Is This Really Exercise?: 4. Combine fitness with your family chores
I know doing chores is not an activity most people enjoy. Furthermore, having to do these things cuts down on your available time to exercise. However, they need to get done. How about making some of these chores into exercise?
You can rake leaves instead of using the lawnmower to pick them up. Lois Sheldahl, director of the cardiopulmonary rehabilitation unit at the Veterans' Affairs Medical Center in Milwaukee, looked at the amount of energy it takes to perform various household tasks. She found that raking could burn up to 5.75 calories per minute. That's almost 200 calories in just over 30 minutes of raking!
Landscaping can be very physical if you have to haul dirt, sand and rocks to different areas of your yard.
If you own a fireplace you need to have wood for burning. Instead of buying it, find a place where you can cut it down yourself. Or, have the person who delivers it throw it into a big pile, so you will have to stack it.
For many people, cutting the lawn is a weekly chore. Instead of using your riding lawnmower (men, I know this will be hard), use a push mower. It can be fantastic exercise, especially if you have a big yard.
Some of you are probably thinking I'm crazy to suggest these things. Why make the chores harder than they already are? Remember, you don't have to do this if you get involved in a regular exercise program. Ask yourself, what is the lesser of two evils? The whole idea is to get more active and this is one way to do it.
F.Y.I. - Mowing lawn with a push mower can burn up to eight calories a minute.
