Anyone else sneak exercise into housework?? :)

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iwannawearatutu
iwannawearatutu Posts: 150 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Like recipes that "sneak" nutrition in - black bean brownies, spinach blended up into spaghetti sauce, etc - I have taken to sneaking exercise into housework. I've started finding excuses to clean just because it's more calories burned, but I also find any way I can to make a household task as exercise-y as I can. My favorite is doing hamstring curls or marching in place while I fold laundry. Anyone else do this, or am I just nuts?? :)

If you do, what are you "secret recipes" to getting as much muscle in motion as you can while doing every day tasks?

Replies

  • metco89
    metco89 Posts: 578 Member
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    i do count houswork, cause i found it in the database LOL, i dance with the vaccuum and broom. stretch more than necessary while doing some tasks. Just whatever come to me any movement is good in my book. You are not crazy well maybe cause they say i am :) but it is working so i am gonna keep on doing it.
  • balfonso
    balfonso Posts: 370 Member
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    I use my HRM when I'm hoovering the house. Blast music through my headphones and clench and sway that butt as I hoover. Haha not nuts at all. Just "multi-tasking"!! :laugh:
  • krinio
    krinio Posts: 138 Member
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    I try to clean as quickly as possible, as if a guest is coming and I have to have the entire house spotless in a limited amount of time lol. And I always clean on my rest days as light exercise. :)
  • FoamyRiver
    FoamyRiver Posts: 276 Member
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    I even march in place while I'm brushing my teeth or drying my hair.
  • a1schwei
    a1schwei Posts: 617 Member
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    i loathe housework...as in avoid it at all costs!! so when i do clean it definitely gets logged :) however, i am a big fan of doing other crazy extra exercises like squats in the shower (25-30 while the shampoo and conditioner are doing their thing) or when i am drying my hair...both are quite random but i definitely have noticed a difference in my legs/butt since i started my crazy routine :)
  • Railvas
    Railvas Posts: 19
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    I sneak water aerobics into my pool activities. My GF has a pool at her house so I usually do laps or attempt to run/ work out my hamstrings for an hour while she just floats there and relaxes. It's a good time!
  • Corrie62
    Corrie62 Posts: 191
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    Pop on the headphones and dance
  • Mookz0r
    Mookz0r Posts: 143
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    I tend to leave housework for as long as possible and then give it a good blitz with lots of elbow-grease!

    My exercise log is so terribly dull - cleaning, shopping, driving (yes, all in the database!) and childcare! I'm going to have access to a gym soon though, so it'll be goodbye cleaning, hello gym!
  • hkystar
    hkystar Posts: 1,290 Member
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    I actaully have had so much energy when I got home from working out one week that instead of watching tv I would clean. I was shocked that in the week I was able to at least once over clean every room in my house. Now 3 weeks later I am doing the same thing. I make it almost inefficent. I purposely dont take everything I need to up the stairs (just so I can squeeze in more trips). I move around a lot when cleaning. I sometimes turn on the music and dance. I make it count and I sweat quite a bit while doing it. But I feel like I get a double reward that way. My house is clean and I got some extra exercise! Its a WIN-WIN.
  • Rhaeven
    Rhaeven Posts: 123 Member
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    Totally do the same thing. I hate cleaning my house, but I turn on the music way loud and dance and play with the kids and my dogs while I'm cleaning. Instead of taking out 2 garbage bags....I try to make multiple trips. In the middle of cleaning I will run around the house chasing my dogs or dancing like a fool so my kids get a good laugh, and I get in a "workout." I love the idea of doing squats in the shower...LOL thats a great idea. I do work my calves every time I have to take my dogs out for their "business." Any time the dogs stop..I stand on my toes (forgot the name of the move) and flex my calf muscles, thighs and bum. I have 3 dogs and live in an apartment...so I get a lot of those in each day.

    Good job with all the extra moving and shaking everyone!!!
  • april522
    april522 Posts: 388 Member
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    I always wear my heart rate monitor when I clean. I don't mind cleaning, I just rarely have time to do it. So, from time to time, I'll set aside a day of cleaing for 4-6 hours, and I wear my HRM.

    If my boyfriend's ever asleep on the couch (close to our kitchen), snoring away while I'm trying to cook dinner, I'll put my headphones on and listen to my iPod, and I'll find myself dancing, moving my hips, imitating small zumba moves, etc. in between cutting stuff or doing things. I normally don't monitor those calories burned.
  • david1956
    david1956 Posts: 190 Member
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    Not so much housework, but often when I'm say cooking, maybe waiting for something to heat up, I snatch the moments to practise boxing combinations. Interestingly, I find that when I am in the habit of doing this I tend to be much more fluid when it comes to an actual training session. It's visualisation as much as anything, kind of working on co-ordination and timing. For those of us with deskjobs I think it is really good to try to stay energetic and keep moving as much as possible. It always seems to me to translate to more energy in the gym, and maybe stops muscles from tightening up. I just hope the neighbours are never peering across to my kitchen window thinking, "What the hell is that delusional old man doing?"
  • jac2lyn
    jac2lyn Posts: 90
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    I log housework, plus Ihave a newer puppy and he likes to play all over the house, and then I am cleaning alot just because having two dogs means keeping the house cleaner. I also use yard work/gardeing as a workout. I never knew you could sweat so much doing this until we started working on the landscaping at our house this summer. Its hard work and burns tons of calories. I spend hours on weekends doing this.
    Oh the other thing I do but dont log is walk at work alot. Instead of e-mailing someone I walk to their desk, and when I have to walk to the printer I only print one item at a time so I get up more. I notice a difference in my energy throughout the day when I do this. Anything is better then just sitting at my desk all day...

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