Vacuuming? Feel the burn
If hating housework could burn calories, we’d all be rail thin. But at least you can turn your housework into a workout that actually does the body good. Sharecare has the skinny on how you can clean house and shape up.
Housework can burn an average of 250 calories per hour for a 150 lb. woman—if you do it right, says NASM Elite Trainer Anka Ivanisevic. “Make every opportunity to move more, lift more and carry more,” she says. If you make extra trips up and down stairs or throw in some lunges while picking up the living room and those calories can really add up.
For more sneaky ways to amp up your housework burn, watch this video where Dr. Mehmet Oz and fitness expert Jenny Hein turn household chores into fat-burners.
What household chore do you think burns the most calories? Let us know.
Join the largest health conversation in 140 characters or less! Tweet what you want to talk about to @SharecareNow and let’s start chatting!
File under: Fit Friday
Contributor
Cathy Poley
Cathy Poley is a Senior Web Producer at Sharecare. She has managed web and video projects for companies such as Primedia, CNN.com and Turner Broadcasting. Not only is Cathy a Sharecare employee, but she is also an avid Sharecare user, finding that the Q&As she reads inspire her to make better decisions about her health.
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5 hours ago
Jen
What an awesome read! I don’t need yet another reason to avoid the gym like the proverbial plague, but this is a reassuring thought. So from now on when I’m scrubbing the kitchen floor or doing laundry, I will think of the upside and that I’m getting an awesomely “free” workout.
In all seriousness, I think it’s important to take the “scary” connotations away from exercise. Exercise doesn’t necessarily mean hitting the gym and pumping iron all day – there are plenty of “subtle” ways to obtain physical activity. Parking the car a little farther away in order to walk to your destination, taking the stairs, etc. – it all comes in handy and is some form of activity. So incorporating some semblance of a fitness regime into our daily lives doesn’t have to be an overwhelmingly intimidating task.