Introduction
Everyone can agree that both housework and workouts are essential factors contributing to a higher quality of life. While home dirtiness and mess take their toll on your mental health and often indicate emotional disorder and instability, lack of physical effort and exercise gradually leads to the same daunting results. There’s no rocket science behind the connection between cleanliness and physical activity, but rather vagueness regarding how to make these two worlds meet. After all, with such hectic daily schedules, many rejoice over the little time they have to superficially clean their homes regularly, if at all.
This is where working while cleaning comes to the fore against a backdrop of heightened awareness toward physical and mental well-being. Would you correct your position when ironing to keep your back straight and legs a bit apart if you knew that half an hour of it would help you burn 150 calories? Hopefully, you would so let’s see what else you can do to achieve two goals at once.
Make the most of your kitchen cleanup
Kitchens can make the most fantastic fitness setting in your house given that you have countertops and units of all heights and sizes. Have you missed the sauna last week? No problem. Pressure your muscles while the heat is on, and you’ll sweat just as much when cooking your food. There’s something so great about our nowadays’ modern kitchens, namely that they offer excellent storage and are created strategically to allow you to move around freely and at your own pace. Should you have a kitchen like this, you have almost no impediment to keep you from transforming your kitchen duties into powerful workouts.
Squatting when placing things can make an excellent reflex for your physical health. When you pick stuff from the floor, keep your feet apart and aligned, involving your hips for stability. Strengthen your back, bend both knees and consciously contract your abdomen when bending down.
Another rewarding kitchen activity is cooking (and hopefully, healthy food). Lift your legs to the side when cooking and use the countertop for balancing. As your rolls grow, position yourself at an arm’s distance from your countertop, lifting your arms up and above it and your legs alternatively. Strengthen your biceps and triceps when stirring food, washing the dishes, picking stuff up, and so on. The possibilities are endless, and with a bit of creativity, you can create your own workout to practice on a daily basis.
Polishing and dusting
Eliminating dust from furniture and other units is a great opportunity to ensure a regular workout since you probably do it once every two or three days. This nerve-wracking matter collects with the speed of light and can harm children, elders, or individuals with sensitive respiratory systems. Thus, why not wipe your dust with more intention and intensity to get two at the price of one? Doing it from a standing position will have you work muscles spread across your body, with an emphasis on the biceps and triceps.
On the other hand, trying to dust nooks that are hard to reach will power up your efforts. Leaning on tip-toes, stretching, and moving rapidly between furniture, fittings, and fixtures will significantly enhance your calorie-burning rate. Who knew that with some optimism, there’s an excellent part to dust collections that you can see and profit from?
Cleaning windows
You may not be cleaning the bedrooms’ windows as often as the kitchen ones or wiping the living room’s mirror once every two days like you probably clean the bathrooms. Some window cleaning activities are more challenging work compared to others, making it a guesstimate. The large mirror full of water splashes is probably more intense to wash than mirrors you rarely touch, making this job a guesstimate. Nevertheless, work pays dividends, should your incentive be counted in burned calories.
Once you commence this journey, try finishing all the windows in your home in one move to use up as many calories as you can. As per your position, don’t fear straining your muscles and becoming competitive with those stains. The sturdier the dirt and the quicker you clean it, the more you develop your core muscles and the stronger your calves will get.
Sweep and mop instead of vacuuming
Sweeping and mopping help you lose weight, get good sleep, and energize, so it should come as no surprise. First, the better your position while holding the sweeper, the more strain you feel on your muscles and the more satisfying the outcome becomes. Second, doing fitness while cleaning the house is about getting competitive with yourself as if in a race. Try to achieve the best results in the least time possible, and you’ll be halfway to meeting your workout goals.
Thirdly, these gadgets are some of the most time-consuming cleaning devices you can have in your home, so try to have them within reach despite the popularity of the vacuum cleaner. Mopping and sweeping engage your core muscles and pressure your body to unmatched extents, making them excellent cardio workouts and calorie-burning activities. While these tasks provide great opportunities to strengthen and keep your arms in shape, they can also enhance your flexibility and tone your thighs.
If vacuuming, do it strategically
Needless to say, your vacuum shouldn’t be out for good since the newest ones come with functions that allow you to clean your floors to a level that the sweeper can’t. But when using it, you should do it in a way that benefits your muscles and strength. For instance, ensure your arms are entirely extended when you drag the nozzle across your floors. Keep increasing the intensity as you go, doing it with extensive, deliberate moves and altering your hands holding the hose. Your triceps, calves, and core will thank you!
Extra tip: look after your posture
Who said you can’t achieve two goals while sitting? When done correctly, it can be a steady calorie burner. For instance, you should always touch the floor with firmly positioned feet, maintain a straight back, contract the abdomen, lengthen your spine, relax your neck frequently and lengthen your spine.
Endnote
The higher your temperature and the heavier your breath, the stronger your muscles develop and the healthier you become. Now, can you afford not to reap all these benefits and kill two birds with a stone since cleaning your home is already routine?