Turn Household Chores Into Easy Workouts

When it comes to getting enough exercise, you might not feel like you have enough time in the day to work out. But that’s really not the case. You can turn a lot of your everyday activities into forms of exercise, so you can keep moving, burn calories, get stronger, and still get all your household tasks completed. Not sure how to get started? There are lots of routines you can create for yourself, depending on what you typically do around the house each day. Here are a few ideas to get your household chore workout routine started.

1. Cleaning Can be Great Exercise

As you clean your home, you can also be getting exercise. Just the act of cleaning is good enough to burn some calories, and it’s far better than sitting when it comes to health and activity levels. But if you want to do more than just move around a little, you can also find ways to make your cleaning more of a workout. There are two ways to do that. One is through more effort in the actual cleaning, and the other is through incorporating actual exercises into your cleaning routine. Both can be very valuable.

2. Do Chores and Workouts at the Same Time

Adding exercises to chores isn’t always difficult, and there are a lot of creative ways to do it. For example, you can do squats while you’re folding laundry, so you’re not taking any extra time out of your day for one task or the other. You can also dance while dusting, vacuum for at least 20 minutes at a time without stopping, and clean windows with large, consistent arm circles to feel the burn. Doing things like planks and pushups while cooking is another great way to get more of a workout.

3. Plan Your Household Cleaning Around Exercise

You can also plan your household cleaning and other chores around getting exercise. In other words, if you know you’ll be going for a walk, consider what you can walk to and what you can bring back. If the store is close by, for example, walking to get the groceries you need, and then exercising while you’re meal prepping or cooking, is a great way to incorporate both of these important tasks into your day. You can also use putting away canned goods as a way to lift weights, for example. Creativity is key.

4. Make Sure to Take Some Downtime

Even though it’s great to exercise while doing household chores, don’t forget to take some time off. If you’ve done squats with the laundry one day, you may want to give your legs a rest the next day. How much downtime you need depends on how intense your workout is and how often you’re doing it. Some people do household chores each day, so their house stays clean. If you’re doing that, consider a cleaning routine where you can work your legs on certain days, arms on other days, etc. That can be a great way to have a clean house, while staying healthy and active, too.