Is housework exercise?

FitLink

No it isnt. If housework and food prep (i know that wasnt mentioned) was exercise hardly anyone would be overweight.

Honestly, this statement doesn't really make any sense at all. I don't understand what logging these things, for someone who doesn't necessarily normally do them and doesn't have them considered in their settings, has to do with an overall caloric deficit.

It does make sense. Logging housework/chores as exercise is cheating. If everyone counted it as exercise then ate back those calories im sorry to say but i think they'd be eating calories they hadn't even earned in the first place, i don't know anyone who works up enough of a sweat/gets out of breath through cleaning. Fair enough when moving furniture you may sweat, but no one i know moves furniture every time they clean - maybe once a month.

I think it's just defeating the purpose. If people could get away with classing housework/chores as exercise then all the lazy people in the world probably wouldnt be classed as overweight (not saying that all lazy people are overweight) because even they must clean their flat/apartment/house/cottage/bungalow so therefore 'workout' right? And people who workout tend to be classed as healthy right? Im probably wrong but hey ho :ohwell:

That probably doesn't make sense to anyone (turned into a bit of a rant!) either but oh well, made sense in my head!

See, this is the problem with using the word "earned." Then you move into accusing people of "getting away with" things. No, Not everyone cleans their home--some people hire other people to clean it. There's no "earned" and no "getting away with" going on. If you eat less than you burn, you lose weight. If you eat more than you burn, you gain weight. Your body doesn't say, "Wow, these calories were burned in a gym, we'll give her credit for these; not like those ones she burned while doing the laundry!" You don't "earn" extra calories by working out. If you burn more calories than you eat, you lose weight, no matter what you did to burn them. Burn victims burn HUGE numbers of calories just lying on a bed, because healing burns takes HUGE amounts of energy. HUGE amounts. Without working out. Do you "earn" calories by getting caught in a fire, or electrocuted? As to "getting away with" something, that's just absurd. If you don't burn the calories you eat, you gain weight. Nobody gets away with anything. It's physics. It's impossible.

Exercise =/= workout AND workout=/=healthy. You can't redefine words to make yourself right. Exercise means "activity requiring physical effort." Workout means "a trial or practice session in athletics." Healthy means "possessing or enjoying good health." Workouts are exercise, but not all exercise is a workout. It would be exercise if I ran out of gas in my car and had to walk to the gas station, but it wouldn't count as a workout. Same with house cleaning. You can work out and not be healthy. Many people are.

You want to make this an issue of "goodness" or "morality" and you seem to want "credit" for what you do. All I care about is the result. Doesn't matter to me if I lose it doing laundry or using the eliiptical machine. To do that, I count the calories in and the calories out. If I burn more, I eat more; burn less, eat less. Doesn't matter how I burn them.

(The above definitions come from dictionary.com)

gomisskellygo

Any physical activity is technically "exercise", but you don't have to log every little thing. That's where the daily activity level estimate comes in, to set a base of how many calories you are assumed to burn in the day before you add in your logged workouts.

True. As it happens, due to injury, illness and nerve pain, my daily activity varies wildly. It makes more sense to set for sedentary and add in. I make that easier by letting my FitBit do the actually ADL logging, but the idea that house cleaning isn't exercise or someone is a "sissy" if they record it, is absurd.

2 things:

1st: I do not agree with the term "sissy".
2nd: I do believe housework is exercise. I personally don't record it.

tantalee

and sex !!! im not participating unless i can count the calories burned pmsl !! xx

ROFLMAO:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

tantalee

sometimes i record mine...other times i dont...do as you think is better for you

gurganuss

I clean my house on saturday morning. I spend anywhere from 45 minutes to well over an hour straight making sure my whole house is clean, and yes I log it as light house cleaning.

BUT I totally agree there is no where to log the calories you burn with SEX!!!! Love that one.

FitLink

I reported them too, but I doubt anything will happen. I was told "obtrusive" was derogatory the other day (although the dictionary doesn't list it as such) but "sissy" (which the dictionary lists as derogatory) apparently is acceptable name calling.

