a myraid of examples, it's not that hard, especially in our society where food is everywhere.
The bottom line is this: if you are going to rely on your structured, high intensity training sessions as your only mechanism of burning calories (and your goal is weight and fat loss), your diet better be spot on. This means you are eating at or slightly below maintenance calories pretty consistently (which means you have to weigh and measure food). If you are a little more liberal with your diet (or extremely liberal, as most are), you better supplement your structured trainings sessions with a lot more general movement. Trust me, this NEAT movement adds up. On another side note, a recent issue of Men's Health magazine highlighted the entire concept of NEAT and, while I'm not 100% sure of the accuracy of this statement because I don't have the issue in front of me, I believe it showed NEAT can have a far greater impact on energy expenditure than running dozens of miles each week.
So, in a very long winded way, I agree with your dietician in that you should definitely perform a lot of general, low intensity movement throughout the day whenever the opportunity presents itself. However, you also need to train to enhance your level of muscular and conditioning fitness, especially if you want to have some contour and (forgive me) "tone" to your physique when you do reach your weight loss goal. Remember, the primary goal of structured training is not to burn calories. The goal of training is to improve and/or maintain fitness related qualities: strength, lean body mass, work capacity/conditioning. You need to train hard AND you need to move more...and never forget the fact that the easiest way to make a calorie deficit is to simply not eat excess calories to begin with (this doesn't take you any time I might add).
PJS
PJ:
In my effort to drop about 40 lbs., I recently met with a dietician who told me I should be more focused on just moving more, whenever I can, than on working out really intensely 3 or 4 days/week for an hour. She said doing more general activity and moving around a lot more can make a far greater impact on weight loss as compared to killing yourself in the gym a few days per week and being so sore and tired that you don't want to do anything else the rest of the day. What do you think about this advice? Thanks!
Arnold from Delaware
Arnold:
There was a time when I would have told you your dietician was full of crap and that the whole "just park farther away in the grocery store parking lot, play with your kids more, and take the stairs instead of the elevator" line of thinking was for people who didn't want to pay the price and train hard. My thoughts on that have changed.
Two years ago, I opened my first training facility. Since that time, my weight has decreased by about 15 lbs. and stayed that way, without me consciously counting calories and quantifying my food intake in an effort to lose this amount of weight and keep it off. Sure, I've made highly nutritious food choices 80-90% of the time, and have intuitively ate appropriate portions, but I certainly havn't weighed and measured anything.
In that same time period, my approach to training (not working out mind you...there is a difference) has stayed pretty much the same as it has for years now: I strength train and condition 4-6 days/week for 20-60 minutes depending on what the training session entails. My point is that I have not added extra structured workouts.
So, why have I lost roughly 8% of my body weight and kept if off over the last two years? I'm just moving more (but not training more). When you own a fitness facility and train clients all day, you move a lot. I spot people, I load plates, I demonstrate exercises, I clean the place, etc. Also, the increased anxiety that has come with being "out on my own" as a self employed individual has caused me not to be able to sit still very well. Much to my wife's annoyance, I fidget a lot and I pace around a lot.
My point is that all of this general activity, also called NEAT (non exercise activity thermogenesis), has caused me to get leaner and stay that way, despite the fact I havn't been obsessive about my nutrition and have not added additional or longer sessions to my training schedule.
Here is the deal, you should definitely perform structured TRAINING throughout the week in an effort to increase and/or maintain strength and lean body mass and your conditioning/work capacity. As an off tangent side note, TRAINING is structured, goal oriented, and competitive: you are trying to progress and improve or at least maintain fitness gains you have made in the past. This is different than what most people do when they go to the gym, which is "workout" or, as my colleague Tony Gentilcore says, "try". "Working out" and "trying" is simply going to the gym and having no rhyme or reason for doing what you are doing...it's basically mindless mechanical work. You see a machine or pick up a dumbbell and just perform some arbitrary number of reps with whatever weight you deem to be appropriate. Yes, "working out" burns calories, but that shouldn't be the only goal of your structured, dedicated workouts.
Now, with the above being said, NO AMOUNT OF STRUCTURED TRAINING IS GOING TO MAKE UP FOR THE FACT THAT YOU SIT ON YOUR ASS FOR THE BETTER PART OF THE DAY AND DON'T MOVE...at least not in terms of weight/fat loss or maintenance of fat loss. This is what the dietician you met with was getting at, in a round about way (and I disagree with her that you should avoid hard training), and I agree with her on this.
I always tell people, even if you perform a ridiculously intense 1 hour training session 6 or 7 days/week, the best case scenario is that (dependent upon you body weight and the type of training being done which can impact how many calories you continue to burn after the workout...another blog post), you'll burn 700-1000 calories (and that's generous). Mind you, very few people are going to do this anyway. But let's say you did...that's still only 1.5-2 lbs. worth of calories you've burned through these structured training sessions. You know how easy-and quickly-you can eat an additional 700-1000 calories? Without going into a myraid of examples, it's not that hard, especially in our society where food is everywhere.
The bottom line is this: if you are going to rely on your structured, high intensity training sessions as your only mechanism of burning calories (and your goal is weight and fat loss), your diet better be spot on. This means you are eating at or slightly below maintenance calories pretty consistently (which means you have to weigh and measure food). If you are a little more liberal with your diet (or extremely liberal, as most are), you better supplement your structured trainings sessions with a lot more general movement. Trust me, this NEAT movement adds up. On another side note, a recent issue of Men's Health magazine highlighted the entire concept of NEAT and, while I'm not 100% sure of the accuracy of this statement because I don't have the issue in front of me, I believe it showed NEAT can have a far greater impact on energy expenditure than running dozens of miles each week.
So, in a very long winded way, I agree with your dietician in that you should definitely perform a lot of general, low intensity movement throughout the day whenever the opportunity presents itself. However, you also need to train to enhance your level of muscular and conditioning fitness, especially if you want to have some contour and (forgive me) "tone" to your physique when you do reach your weight loss goal. Remember, the primary goal of structured training is not to burn calories. The goal of training is to improve and/or maintain fitness related qualities: strength, lean body mass, work capacity/conditioning. You need to train hard AND you need to move more...and never forget the fact that the easiest way to make a calorie deficit is to simply not eat excess calories to begin with (this doesn't take you any time I might add).
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