For those that log cleaning

Sassia

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24570276

SbetaK

Didn't ever count my housework, but it's messy anyway.

Qski

I counted gardening last weekend and if I do house cleaning I most definitely would count it. (currently have a cleaner)

I drip sweat when I clean the oven and get pain in my legs from doing it in a squatting position and I had to take a fair few breaks to breathe ok and hurt the next day after the weeding.

Those who are heavier and not use to exercise (like me) work damn hard when they clean or do other tasks (harder) than your 'average' slimmer person does. That is why we also burn way more calories just walking down the road for 15 minutes than a very fit person lighter person does (in some circumstances) doing a cardio workout. - I do know that those with higher fat% burn less calories as well but some of us are that large that the earlier sentence makes sense.

I wouldn't count dusting maybe...

Having said that, my plan for exercise goals weekly don't actually include the cleaning and other house things, I am trying to be more active in other ways. No matter how fit I get I will still not enjoy cleaning, but right now, vacuuming and weeding is definitely a workout I look forward to the day that it's not worth counting it because I barely raise my heart rate.

MinimalistShoeAddict

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24570276

I think some people will miss the point of this article.

Nobody is saying it is "wrong" to count cleaning as exercise. The point is that many people overestimate the caloric burn from these type of activities and eat more than they should to compensate as a result.

The article also points out that there is more to exercise than just burning calories. Not all activities are equal in terms of aerobic benefit.

The most shocking part of the article to me was how few of the people studied were exercising over 150 minutes a week when cleaning is not counted

marianne_s

I would still count it, because when I wore my BodyMedia Fit and did housework, gardening, etc. I could see I burned more calories than I did in my normal (TDEE) non-exercise day.

I don't think you actually need to raise your heart rate to cardio level to lose weight, I just think to be more than you were before to increase your TDEE.

hanwyz

When I've spent three hours scrubbing my house to within an inch of its life, I'm going to log something - usually 0.5-1 hour of light cleaning... When I moved out my last house, I spent 13 hours packing, moving heavy boxes up/down stairs and scrubbing - I counted that as 6hours light cleaning - was no where near eating back my exercise calories though... If people log 1 hour of dusting as 1 hour of cleaning either light or moderate, then yes they may well be overestimating calorie burn so will possibly struggle to lose. However, for people like me with a chronic health condition, or very overweight people who used to do nothing, then surely any form of movement is better than sitting in front of a computer or tv all day?

jacquirich

A very balanced article, I never count calories from housework either

poleydog

I log cleaning when I'm cleaning windows etc but not for a general house tidy up, its just not physical enough