I notice that the first "sissy" post has been edited to remove the word. I don't know if it was by the poster or a moderator. Of course, it was quoted multiple times, so removing the word from that one post was kind of pointless. I suppose it's also possible the poster got some sort of warning message. I've never got one of those, so I don't know how it works.

Edit: I went back and looked. The first "sissy" post is no longer there at all, so it must have been removed by a moderator. The poster could edit, but not remove.

The second one, directed directly at me, is also gone. There he suggested, no--stated as fact, I had nerve pain because I "haven't taken care of [my] body." If they were removed, he got a note "explaining why." As I said, I agreed with (I didn't actually say it, just agreed with it) that a certain group of people was "obtrusive" and the post was removed and I got an email stating the post was removed because it was "derogatory." It was removed within minutes. These were not removed until I commented to you about it, and I had reported twice and sent a separate email to a moderator asking for the thread to be locked.

adamb83

Waste of time.

Count the stuff you're doing to purposely burn calories, not the things you do which also just happen to burn calories.

yesthistime

I don't count cleaning as exercise because I have always done a ton of housework every day (my best friends are my Swiffer and my washing machine), but I managed to get fat as he!! anyway. If cleaning is a significant workout, i must not be doing it right. :ohwell:

JanSmelly

I only count it if I go above and beyond or I do it all in one day. I don't record it, but I keep it in mind. 3200 sq ft = a lot of work

KelseyDawn84

Housework = Energy expendidure = Calories burned.

Log it.

FitLink

Any physical activity is technically "exercise", but you don't have to log every little thing. That's where the daily activity level estimate comes in, to set a base of how many calories you are assumed to burn in the day before you add in your logged workouts.

True. As it happens, due to injury, illness and nerve pain, my daily activity varies wildly. It makes more sense to set for sedentary and add in. I make that easier by letting my FitBit do the actually ADL logging, but the idea that house cleaning isn't exercise or someone is a "sissy" if they record it, is absurd.

2 things:

1st: I do not agree with the term "sissy".
2nd: I do believe housework is exercise. I personally don't record it.

Nevermind.

FitLink

Waste of time.

Count the stuff you're doing to purposely burn calories, not the things you do which also just happen to burn calories.

A study performed at the University of New Mexico and published in "Science" disagrees with you. They determined that the calories burned through Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) were actually MORE important in weight control than planned, formal exercise.

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/307/5709/530.summary

But seriously, why would the calories you burn in the course of life matter less than those you burned "purposely?"

celticmuse

I do log housekeeping because I wear a HRM and I discovered that I burn 300+ calories cleaning my house, so I figure I am cheating myself if I don't log it. I also log it because it is WORK! I calculated my daily target calorie goals assuming I am sedentary. (ie multiply BMR x 1.2). Therefore I figure that doing housework is not a sedentary activity. I also log raking leaves and other heavy yard work, which typically burns 300-400 calories. I have lost 35 lbs doing this, so it is working for me. I agree that it an individual choice.

Pollywog39

Big housework jobs? yup.

And I count laundry, as I live in a second-floor apt, have to walk up and down a long flight of stairs, around the building, carrying my baskets and such................that's why I have a hundred pairs of undies, so I only have to do laundry once a month or so

j/k (but I DO have a lot of undies!!!) :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

treetop57

Neat article, FitLink. Thanks!

Rach_Gem_n_Disguise

Housework = Energy expendidure = Calories burned.

Log it.

Agree!! Especially for me....usually I clean my two story house top to bottom on weekends and it takes me over two hours...blood, sweat, and tears. So, to say that I shouldn't log that would be cra....zy!!

MissVickie220

its under cleaning

dariadoll

Love it!!! Although shame about the trolllllll, but I suppose you get them in any forum.

Thanks for letting me know bout the cleaning option but I think I'll take a bit of advice from everyone and only log it if I've done a buttload of housework that day!

dariadoll

Big housework jobs? yup.

And I count laundry, as I live in a second-floor apt, have to walk up and down a long flight of stairs, around the building, carrying my baskets and such................that's why I have a hundred pairs of undies, so I only have to do laundry once a month or so

j/k (but I DO have a lot of undies!!!) :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

This made me laugh brilliant!

FitLink

Neat article, FitLink. Thanks!

Clever, clever...:laugh: