Cleaning as Exercise?

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  • mommyhof3
    mommyhof3 Posts: 551 Member
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    My house is always clean. My kids do chores every day to keep it that way. So when I go on a cleaning binge I wear my HRM and I CLEAN. I get down and scrub. I work up a good sweat. Those are the calories I count. Not the ones from making my bed or doing the dishes.
  • stockholmhasago
    stockholmhasago Posts: 67
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    The only time I'd consider it exercise for me is when I do three or four loads of laundry.

    But I live on the top floor of an apartment, and the laundry room is at the bottom, and so every thirty minutes I'm running up and down several flight of stairs.

    But even then, it doesn't get logged.
  • zenchild
    zenchild Posts: 680 Member
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    My normal routine is 9 hours at work, come home, work out, eat dinner, clean a bit, shower, sleep. Lather, rinse, repeat. Today I got up, spent an hour cleaning the kitchen, swept half the house, worked out, ran errands, and cleaned some more. I'll bet I burned more calories today than I did yesterday. And I'm going to count it. I don't log the 20 minutes of general straightening that I do every evening or the little bits I do every day to keep the house livable. But if I spend an hour (sometimes up to six hours) cleaning and cooking and doing other assorted domestic stuff, I'm going to count it. I work up a sweat and get my heart rate up. I don't see why it has to be formal exercise to count. If I can burn some calories AND my is clean, I win.
  • sweetsoonergirl
    sweetsoonergirl Posts: 16 Member
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    It's better than sitting but it's not an excuse to not challenge your body with real exercise.
  • MFPBrandy
    MFPBrandy Posts: 564 Member
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    My settings are based on a sedentary, butt-in-chair job M-F. So yeah, I give myself credit for household stuff that keeps me moving and lifting. But why does it bother you to think other people are using it as a "cheat" to get out of going to the gym? They're either doing what works for them or not, but it shouldn't affect you...so who cares? I don't analyze people's workouts and wonder if they really walked 3.5 MPH, or if they're giving themselves credit for walking faster than they are.
  • NewChristina
    NewChristina Posts: 250 Member
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    If I don't feel like exercising, then I don't exercise, and I don't use something else in its place.

    As a general rule I don't log routine cleaning as exercise. But if I know I'm going to do something above and beyond the norm (like vacuuming every square inch of carpeting in my 2000+sq ft 4-bedroom 2-story house, including the stairs and moving furniture AND vacuuming the furniture), then yeah, I will wear my HRM and log it.

    What does it matter to anyone else what I log anyway? It's my fitness quest, not anyone else's. If I want to log brushing my teeth, I will.

    Exactly :grumble:
  • FungusTrooper
    FungusTrooper Posts: 227 Member
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    I'm going to start logging "poking through other people's diaries for things to complain about" as an exercise.
  • RealWomenLovePitbulls
    RealWomenLovePitbulls Posts: 729 Member
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    I log cleaning only when I am doing like extreme cleaning (not every day cleaning) and I still do my exercise for the day, however, i don't go to the gym at all. I have an elliptical at my house that I use and go for walks with my dog for exercise.

    for example, the other day, i deep cleaned my carpets and was moving furniture in and out of the rooms and things like that, plus I actually worked up a little bit of a sweat... and this was out of the ordinary cleaning, so I did log it. But i don't try to log loading the dishwasher every day or anything like that. That's kind of like people who want to log their jobs... if it's not something different than what you do every day, how is it supposed to change anything?
  • nicholjenny
    nicholjenny Posts: 74 Member
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    Hmmmmm..... Cleaning is really hard work. You bet it's exercise!
  • Mellie289
    Mellie289 Posts: 1,191 Member
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    And I diffidently agree with what all you are saying. But I am saying as the aspect of using as an excuse though. Because I know people personally who do it, why I brought it up in the first place. I know when you sleep your burning calories, your burn calories no matter what you do.

    I also believe in pushing people to their hardest. It has helped my friends out tons of time. And if SOME people have the mind set that all they have to do is clean everyday to get that 200 to 600 calories then they will be just fine I disagree.
    I'm a busy person and some weekends, I have a choice between doing exercise or cleaning. Lately, exercise has been winning, so I won't invite anyone over, but I am going to have to sacrifice a workout soon for cleaning. I'm sure I will burn as many calories. I don't understand why that's an issue - if I'm eating under my TDEE and I burn 200-600 calories doing squats, lifting and walking, but it's with a vacuum in my hand instead of my hand weights, what's the problem? I'm still burning calories and working muscles - just not in a highly repetitive fashion.

