Cleaning as Exercise?

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Replies

  • sharonk120
    sharonk120 Posts: 3 Member
    I feel that logging exercise should be above what you do on a normal day.
  • Leeanne1974
    Leeanne1974 Posts: 207 Member
    sex, shopping, ect... Are just daily things - not exercise.
    Once a month if i am lucky... damn ;)

    I don't agree with the shopping not being exercise though. I don't log my daily pop round the shop to get some bread as exercise but once a month or so i go out all day shopping on my own. I walk up and down the high street, round the market... Sometimes I am walking for 3 hours. I don't log it as 3 hours walking though, i put say 90 minutes walking at the slowest pace.
    I don't always eat back my exercise cals though and don't when it is shopping based lol
  • Lbishop1213
    Lbishop1213 Posts: 21
    I thought about this post and I decided to Google Folding Laundry.

    These are the calories burned for 120 pound person folding and putting away laundry. Keep in mind that if you weigh less you burn less calories.

    A 120 lb. person folding laundry for 20 minutes while standing burns 38 calories. Putting your family's laundry away for 10 minutes burns 22 calories. Folding laundry for 15 minutes while seated burns 21 calories.

    Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/316514-the-calories-burned-with-folding-laundry/#ixzz22i9kW5aH

    I also found this out...so maybe we are burning more calories than we think. I won't spend an hour bringing in groceries but doing a little bit of everything may equal an hour.

    HOW MANY CALORIES DO YOU BURN DOING HOUSEWORK IF YOU WEIGH AROUND 185 POUNDS
    The average 185 pound person will burn 189 calories per hour ironing or washing dishes, 222 calories per hour cooking or putting away groceries, 244 calories per hour doing general housework, 266 calories per hour loading or unloading a car, 377 calories per hour mopping, and 555 calories per hour rearranging furniture.
  • shanice_22
    shanice_22 Posts: 202 Member
    I log it as exercise because my activity level is set to sedentary and I am pretty much sat on my bum all day. Also, I was sweating today while cleaning.

    I'm not logging it as an excuse to not go to the gym, I just log it as it's out of my usual daily activity level.
  • bmw4deb
    bmw4deb Posts: 1,324 Member
    Unless it is out of the norm cleaning NO
    if your logging it just to log something your only
    cheating yourself
  • jerbear1962
    jerbear1962 Posts: 1,157 Member
    I don't use cleaning as my only workout but I do some major cleaning around the house and count those calories as burned calories. It's not like I sat in a chair and waved my arm, I climb to clean light fixtures, I stoop to clean behind or under things. I get on my hands and knees to scrub the floor. These are all energy spent.
  • xTenaciousJx
    xTenaciousJx Posts: 555
    the ONLY time i count it is when i clean my 2 clients house ( i use my HRM to get an acutal calorie burn)...its a really great workout. i only clean them 2xs a month during summer months and 1 house 1x a month during winter. I burn around 800 calories and clean for about 2-2.5 hrs one right after the other. My house i DO NOT count...thats a daily thing. If I was to work on cleaning the garage which isn't a normal thing I'd count it.
  • NAcetoLang
    NAcetoLang Posts: 517 Member
    I personally don't log household activity unless it's a hefty (not standard day) task. HOWEVER - a few months ago, even doing the dishes worked up a sweat and increased my heart rate, for many reasons. Had I been using this site at the time.... "walking to the mailbox" would have been something I was proud of... so I likely would have logged it. I'm pretty sure the 14 calorie burn I got from that wouldn't have made a dent in my day- but it sure would have kicked up my self confidence.

    I think it depends on who and where you are in life, and if you are realistic in your calculation of the activity. If any one of my MFP pals logs housework- I am sure they have their reasons for finding it something worth logging. If I know them well enough to tell them their numbers may be off- then depending on the situation, I may ask if they want my advice. It isn't my place to judge them, but rather to support them.
  • treimnitz
    treimnitz Posts: 51 Member
    It depends on the type of cleaning I'm doing. If it's vacuuming or dusting (where I'm going through a constant motion), then yes. If it's washing the dishes or any other sedatary exercise, then no.
  • seximami79
    seximami79 Posts: 156 Member
    I feel like gardening counts because when I am weeding, I am getting up and down, reaching, and sweating for an hour or more...the other activities? I just consider it an added bonus that I don't log. I don't clean a WHOLE lot...folding laundry and doing dishes doesn't take too long...playing with the kids definitely counts though!:wink:
  • shierrarobin
    shierrarobin Posts: 181
    I understand why you would be skeptical. I don't usually count it as exercise. I have a weekly routine. I'll do my Boot Camp workout followed by 15 minutes of Pilates body sculpting on one day, then skip the next day. Then do it the day after and skip the next day and so on. I do it that way so I don't wear my muscles out too much. On the days I don't do my exercise videos is the day I clean.

    It doesn't wear me out as badly as my workouts, but I still fell pretty worn out afterward. I spent 3 and a half hours cleaning last week and I felt like a rock the rest of the day. That cleaning session included washing dishes, cleaning the kitchen table and counters, cleaning the stove, and sweeping and mopping the kitchen floor followed by cleaning and sweeping the living room, cleaning the toilet, bathroom sink, scrubbing the bathtub, and giving my bedroom a good cleaning and vacuuming. After that, I cleaned all three of our litter boxes and cleaned my fish's tank.

    That may not seem like much compared to weight training and running on the treadmill, but cleaning house can get you pretty sweaty and worn out, especially when you live with 2 roommates who absolutely refuse to clean up after themselves. I'm gonna be doing another 3-hour cleaning session tomorrow. -_-
  • Owlie45
    Owlie45 Posts: 806 Member
    If I'm cleaning my home then I don't log it. If I'm cleaning someone else's home then I do, I clean for a living. What I do at home is not as much as I do for work.
  • EffaJane
    EffaJane Posts: 17 Member
    yes I think it should be put down as exercise...example:how many times I go up and down the steps to washer/dryer..each day!!!

    it should count on here!!!or other exercise around the house..and SHOPPING....if you park far away..and walk all day..which
    I don't do that very often..maybe once a year..anyway....other things should be able to be posted as exercise..( : AGREE with you!
  • margojr4
    margojr4 Posts: 259 Member
    The definition of exercise states "to put thru exercises or forms of practice or exertion, designed to train, develop, condition or the like"

    I don't see cleaning as exerscise, I count it within my daily activity level along with my job etc.

    If I push thru my heels each time I get out of a chair, can I count those as squats for the day? :noway: No lol
  • gxm17
    gxm17 Posts: 374
    If your daily calorie allotment is calculated based on a sedentary job, then I would count it because you're actually using up calories that haven't been factored in. I trust that most people can determine when to count cleaning, or household chores, and when not to.
  • beatnik236
    beatnik236 Posts: 120 Member
    No I do not count it as exercise.
  • langstonmom
    langstonmom Posts: 6 Member
    I say you get it in where you can fit it in. Including doing laundry and washing dishes, as long as your heart is pumping and you still push past your limit (try carrying a massive linen load from the basement to the second floor and then run back down for more) it counts.
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