Did you know that by doing normal daily activities you can boost the number of
calories burned in a day? Think of all the things that need doing such as the washing
up, cleaning the bathroom and vacuuming and then see how many calories you burn
doing these things. You might find that you start to enjoy the household chores and
even use it as a workout by putting in more effort which is great for you and your
home.
The first thing to do is to try to move more, whether that is fidgeting, getting up and
down more or simply moving your legs while watching TV – you can do leg circles,
ankle circles or leg raises. The good thing is that if you struggle to sit still for long,
you are likely to burn up to 350 calories a day more than someone who does sit for
long periods of time without moving. We’re going to take a look at some things that
you might do most days to see how many calories you can burn without even
realising it.
Let’s start with cleaning! This is a necessary chore that can add greatly to your daily
calories burned. For example, 30 minutes heavy cleaning can burn up to 100
calories, an hour’s ironing can burn up to 160 calories and an hour’s vacuuming can
burn up to 175 calories. Cleaning the bathroom can burn up to 360 calories an hour
if you are scrubbing the bath and sink and cleaning the floor and it’s a great workout
for your arms too. Sweeping and mopping the floor can burn 150 calories an hour, so
a couple of hours of mopping, vacuuming, and cleaning the kitchen or bathroom can
add up to over 400 calories!
Do you clean your own windows? This can burn between 150 and 400 calories an
hour. This depends on whether you are just wiping them down, or heavy cleaning
with water first and then leathering after.
Even chopping and preparing food and cooking can burn up to 150 calories an hour.
If you spend up to 30 minutes drying your hair, all that lifting and moving the
hairdryer can burn up to 100 calories.
Get out in the fresh air if the weather is good and burn some calories by walking.
Walking briskly can burn up to 400 calories an hour, so even a 30-minute walk will
burn 200 calories. Do this in your lunch hour and, not only are you getting some
exercise, but you will be more awake throughout the afternoon.
If you’ve got a spare half an hour, put on some feel-good dance music and dance
around the house or even do a dance class or a Zumba class. As well as burning up
to 200 calories, it will boost feelings of wellbeing by releasing endorphins into the
bloodstream.
Try skipping for 10–20 minutes. As well as burning loads of calories, it’s great for
your cardio health, will tone your legs, and also your arms – just use a weighted
skipping rope.
If you enjoy gardening, know that you are burning up to 300 calories an hour when
doing a combination of weeding, planting flowers, digging, and mowing the lawn.
All the day to day things that we do helps the calories burned to add up. It’s very
easy to collapse in front of the tv in the evening, especially if you have had a busy
day, but try to keep moving, fidgeting or even short exercises when the adverts are
on as these calories add up! For more household chores that burn calories see our previous blog: how can we burn more calories and faster!
These are great forms of exercise alongside our 30 Minute Gym Circuit! Take your health to the next level with W Fitness.
Much Love
Caroline & Hannah xx