The Secret To Getting Your Home & Your Body Ship Shape At The Same Time.

According to recent studies, in the US more than 2 out of 3 adults are considered to be obese or overweight, and over 1 in 3 adults is categorized as obese. As if that wasn’t shocking enough, over 1 in 20 adults is categorized as being extremely obese and 1 in 6 children or teenagers aged between 6 and 19 are considered obese. Obesity is has some really scary consequences and most people don’t choose to be obese.

Losing weight is a good idea if you are obese, and is always a good thing if you’re carrying a few extra pounds or more, and exercise is usually always good for the body regardless of your shape or size. Exercise helps us stay lean, maintain muscle strength, keep our heart strong and our circulation going. It also helps keep our sleep regulated and our mood positive.

If you’re trying to lose weight, or looking to move more, one fantastic way to do that is by integrating exercise into your daily routine. You may feel this is easier said than done, but there’s one area of your life you can definitely add exercise right now, without using up any extra time. How?

With cleaning!

That’s right. Cleaning is something that you have to do, and it is something that is also amazing for your body, if you know how to make it work for you. What’s great is that you can get the kids involved as well. With age appropriate jobs, your kids will learn responsibility, help you out, and get their bodies moving as well!

How Cleaning Can Help Your Body

Cleaning helps your body in many different ways, and it really doesn’t take much cleaning at all to get your heart rate going, your muscles working and your mood benefitting from mood boosting chemicals being released. Here are some of the chores you likely already do, and what they do for your body:

Sweeping

Something as simple as sweeping the kitchen floor or the hallway utilizes your arm muscles, and your leg muscles. Increase resistance by sweeping something like the carpet, and you work those muscles harder. In terms of calorie burn, you’re looking at on average a burn of 30-40 calories for 15 minutes of sweeping, or if you fancy going at it for an hour, you can burn over 150 calories.

Mopping

Because of the increased resistance, compared to sweeping, mopping gives you a bit more bang for your buck. As well as working the legs and arms, you can burn around 40 calories mopping for 15 minutes and then nearly 200 calories mopping for an hour.

Washing The Dishes Standing Up

Washing the dishes is certainly one of the least exciting cleaning jobs, because you’re just standing in the same spot. However, even with such little ‘action’ this cleaning job still provides you with calorie burn. Scrubbing those pots and pans standing up will help you burn over 20 calories every 15 minutes, or over 100 every hour.

Carrying Fresh Laundry Upstairs

Bringing in the laundry from drying outside seems like the end of a job, not a job in itself, but the very action of bringing laundry in and taking it upstairs is amazing for the body. The action of walking up the stairs strengthens leg muscles, and carrying the laundry adds extra weight to make those muscles work harder. Your arms are also working because they are carrying a load. If you continue to carry heavy laundry loads upstairs continually for 15 minutes you will burn over 100 calories, and you could potentially burn over 400 if you do it for an hour! Pretty good for fetching in dry towels huh!

Washing Windows

Washing windows is so good for your body as you work out all muscles with the movement, especially if you’re reaching up high, squatting down low and working those suds to reach every single grimy spot. Calories burnt during window cleaning are significant, and you’re looking at burning between 70 and 100 calories for just 15 minutes of window washing, and between 300 and 400 for an hour so it’s really worth glamming up those windows!

Any calorie burn averages are based on average weight, and will vary depending on your weight and health levels.

Increasing Cleaning Gains

Cleaning in itself is amazing for your body, but it can be even better if you make small adjustments to make the cleaning more strenuous for your body. One simple way to do this is simply by increasing how long you do the activity for. Another simple way is by making movements needed for the cleaning bigger and faster. You might worry about looking silly but that’s the beauty of burning calories cleaning; nobody can see what you’re doing in your own home! So you flap those arms around, wiggle that bum while you sweep, and wipe those windows like it ain’t no thang! Even better, pop some music on while you clean so you’re dancing while you do it, even more calories burned!

You could also change the equipment you’re using to encourage more strenuous cleaning.

Great examples of this are:-

• Avoiding using step ladders to clean windows you could reach up to clean.
• Splitting the fresh laundry into smaller loads so you have to go up and down the stairs several times to take it all up.
• Using a handheld vacuum cleaner instead of a cord free version, so it will likely be heavier and more tricky to maneuver, making your body work harder.

Cleaning Can Help You Get In Shape

With the right adjustments, enthusiasm and time completing each task, cleaning can be an ideal way to get your body in shape, and to help maintain fitness and agility. Next time you clean, remember if you put the work in, your home and body will benefit huge amounts.