Building good habits outside of the gym is easier than you might think. To start making changes, focus on establishing one habit at a time that won’t disrupt your current schedule.
“One of the best ways to build a new habit is to identify a current habit you already do each day and then stack your new behaviour on top,” says Wes Santos, founder of Instate Fitness. NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) is a great place to start and is categorised as any activity that isn’t considered formal exercise. You might not realise how many daily activities fall under this umbrella, and it might surprise you to know how important the concept is to overall health.
As well as burning hundreds or even thousands of calories a day, small bursts of low-impact movement can help with muscle recovery, cardiovascular health, blood sugar control, and stress and inflammation reduction. “You may hear PTs say you need to increase your NEAT,” says Wes. “This is because NEAT plays a significant role in overall energy expenditure along with the thermic effect of food, exercise and your individual BMR.”
Because NEAT tends to be low impact, it’s ideal for those coming back from injury. “The concept of 'exercise snacking’ can put people in the right mindset to move more,” adds Luiz Silva, head of fitness and wellbeing and a personal trainer at Castle Royle. “The possibilities are endless – you just need to find something that suits your lifestyle. It’s important to be creative, as your body will need to be taken outside of its comfort zone to be able to adapt and get results.”
While the tips that follow can help improve everything from your mood, focus, energy and fitness levels, the best news is that they’re all easy to incorporate into your existing daily routine without much effort. In other words, it’s (virtually) no pain and all gain.
