doing housework.... does this count as exercise?

steffihoney · March 2012

I do log my cleaning as light. Some days are more effort than others. Also, some days, I have to get my house clean (messy hubby, child, and 4 dogs), so exercising isn't on the top of the list. I run around while cleaning like a chicken with my head cut off and work up a sweat.

shadan87 · March 2012

i dont count everyday house cleaning like dishes, a load of laundry, taking out the garbage etc. HOWEVER, for example, yesterday i moved all my furniture and cleaned under and behind everything and rearranged my living room, did laundry ALL day, stripped down and remade beds, took out garbage, weeded flower beds, went grocery shopping, vacuumed and wet swiffered everything and picked up every room in the house including all of my 3 year olds toys so for a day like that YES i do! i was sweating all day and busting my butt! it was about 6 hours overall but i only logged 2 hours of heavy house work to compensate for the fact that doing dishes and folding clothes and things like that arent hard work and you stand still...

mrselanco2268 · March 2012

I have in the past counted household chores and marked as activity, however now that I am tracking on MFP, I do not use them for extra calories unless it's a leisure or brisk walk or some other workout.

elsinora · March 2012

I dont log every day activities.....BUT I do log it when I clean out my horses stalls....Shoveling all that crap it quite the chore! LOL:laugh:

Totally! I remember having to shovel all that c*ap and it was really heavy!!!! ew!

minimaggie · March 2012

I log the big stuff, just not the everyday stuff. If I'm moving furniture to vaccuum and sweating I log it. If i'm standing in the kitchen doing dishes and/or making dinner, I do not log it. I log gardening too.

huskamute · March 2012

Thanks for all the replies..... I am not going to be logging it, but it is interesting to read all the replies. I have two large husky x malamutes who are blowing their coats like crazy, hence the hard core hoovering that does bring on a sweat, ( yes i am veryyyy unfit!!), everything has to be hoovered, lol. x

Graciecny · March 2012

Thanks for all the replies..... I am not going to be logging it, but it is interesting to read all the replies. I have two large husky x malamutes who are blowing their coats like crazy, hence the hard core hoovering that does bring on a sweat, ( yes i am veryyyy unfit!!), everything has to be hoovered, lol. x

We have two German Shepherds, and let me just say I feel your pain!

After reading all these posts, I think I'm going to have to wear my HRM the next time I do some serious cleaning and see what I burn! The normal laundry/beds/vacuuming/dusting, no, but the heavy spring cleaning, garage, etc, I'm going to give it a go. My lifestyle is set as sedentary, so I think it would be reasonable to count the over and above the norm stuff.

CapellaBlack · March 2012

My attitiude is that I've put myself down as sedentary, and have thus been given 1200 calories per day. I know that if I did all my normal housework and non-sports bra activities, and only ate 1200 calories, I'd feel faint and go into starvation mode. On the other hand if I count that stuff and eat the extra ~200 calories, I lose weight nicely and still have some energy at the end of the day.

So for me, counting heavy housework (i.e. not just loading a dishwasher and making the bed - my only regular stuff!) is sensible, as is counting walks longer than 20 minutes. For others it might not be - it's got to be about working out what helps you to lose weight as healthily as possible.

momtokgo · March 2012

I don't count housework. Any of it. If I have a really busy day with 3 kids, errands to run, groceries to buy, along with the normal dishes, making beds, laundry, sweeping, bathrooms, vacuuming etc I'll have an extra snack if I'm hungry and feel left me I need one and just not feel guilty about it.

I do log mowing the lawn. It's a big lawn.

stacymama5 · March 2012

I claim my cleaning as exercise (if for no other reason than to have it noticed), but I have my settings adjusted accordingly. I put myself down as sedentary, and I log my walks and my cleaning and my yard work in addition to my 30DS and Zumba. That way on the weekends when I do nearly nothing (except CONSTANTLY remind my kiddos not to kill their sibling) I eat accordingly. If I decide it's time for spring cleaning and kick butt, I eat accordingly. It works for me... about 2 pounds a week dropped.

Also, I log ALL my cleaning as "light to moderate effort" just in case the burn numbers are high. I reserve "heavy effort" cleaning for when I'm packing because I'm not just cleaning I'm also moving boxes and furniture... and I usually don't eat ALL my cleaning calories back... closer to half if I even get that far (and I usually don't).

Good luck!

I ditto what she said!!

marm1962 · March 2012

It's hard for me to believe you break a sweat doing housework, unless your air conditioning isn't working and it's hot out. Sorry, but I do housework, heavy cleaning housework every weekend (laundry too!) and I don't break a sweat. I think only real exercise should be counted. Like going to the gym and doing cardio classes. You have to really push yourself to get your heart rate up. That's exercise. Just my opinion.

I'm sorry, but I laugh every time I read this. Congratulations for being in such great shape! I clean houses for a living, there are times I don't sweat, but there are other houses I clean and the sweat just pours off of me, and believe me their air conditioning works just fine. It's not just what you do, it's how many hours it takes to do it and how fast you move. I don't personally count it as cardio, because I don't believe I go into fat burning mode, but your still burning calories doing it.

doing housework.... does this count as exercise?

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