Health

How to burn calories doing your housework

Aug 26, 2016

Finding an excuse to avoid your housework is normal, but what if it could help you lose weight and keep fit?

It turns out housework is actually good for you!

Whether it’s your indoor chores such as vacuuming or that dreaded pile of ironing, or tackling the weeds in your garden, you’re burn calories every time you cross another job of your list.

Indoor chores

Ironing

It’s one of the most painful jobs on your list of chores, but ironing can burn more calories than you would expect. 30 minutes of ironing will tone the muscles in your upper body and burn 70 calories, the equivalent of at least two cups of coffee.

Cooking

You could burn some of the calories in your meal, simply through the process of cooking it. An hour of putting on your chef’s hat and whipping up a feast can help you burn 150 calories.

Vacuuming/sweeping/mopping

Putting your back into the cleaning can really pay off. Did you know that 30 minutes of vacuuming is the equivalent of 15 minutes of kick boxing? You’ll burn 90 calories! Sweeping and mopping will burn 240 calories in an hour, giving your upper and lower body a good workout.

Making beds

Do you make your bed in the morning? Turns out you’re burning calories in the process. 30 minutes of bed making is equal to 15 minutes of jogging on the treadmill, burning 130 calories.

Washing the dishes

The age old hand washing vs the dishwasher battle comes into play here. Hand washing your dishes for 30 minutes will burn 160 calories, compared to 105 calories if you load the dishwasher for half an hour.

Outdoor chores

Gardening

Gardening is also great for burning calories. An hour of work in the garden will burn 240 calories. Break that down into individual chores and the calorie count is sure to motivate you. Half an hour of raking leaves in the garden will burn 225 calories, while the same amount of time spent weeding is equal to 15 minutes of weight training (115 calories burnt). If you’re mowing the lawn, use a push mower. You’ll burn 325 calories for every hour you mow.

Wash the car

Next time you want to wash the car, forget taking it to the car wash. Hand washing your car is great for your arms and abdominal muscles, which is why 30 minutes of car washing will burn 143 calories.

Painting

The stroke of a paint brush, whether it’s painting the outside of your house or staining the deck is an excellent way to exercise arm and leg muscles. You can burn 290 calories in an hour.