Many household chores involve movements and exertions that can help you burn calories and stay active. From vacuuming to gardening, these routine tasks can surprisingly count as a workout.
1. Vacuuming
Pushing and pulling the vacuum across floors engages your upper body muscles, particularly the arms, shoulders, and back. Additionally, it requires you to walk back and forth, which increases your heart rate and helps burn calories.
Benefits: Vacuuming can help you burn around 150 calories per hour, depending on the intensity and the size of the area you’re cleaning. It’s a good way to get your heart pumping and work on muscle endurance.
2. Mopping Floors
Mopping requires you to use a lot of upper body strength to scrub the floors, engaging muscles in your arms, shoulders, and core. The movement also involves bending and stretching, which can help improve flexibility and balance.
Benefits: Mopping can burn approximately 170 calories per hour. It provides a low-impact, full-body workout that can help improve your cardiovascular health and muscular endurance.
3. Gardening
Activities like digging, planting, and weeding involve a variety of physical movements such as bending, squatting, and lifting, which work multiple muscle groups, including the legs, arms, and back.
Benefits: Gardening can burn between 200-400 calories per hour, depending on the intensity. It also helps improve strength, flexibility, and coordination, and being outdoors can boost your mood and mental health.
4. Sweeping
Sweeping engages your core, arms, and shoulders as you move the broom back and forth. The continuous motion can also get your heart rate up, providing a light cardiovascular workout.
Benefits: Sweeping can burn about 150 calories per hour. It helps tone your upper body and improves your overall stamina and endurance.
5. Washing Windows
Washing windows involves reaching, stretching, and sometimes squatting, which works your upper body, especially the arms and shoulders. The movement also engages your core and legs.
Benefits: Washing windows can burn around 180 calories per hour. It’s a good way to improve your flexibility and balance while getting a light full-body workout.
6. Cleaning the Bathroom
Scrubbing tubs and tiles requires significant upper body strength and engages your arms, shoulders, and core. The activity often involves bending and reaching, which can also work your legs.
Benefits: Cleaning the bathroom can burn about 200 calories per hour. It helps build muscular endurance and strength, especially in the upper body.
7. Carrying Laundry
Lifting and carrying heavy baskets of laundry engages your arm, shoulder, and back muscles. The activity also involves walking, which can help increase your heart rate.
Benefits: Carrying laundry can burn around 100-150 calories per hour. It helps improve strength and endurance, particularly in the upper body and core.
8. Raking Leaves
Raking leaves is a full-body workout that involves continuous motion, engaging your arms, shoulders, back, and core. It also requires you to walk and sometimes bend, which works your legs.
Benefits: Raking leaves can burn approximately 300 calories per hour. It provides a good cardiovascular workout and helps build muscle strength and endurance.