    I've never seen someone have cleaning everyday as the workout, but if someone has had a sedentary lifestyle for a long time, that may be a huge change for them and just as much of a workout as following a video or going to the gym for them.
  • Bigmomma0u812
    Bigmomma0u812 Posts: 118
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    I think its just an opinion and lifestyle thing. I personally do not log it even though I have my diary set on sedentary because I'm pretty active (for a little fat girl :smile: ). My sister does log it because she has a more sedentary lifestyle and she burns a LOT of calories with the HRM in cleaning etc.

    I log things like mowing the yard and carrying boxes because that stuff gets my heart rate up. Different strokes for different folks and I'm good with whatever anybody chooses to do. I root on all my friends whether they're lifting weights or washing dishes
  • Kimberz6
    Kimberz6 Posts: 15 Member
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    I log heavy cleaning as my exercise. I have alot of kids in my house and a very busy life so it doesn't get a GOOD cleaning that often. When it does, I count it :happy: Emptying the dishwasher and doing laundry I do not count.
  • kali31337
    kali31337 Posts: 1,048 Member
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    I personally log it (at half the time so not to cheat myself) on the days I don't make it to the gym. I've noticed that I use logging it as a push to get myself off the couch and we get a cleaner house because of it. I've noticed it makes a huge difference sometime since my calories are only at 1200 and my activity levels are at sedentary. I've seen a decline in weight so why not? It works for me!
  • NormalSaneFLGuy
    NormalSaneFLGuy Posts: 1,344 Member
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    Psh. I go to the gym, but I clean too and I log when I do. I just finished cleaning 1400 sq ft and believe me I had a massive sweat going for hours. Sure, sweeping is a joke, but there can be some pretty intensive cleaning practices and it definitely burns calories.
  • ExplorinLauren
    ExplorinLauren Posts: 991 Member
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    What does it matter to anyone else what I log anyway? It's my fitness quest, not anyone else's. If I want to log brushing my teeth, I will.


    Agrrrreeeeed
  • sandrajune72
    sandrajune72 Posts: 550
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    I have 2 jobs, one of them is cleaning other people's houses.

    Obviously I never log it as it's my job, but I also never log cleaning my own house. I just don't consider it exercise.I was doing the same things before I started this journey, and I never lost any weight then!

    But saying that, each to their own, I would never knock anyone for what they consider exercise, it's totally up to the individual to be true to themselves and eat the right amount of calories to achieve their goals. It's their journey, their life, none of my business! :smile:
  • sandrajune72
    sandrajune72 Posts: 550
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    What does it matter to anyone else what I log anyway? It's my fitness quest, not anyone else's. If I want to log brushing my teeth, I will.


    Agrrrreeeeed

    Agreed also! Well said!
  • ncqueenbee
    ncqueenbee Posts: 147 Member
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    I personally do NOT log cleaning as exercise. I'd rather workout doing cardio or something that's going to truly get my heart rate up. If I do some sort of cleaning or yard work outside of my normal, I just consider it a small bonus. But logging it...no. I'd rather workout.
  • Sissy4EverX3
    Sissy4EverX3 Posts: 247
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    I cannot afford a gym membership. And when I first started out 18 months ago at over 360lbs, and a desk job, yes -- I used the hell out of it. Hell, I used it up until last week! Then I had a conversation with that girl in the mirror and made her understand that stalling out at 277lbs for the last 4 months and basically using only cleaning as my only excuse wasn't good enough anymore. I needed to get off my *kitten*, get my heart racing, and sweat buckets in all this heat and humidity. Though I still have my desk job, I reevaluated my activity level there & I am actually lightly active. (Up, down, back and forth between offices, etc). So I changed my goals, upped my workout schedule, increased my calories and BOOM. I dropped 1.1lbs this last week. I'm officially at 275.9. So, basically, it's YOUR workout. Do what the eff you want for YOUR goals and don't let anyone else tell you any different. It's your life, not theirs.
  • ExplorinLauren
    ExplorinLauren Posts: 991 Member
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    I just said this the other day on a diff forum, but.. I will say it here too lol

    Unless my *kitten* is sitting on the couch, I am burning calories that go into my daily burn.
    I wear my HRM when I clean my (5 bd/ 3 bath/2 story home with 6 people living in it) and in 1 1/2 hours I burn almost DOUBLE what I burn during my P90X workouts. So, I sure as hell am gonna log it, if I feel like it.

    That said, I also get in extra exercise every day. Maybe there is a diff between cleaning a studio apt vs a 5 bedroom house... but to each their own.

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