Cleaning as an Exercise

FaugHorn
FaugHorn Posts: 1,060 Member
edited October 2 in Fitness and Exercise
HECK YES I claim cleaning as cardio. Do you have any idea what kind of mess one husband + a Jack Russell Terrier + a Border Collie can make? If I'm "Cleaning" it means going up and down stairs about 30 times, carrying bags of trash, vacuuming, washing dishes, making a King bed (those fitted sheets are a PAIN) and a host of other moving items. My base level of calories is set for sedentary, I get to claim everything that's not sitting on my *kitten* as cardio ;) and THAT gets me an extra glass of wine each evening

Replies

  • Iamfit4life
    Iamfit4life Posts: 3,095 Member
    when I "Clean" it takes atleast 1.5 hours. And I'm sweating.

    So hell yeah, log it
  • TooFatToFit
    TooFatToFit Posts: 285 Member
    I claim it as well. If you think the husband and dogs make a mess, try children!!! Omg, it's a good thing they're cute and that whole maternal instinct thing. If my profile weren't set on sedentary, I wouldn't though, I don't think.
  • FaugHorn
    FaugHorn Posts: 1,060 Member
    Wrassling a 25 pound mop dog into a tub has GOT to burn as many calories as an elliptical ;)
  • AmandaCG
    AmandaCG Posts: 46 Member
    I don't count my everyday chores as exercise because I know that it is factored into my activity level under my settings, BUT heck yes I do count mopping my floors. I work up a crazy sweat AND when I got my HRM, I was curious if I could count it as exercise so I wore it while mopping. My HR was up in the fat burning zone! I was pretty pleased. Needless to say my floors are spotless and you could eat off them. A quick 115 calories burned every time!
  • Rikki444
    Rikki444 Posts: 326 Member
    I always count my cleaning day and log it as exercise. It takes me.... sometimes 4 hours to clean my place. To think that I need to start cleaning my windows, baseboards and ceiling fans..... heck yeah, that is a workout!
  • saintspoon
    saintspoon Posts: 242 Member
    14 pounds down... it's working for you :)


    I just made a whiney status whining about how a lot of people don't count walking the dog as exercise.. same idea.. When you walk the dog are you not also walking yourself??
  • JIsh09
    JIsh09 Posts: 158
    Being a mother and having to chase around 2 boys all the time..I call it exercise! That includes cleaning up behind them and going up stairs as well! Especially having to deal with a 2 year old..Terrible 2's like they say.
  • Helenatrandom
    Helenatrandom Posts: 1,166 Member
    I count it! It's good for me to not get discouraged! If I'm too tired to go to the gym because I was cleaning, I don't have to feel like I failed, but like I chose something different instead! I really tripped myself up with discouragement in the past! Every little thing that can keep me encouraged is a blessing from God! I am SO thankful that this site counts cleaning as an exercise. (And gardening, and cooking....)
  • poisongirl1
    poisongirl1 Posts: 93 Member
    Yeah, I count cleaning too. If I'm spending a few hours cleaning this place up, it better count as exercise because I'm definitely tired afterwards.
  • EmpressOfJudgment
    EmpressOfJudgment Posts: 1,162 Member
    That's totally legit. I have a collie mix and just sweeping up the hair alone probably earns a meal's worth of calories.
  • FaugHorn
    FaugHorn Posts: 1,060 Member
    I count it! It's good for me to not get discouraged! If I'm too tired to go to the gym because I was cleaning, I don't have to feel like I failed, but like I chose something different instead! I really tripped myself up with discouragement in the past! Every little thing that can keep me encouraged is a blessing from God! I am SO thankful that this site counts cleaning as an exercise. (And gardening, and cooking....)

    Same thing with gardening! I'm out there weedwacking, pulling weeds, dumping and shoveling mulch :)

    and just for you? ENCOURAGEMENT! :heart:

    There!
  • jetscreaminagain
    jetscreaminagain Posts: 1,130 Member
    Me too.
  • zebra1965
    zebra1965 Posts: 17 Member
    There is so many male chauvinistic jokes I could add in here, but I won't :) My thoughts are if you elevate your heart rate and break a sweat, I would claim some exercise. I count mowing grass for an hour as 100 calories. I'd rather underestimate than over.
  • FaugHorn
    FaugHorn Posts: 1,060 Member
    There is so many male chauvinistic jokes I could add in here, but I won't :) ...

    I'm sure we all appreciate your restraint ;)
  • techymum
    techymum Posts: 168
    I think I have to change my thinking - I am truly the worst "housekeeper" ever. But since I enjoy exercise so much, maybe if I make it more of a cardio/strength type activity I will engage in it more often, lol!
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
    I'm a stay at home mom so my cleaning is part of my normal daily activity, which is why I'm not set at sedentary. It's easier to have a couple hundred extra calories already factored in than it is to log every single thing I do.
  • realme56
    realme56 Posts: 1,093 Member
    Seeing as how I do not do the cleaning every day I definitely count it, yard work too (hate yard work) I use the HRM and just calculate based on my average heart rate.
  • amberleebrock
    amberleebrock Posts: 20
    I count cleaning too!! 1 husband, 3 kids, 2 cats, 1 dog and a new puppy! Keeps me busy cleaning all the time, but I usually only log 2 hours a day unless I am doing a top to bottom clean.:smile:
  • methetree
    methetree Posts: 381
    I clean my Aunt's house once every two weeks and it's a 3400 sq ft house. There is a dog and three adults in that house.
    They can't clean it, so I do it... extra good workout and it's a feel good activity... plus, I get paid for it, so it's a huge bonus!
    It takes me about 2.5 to 3 hours and it's a lot of work. I count it.
    Sometimes, if my house is really dirty, I count it, too.
  • ChrisStoney
    ChrisStoney Posts: 479 Member
    logging cooking might just be pushing it though.....
  • surfrgrl1
    surfrgrl1 Posts: 1,464 Member
    Abso-friggen-lutely I count it! :glasses:
  • fallenangelloves
    fallenangelloves Posts: 601 Member
    logging cooking might just be pushing it though.....


    I don't know... By the time I get done prepping, cooking and cleaning my mess I'm exhausted! But then again I cook pretty elaborate meals!
  • LissaD26
    LissaD26 Posts: 13 Member
    I don't count cleaning, but I'm also a "moderate". I'm up and down the stairs eleventy-billion times a day, chasing my youngest. I also walk my oldest daughter to school and back twice a day, which is an extra mile of walking (in 100+ degrees, too!) I don't count. I only track dedicated "tear-it-up-at-the-gym" calories.
  • lifeisadancefloor
    lifeisadancefloor Posts: 91 Member
    I was just asking my boyfriend about this today, we are renovating our house, a lot of moving things from one room to another and painting and cleaning up after that. So I log it as exercise :) I also have mine as sedentary because I have an office job. So I think it's fair, felt a little guilty at first but then I really thought how hard I work, because sometimes I sweat like crazy!
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,985 Member
    I only claim it during big cleanings since I clean up daily as part of my "active" profile.
  • annie_p
    annie_p Posts: 319 Member
    logging cooking might just be pushing it though.....

    If I'm doing my once-a-month-cookathon where I make a few meals to freeze for my husband, I count it. OR if I'm working at my second job(which is in a kitchen) I count it. I never sit down and am usually running back and forth, lifting heavy racks of dishes from the dishwasher, and carrying boxes of food to and from the walk-in/freezer. I definitely don't count my daily meal-prep/cooking while at home or work, as I don't do much.

    Don't count cooking out of the running just yet!
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