Is housework considered excersise?

Tammerdam

Any physical exertion can count as exercise. That's what exercise is. So doing heavy cleaning etc. is definately exercise. You are exerting energy thereby using up calories.

Jacwhite22

so its 3-4 hours of non stop movements, pulling, pushing, going up and down etc. When Im done, I am more tired than after working out.

Are we still talking about cleaning house?

dane11235813

DavPaul says you can burn 1000 calories in 30 minutes cleaning your house if you work hard enough.

ummmmm. no

it's a joke dude.

carhicks

It depends on your activity level setting. If you told MFP you were sedentary, this would be considered exercise. If you told MFP you were active, and you did this housework in lieu of the normal exercise/sports you would generally do, it would not be considered exercise.

^^^^ I agree.
If I do heavy stuff that I only do once in a while and on those days, I do not have time to do any other exercise, I break a sweat and am exhausted at the end of the day, I count it. I have my level set on sedentary because I am retired, so that extra strenuous stuff burns extra calories and therefore I would count it.

michellekicks

I don't count housework. I do, however, count yard work. I've mowed the lawn with my HRM and burned almost 300 calories doing it

WestCoastPhoenix

I think it's a joke to count every single time you get off your butt in a day...even if you are marked sedentary. If logging it somehow motivates you...then sure whatever...otherwise I think logging part of your normal routine is silly.

karenmi

My mindset: I did that kind of stuff when I was fat.

What I DIDNT do when I was fat was diet and exercise. So those mindful, purposeful things I count. The rest I just chalk up to life as a bonus.

But there are people who are successful in counting stuff like house cleaning, sex, riding a motorcycle. I just don't call that stuff exercise.

I tend to agree with this. I only count "intentional" exercise, like working out at the gym or a strenuous walk. I don't even count walking my dogs as exercise, as I don't walk very fast and when I've worn my HRM to check my heart rate was barely up.

iAMaPhoenix

If you need to log in some housework as exercise, my address is 5987 Oak St, My Town, Fl 35978. Any day is good except for Sunday. Guaranteed to burn 3598 calories a day.

JConstine

I personally don't log it but if you feel like you've really exerted yourself, feel free to log it and don't let anyone make you feel bad for it.

At the very least, if after doing something physical you find yourself hungry, then eat something. Most often something small is enough to satisfy your body until your next meal.

Jacwhite22

DavPaul says you can burn 1000 calories in 30 minutes cleaning your house if you work hard enough.

ummmmm. no

it's a joke dude.

Thank God. I've heard worse serious statements on here before.

Yieya

Good question, I'm getting my hair cut later on today, can I count this as exercise?

Not a fair comparison and just plain snarky...

As for the OP, I wouldn't count normal everyday cleaning BUT if you are doing very heavy stuff like lifting / moving furniture going up and down stairs repetitively why not count it? Wouldn’t you count doing similar things like that in the gym? And to answer another person’s comment, no I wouldn't have done that before MFP. I would have had my husband do it cause I was too lazy...lol

cebreisch

You might consider getting somehting like a Fitbit. It syncs with MyFitnessPal. I got it in February, and it's been tooted on Dr. Oz - that's where I first heard about it. It counts steps, distance walked, stairs climbed up/down, calories burned, and can even monitor how well you sleep. The device itself costs about $100, but the website is free (unless you want some of the premium services), but I've been checking my calories consumed vs. calories burned to make sure the "burned" line is above the "consumed" line - figuring if I keep up with that aspect, then I'll lose.

Anyway, I consider it more of an activity monitor - You can enter things like "walking at a slow pace" or lifting weights. I don't know if it has a "housecleaning" option, but on the days I do housecleaning, you can tell by looking at the activity monitor.

Since it syncs with Myfitnesspal, it'll also tell you if you've burned enough extra calories to "earn more calories" for the day - on the food journal towards the bottom, you'll see "You've earned 80 extra calories from activity" or something like that, and it'll automatically adjust the calories for you.

fcp1234

so its 3-4 hours of non stop movements, pulling, pushing, going up and down etc. When Im done, I am more tired than after working out.

Are we still talking about cleaning house?

Yes, I move almost every furniture when I clean. You know how heavy my bed is?

Hownow37

I don't care who says what: vaccuming the stairs COUNTS!

Cliffslosinit

so its 3-4 hours of non stop movements, pulling, pushing, going up and down etc. When Im done, I am more tired than after working out.

Are we still talking about cleaning house?

Yes, I move almost every furniture when I clean. You know how heavy my bed is?

Stop flirting Jack is married......how heavy is my bed sheesh:bigsmile:

MLgarcia3

I never ever count it. In MY opinion, it's not exercise. Even when I break a sweat doing it.

dane11235813

DavPaul says you can burn 1000 calories in 30 minutes cleaning your house if you work hard enough.

ummmmm. no

it's a joke dude.

Thank God. I've heard worse serious statements on here before.

sad part was that there was a guy in a thread telling Dav and I (and well everyone) that's how many calories he burned. but he was also a trainer and an elite athlete (and part transformer too i think) so his burns were different.

