Metabolic Equivalents of Task, or METs, are a measurement of how much energy a person burns during a specific activity. One MET are the amount of energy a person uses while resting or sitting. One MET is the amount of energy that is required to allow a person’s heart to continue to beat and there lungs to breathe.
Every physical activity burn energy relative to one MET. For instance, if an activity is measured at three METs, it will burn three times more energetic than when a person is at rest. Many types of activity can be compared to others using METs.
METs: How Everyday Activities Burn Energy
MET values can be used to compare low-intensity to high-intensity physical activities. While many individual focus only on high-intensity physical activities as a means of burning energy, there are other ways of burning energy without having to performing those types of physical activities. High-intensity physical activities can make a person feel very exhaustedly after performing those activities for long periods of time.
In comparison, there is benefits to performing moderate physical activities for longer periods of time as they are sustainable for those performing the activities. Non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or NEAT, is the amount of energy a person burns during activities that is not related to sleeping, eating, or organized sports. Examples of NEAT include vacuuming, gardening, or mowing the lawn.
These types of everyday activities can help a person reach a moderate level of activity and increase the amount of energy that a person burns during the day. If a person performs these types of everyday activities, they are using NEAT to increase their energy expenditure. The effort that is required for these types of activities can move a person to a metabolic zone similar than that of light gym workouts.
The weight of the individual determines the amount of energy that is burned during an activity at a specific MET value. The heavier a person is, the more energy are required to move that body mass. Thus, an individual that weighs more then another individual will burn more calories during the same activity at the same MET value.
Therefore, the MET value determine the intensity of the activity, but the weight of the individual impacts the total amount of calories that that individual will burn during the activity. A person can change the way in which they move throughout the work day to increase energy expenditure. For instance, shifting from a seated to a standing position can double the metabolic output of a person.
Furthermore, if a person stands throughout the work day, they will have better control over there insulin and blood pressure levels. Even short walks of ten minutes every hour can improve a persons health marker rather than performing a long session at the gym once per week. VO2max is a measurement of the efficiency of a persons heart and lung.
A person can use MET levels to determine their VO2max. A person can aim to increase their baseline energy expenditure. If a person increases the number of minute they spend performing moderate and high-intensity activities, they can transform a portion of their daily life into a way to build their body into a more resiliant physique.
