Taking care of the house is a never-ending job! I still remember my mother being so caught up with household chores that she never got the time to workout. One day when I got home after working out, I saw my mother doing the regular housework and an idea struck me! What if we can turn daily household chores into a workout routine?
Benefits of Turning Household Chores Into a Workout
Most people struggle with the fact that due to the lack of time, they skip working out. If you turn household chores into a workout routine, you’re killing two birds with one stone. You find your chores as well as get a good, light workout.
Like any other physical activity, housework can tone muscles if done correctly and in the right posture. It’s already proved that short bouts of relatively mild exercise can help improve your fitness levels, especially for those who do little or no physical activity or are just getting started. To top it off, this can help you break the monotony of routine and add a little bit of fun to completing chores.
Here’s How You Get Started
- Lunges (Vacuum Cleaning): While using the vacuum cleaner, you can walk in a lunges posture. Remember to keep your knees directly above your ankles, your back straight and your abs engaged. You will know this is working by feeling the pressure in your thighs and glutes. Lunges are a good exercise for strengthening, sculpting and building several muscles/muscle groups, including the quadriceps (or thighs), the gluteus maximus (or buttocks) and the hamstrings as well.
- Squats: Pick up items on the floor or tables by squatting. Keep your back straight, squat deeply by bending your knees. Hold for 15 seconds before rising up again. A Squat is an exercise that primarily trains the muscles of the thighs, hips and buttocks. It also works the quadriceps (vastus lateral, vastus medialis, vastus intermedius and rectus femoris), hamstrings, and strengthens the bones, ligaments as well as the insertion of the tendons throughout the lower body
- Make Sweeping Movements: Instead of cleaning haphazardly when scrubbing glass doors or cleaning windows, make long, sweeping movements. For instance, when you are cleaning the doors or windows, take long swipes from top to bottom, squatting (not bending) to reach the lower spots. This will give you a fantastic shoulder workout and engage your entire lower body. If you want you can also hold a small bucket of water in your other hand to increase the strength of your arms.
- Sweeping: While sweeping, tuck your stomach and oblique muscles in, keep your back straight and bring the bristles of the broom as far as possible and pull in.
- Dance on the Beat: Turn on the music system while doing household chores and dance to the music the way you want. Try to use some fast music so you’ll be encouraged to pick up your speed and break a sweat. If you’re wondering how dancing helps your health, click here.
- Step it up: Use a stepladder, stairs or step stool when you need to reach high areas. Try to repeat the same steps 8-10 times. Trust me, this is a really great exercise for your hamstrings, provided you keep your back straight. You can simulate your own step aerobics session this way!
- Loading the Washing machine: When you are loading or unloading your washing machine, just twist and move more. This movement will help to strengthen your core.
- Sculpt and Fold: Lifting laundry can be the toughest part of your routine. Tone your arms by holding them raised at 90° angle as you carry the laundry basket. Use the squats and lunges posture with your legs as your fold.
- Take a Swing. Instead of cleaning your rugs, carpets, sheet using a vacuum cleaner, take them outside, hang them up, pick up your broom and show your muscular talent! Swing away to beat out the dust and dirt. Performing this activity will help you involve more muscles than vacuuming alone and help you get some fresh air as well.
- Always Prefer Stairs: Instead of making one trip up and down, try to convert it into multiple trips with the clean or dirty clothes. Remember, we have a target to do more work as a workout, not less work with the help of machines!
What are you waiting for! Make your household chores something to look forward to by turning them into a workout. Try this for a week and let us know if you see any changes. Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
Find more tips on exercising and workouts here. If you need help with your workouts, learn from the best by signing up for an interactive GOQii PRO class where you’ll be guided in real-time by a certified expert. Book a class now from the GOQii App.
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Pulling someone out of bed for a workout can really be a task! In the field of health and fitness, we have come across people giving some very fickle excuses that are just not valid. We are writing this article not to help you make those excuses, but to convey the fact that these excuses are invalid. We need to get stronger and workout harder!
Most of us have this desirable goal of losing fat but, when asked to act on it, we have a fixed set of excuses ready – No time! Too tough for me! Too boring to repeat the same pattern, etc. It’s time to ditch these excuses and rev up workouts which consume less time, can be done easily and are not monotonous. We suggest going for Interval Training!
It’s quite possible to take interval training to many levels. The length and speed of each high-intensity interval solely depend upon our strength and capacity. To get better with it, we need to make sure we push our body way past our comfort zone each time we do it. Remember, not to rush into strenuous exercise before our body is ready, to avoid injury. Ensure a good warm-up session before starting with it, and end it with stretches.
With the weather being unpredictable, stepping outdoors to get a good workout or a run might be practically impossible, especially if you’re not a fan of running in the rain. Don’t be disappointed! Where there’s a will, there’s a way! Don’t skip your workout routine just because the weather isn’t in your favour. Here are some indoor exercises you can perform from the convenience of your home.
A simple exercise that works fantastically on the core, lower back and Glute muscles Begin with lying in the prone position, with your arms stretched, raise your hands and legs 4-5 inches above the ground, hold for 10-15secs, then come back to the beginner position. Repeat the procedure for 3-5 reps.
A great core exercise concentrating majorly on the oblique muscles. Great way to tone the abs while burning calories. Start with lying in a plank position, then move your right leg front and back as though climbing a mountain, following the same procedure with your left leg. Try to do it as fast as you can for 60 secs. Follow it with 5 reps of 60 secs each.
Start with lying down in a prone position. Place your arms with your palms facing the floor shoulder-width apart. Bend elbows and Upper body to do a Push-up. Repeat the push-ups for 10-12 reps. Do at least 3 sets of 10-12 reps each.
Begin with a standing position, torso upright. Keep your feet hip-width apart. Bend down as if you are sitting on a chair with your arms extended. Do the exercise for 15-20 reps. Repeat it for 3-5sets of 15-20 reps each.
No exercise routine is complete without a crunch. Begin the exercise in a supine position, with your knees bent in a 90-degree angle and feet firmly on the floor. Place your hands behind your head so that the thumbs are behind your ears. Curl the upper body up, to crunch your abdomen. Repeat it for 15-20 reps. Try to do 3 sets of 15-20 reps each. This is one of the best and simple exercises to help in toning the abdominal muscles.