Francesca3162

I have mine set to sedentary.
And I have my weight loss set to 1 lb per week.
So while I log most of my energy expenditure, I rarely eat those calories back.
and just hope it adds a little to my weight loss in the long run.

MonicaFlachman

I would never conider house cleaning exercise. Most people who clean house stop and take breaks and its not consistant. Exercise= Getting your heart rate up for at least 30+ minute dailiy and keeping it up for 30+ minutes. Exersise is more than just physically moving!!!

fcp1234

so its 3-4 hours of non stop movements, pulling, pushing, going up and down etc. When Im done, I am more tired than after working out.

Are we still talking about cleaning house?

Yes, I move almost every furniture when I clean. You know how heavy my bed is?

Stop flirting Jack is married......how heavy is my bed sheesh:bigsmile:

You guys got issues:). I take cleanning very seriously.

Jacwhite22

DavPaul says you can burn 1000 calories in 30 minutes cleaning your house if you work hard enough.

ummmmm. no

it's a joke dude.

Thank God. I've heard worse serious statements on here before.

sad part was that there was a guy in a thread telling Dav and I (and well everyone) that's how many calories he burned. but he was also a trainer and an elite athlete (and part transformer too i think) so his burns were different.

Most athletes burn less calories doing the same activities. He was probably just full of crap.

Jacwhite22

so its 3-4 hours of non stop movements, pulling, pushing, going up and down etc. When Im done, I am more tired than after working out.

Are we still talking about cleaning house?

Yes, I move almost every furniture when I clean. You know how heavy my bed is?

Stop flirting Jack is married......how heavy is my bed sheesh:bigsmile:

You guys got issues:). I take cleanning very seriously.

Obviously.....When are you going to come clean my house?

RobinV_Seattle

I tend to agree with this. I only count "intentional" exercise, like working out at the gym or a strenuous walk. I don't even count walking my dogs as exercise, as I don't walk very fast and when I've worn my HRM to check my heart rate was barely up.

See, I count walking the dog. I used to just let her out in the yard. Now I walk her 2-3 times a day.

quelogrammage

i thought this was a little funny!

AlsDonkBoxSquat

Walking doesn't make me sweat unless it's a hot day, but when I walk more than I would normally (when I walk the dogs) I count it despite the fact that I don't find walking to bring on any major muscle contractions. Same thing with cleaning, every day or weekly routine cleaning I don't count because that is part of my regular activity, but major spring cleaning that involves moving furniture, trips into the attic, lugging boxes of **** around my house, and full reorganization (a requirement for my house every 3 - 6 months as it seems nothing truly gets put back in it's place) that is a process of days I log a conservative burn.

Edit: I find that the answer to "what is exercise" is amazingly personal and that people tend to become very judgemental about it (if you don't believe me just look at the first page of responses if you haven't yet). The answer to "what is exercise" is based on where you have your activity level set (the higher your settiing the less daily type of activity you would count individually as it's already set in your base setting), what you are capable of (some people just have a hard time getting out of a chair much less walking a flight of steps or doing some seriously involved cleaning), and finally how honest your are about your exersion level (do you sit back and say "damn I worked hard and am exhausted" or "I think I may have worked pretty hard.")

r0se125

If i do it for an extended period of time and break a sweat i count it. Like when i do "spring cleaning" and move all the furnatiure in all the rooms to vacuum under them and things like that. not when im sitting around folding laundry. lol

caslyn3

get a heart rate monitor.. if you are doing very strenuous work that makes your heart rate rise.. then you are burning calories.

log what the HRM says.

emmamiso5

I say if you sweat when you are doing it and start timer at a certain time and don't stop- it counts! I don't eat them back though.

Ddmck1

I count it when I plan on doing very heavy cleaning (i.e. mopping the floors, scrubbing, moving boxes) I wear my heart rate monitor and I can burn some significant calories doing housework. It should also depend where you activity level is set. I have mine on sedentary.

myfitnessnmhoy

Well, is it? I have been doing fall house cleaning (I mean serious cleaning, including furniture moving) for the past 3 days and I am exhausted. However, I have not logged it as exercise. Given how hungry have been (probably due to the physical exertion) I think it should count for some extra exercise calories I could eat back.

...and if I do count it, how many calories does it actually burn up?

1. You diary, your rules. Don't let people judge what you choose to count for exercise. If you burned it, you earned it. If you decide you earned too much, you'll be able to see for yourself that your weight loss slows down or stops, and you should be open-minded about experimenting and adjusting accordingly.

2. If you have your lifestyle set as sedentary and are moving furniture around, that is FAR more than the activity level expected of a sedentary lifestyle. Since this is, I presume, not a daily activity, you're better off tracking it as extra calories rather than adjusting your lifestyle.

3. There is a cardio exercise called "housekeeping/general", I think. I'd generally log about half to three-quarters the time you spend doing the housework, since in general MFP's exercise database assumes you are doing anything at its maximum effort level continuously.

Most importantly, if you did unusually high levels of exercise for a couple of days and felt unusually hungry - you just answered your own question - feed the machine. Just don't go overboard with it.