Originally published March 8, 2018. Updated October 20, 2026 with new research, the current status of NEAT certification, and the NEAT Certified products we carry today.
You have probably seen the NEAT Certified badge on active chairs, standing desks and balance boards. It shows up on two of the products we sell at Active Goods, the CoreChair and the Varier Move Stool. This guide explains what NEAT is, what the research says about it, what NEAT Certification actually measured, and how to add more of it to your workday.
What does NEAT mean?
NEAT stands for non-exercise activity thermogenesis. It is the energy you burn doing everything that is not sleeping, eating or deliberate exercise: walking to a meeting, standing, doing chores, taking the stairs and even fidgeting.
For most people who don't train hard every day, NEAT is the most variable part of daily calorie burn. NPR's reporting on the research puts the gap at up to 2,000 calories a day between people of the same size.
What the research says
NEAT helps explain why some people resist weight gain
In a classic study published in Science in 1999, Dr. James Levine's team at Mayo Clinic overfed 16 volunteers by 1,000 calories a day for 8 weeks. Weight gain ranged from about 2 to almost 16 pounds. The biggest difference between people who gained a little and people who gained a lot was how much their everyday, non-exercise movement increased, by as much as 692 calories a day in one participant.
Lean and obese adults differ by more than two hours of sitting a day
A 2005 follow-up in Science tracked the posture of 20 non-exercising adults for 10 days. The mildly obese participants sat 164 minutes more per day than the lean participants, a difference worth about 350 calories a day.
Active sitting raises calorie burn
In 2016, Levine and colleagues tested an active chair directly. The study, Chair-based fidgeting and energy expenditure (BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine), compared a standard office chair with the CoreChair in 16 adults:
| Condition | Calories per hour (average) |
|---|---|
| Standard office chair | 76 |
| CoreChair active sitting | 89 (about 20% higher) |
| Under-desk leg fidget bar | 98 (about 30% higher) |
| Walking on a treadmill at 2 mph | 166 |
| CoreChair with a seated exercise video | 189 |
Twenty percent per hour sounds small, but it adds up over a full workday spent sitting, and you get it without changing what you are doing at your desk.
Dr. James Levine, NEAT pioneer
Dr. James Levine led the NEAT research program at Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University and is widely credited with popularizing the phrase "sitting is the new smoking." He has published more than 200 scientific papers, including work in Science and Nature, and wrote the books Get Up! and Move a Little, Lose a Lot. In late 2017 he was named president of Fondation Ipsen in Paris.
What is NEAT Certification?
Mayo Clinic announced NEAT product certification in September 2013, licensing the NEAT trademark to companies whose products met its requirements. Products were tested in a lab against a seated baseline. Certified brands describe the bar as a measurable increase of at least 10 percent in calorie burn or heart rate, confirmed in human testing.
CoreChair received NEAT certification in 2016. Other certified brands have included iMovR, FluidStance, Cubii and Varier.
Is NEAT Certification still active?
Here is what we could verify. We could not find any new NEAT certifications announced in recent years, Mayo Clinic's old NEAT certification web page now redirects to a general Mayo Clinic business development site, and Dr. Levine now leads Fondation Ipsen. So the badge is best read as a lab result from the 2010s, not an ongoing audit. The science behind NEAT is a different story. It has held up well and is now built into national guidelines, as you will see below.
Benefits of NEAT and active sitting
- More calories burned without a workout. Small movements add up across an 8-hour day.
- Less uninterrupted sitting. Canada's 24-Hour Movement Guidelines recommend that adults limit sedentary time to 8 hours or less a day, including no more than 3 hours of recreational screen time, and break up long periods of sitting as often as possible.
- Better circulation and posture. Active chairs keep your pelvis and core engaged instead of slumped against a backrest.
- A habit that sticks. NEAT works in the background of what you already do, so it doesn't depend on finding time for the gym.
NEAT Certified products at Active Goods
- CoreChair Classic Active Sitting Chair: the chair tested in the 2016 study above. CoreChair earned NEAT certification in 2016.
- CoreChair Sport Active Sitting Chair: the same seat and mechanism as the Classic, with wipe-clean upholstery for clinics and labs.
- Varier Move Stool (Quick Ship): NEAT certified, and Varier reports up to 18% higher calorie burn than a standard office chair.
- Varier Move Stool (Custom Order): the same stool in more fabrics, colours and gas lift heights.
More ways to add NEAT to your workday
These products are not NEAT certified, but they are built around the same idea: more movement while you work.
- Walk while you work. In the 2016 study, slow treadmill walking more than doubled calorie burn compared with a standard chair. The Bodycraft SpaceWalker Treadmill fits under a standing desk.
- Pedal under your desk. The Deskcise Pro Desk Bike combines a seat, a work surface and pedals.
- Wobble instead of slump. Kore Design wobble chairs let kids and adults rock and shift as they sit.
- Kneel, rock and shift. The Varier collection of balans kneeling chairs encourages position changes throughout the day.
- Stand up more often. A sit-stand desk makes it easy to break up long stretches of sitting.
NEAT FAQ
How many calories does NEAT burn?
It varies a lot from person to person, by up to 2,000 calories a day between people of similar size, depending on job, lifestyle and habits. In lab testing, active sitting on a CoreChair burned about 13 more calories per hour than a standard office chair, and slow treadmill walking burned about 90 more.
Is fidgeting really good for you?
Fidgeting counts as NEAT. In the 2016 Levine study, an under-desk leg fidget bar raised calorie burn by about 30% and an active chair by about 20% compared with a standard chair.
Is NEAT Certification still around?
Products certified during the program can still carry the badge, but we could not find any new certifications announced in recent years. The research behind NEAT is still current.
Which Active Goods products are NEAT certified?
The CoreChair Classic and Sport, and the Varier Move Stool in both Quick Ship and Custom Order versions.
Sources
- Levine JA. Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). Best Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2002.
- Koepp GA, Moore GK, Levine JA. Chair-based fidgeting and energy expenditure. BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, 2016.
- Mayo Clinic overfeeding study summary, ScienceDaily, 1999.
- NEAT research summary, University of New Mexico (Levine et al., Science, 2005).
- Mayo Clinic announces NEAT product certification, Mayo Clinic News Network, 2013.
- How increasing small movements can make a big difference, NPR, 2023.
- Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Adults, CSEP.