Let’s talk about some daily habits that might be able to keep you healthy and active this summer:
It’s tempting to think that you have to go for a walk or a run – even a bike ride… but sometimes those sorts of activities aren’t possible if the weather doesn’t assist.
So with that in mind, let’s look at house work. Specifically, “house work and waist lines” and shedding a few pounds doing it (might not be needed of course!.
Now, doing housework has the ability to delight, frustrate or anger you and as well as all of those feelings, it can even cause physical injury.
Yes – some of the most common and simple injuries that I see in my physio practice occur as a result of someone trying relentlessly to maintain a clean and tidy house.
But let me ask you this: have you ever considered that housework might be a legitimate addition to a weekly exercise routine?
And another question: is a vigorous spring clean (where you REALLY go at the house) capable of reducing your waistline, if you were ever looking to trim it? Interested to know more?
Read on…
I’ve heard it said by many ladies that housework is their best form of exercise. But here’s something to consider: as the years have progressed, it seems housework and waistlines are heading in opposite directions and doing the housework isn’t as good for you as it once was.
Why? It’s because of things like slim line and lighter vacuum cleaners, the average family not being as big as it was a few decades ago, and new, more advanced cleaning products designed to make scrubbing easier.
All these mean you’re not likely to be burning as many calories as you might have thought (or hoped) or once did.
As a general rule of thumb, the experts predict that you can burn up to 200 calories with a typical one-hour clean of an average-sized house.
To put that into context, if you see somebody out jogging, hoping to burn some off fat off, that person running is going to have to keep going for 20-25 minutes just to match the same calorie burn as you’ll be getting from doing your house clean.
So as you look to keep active this summer, maybe even trim down, bear in mind there’s an alternative to going to the gym. Keeping your house ultra clean and tidy can provide the very strong incentive of reducing your waistline at the same time.
It can still produce the feel-good chemicals that you experience after a power walk or run.
But, here’s one final thing to consider: two hundred calories burned might sound great – and it is – but now picture yourself after finishing your cleaning with your feet up (shoes off, of course), on your freshly-cleaned couch with a nice, hard- earned glass of wine in hand and watching your favourite soap on TV – you’ve just put all those 200 calories back on in an instant!
More stories like this at the website of new book: www.thehealthyhabitbok.com
Written by Physio Paul Gough, author of the Healthy Habit book.
You might know Paul as an expert Columnist who writes weekly health articles for TWO of the North East's biggest daily Newspapers, The Northern Echo And The Hartlepool Mail, he is a regular Speaker at Industry Seminars around the globe and a Radio Personality, often heard on the BBC. Paul has been an expert guest on dozens of Radio shows and regularly interviewed in newspapers, magazines and trade journals all over the world, including the Guardian.
Paul’s background included working extensively in the Premier League with a Top Professional Football Team, and since quitting his job in Professional Football in 2007, his Physio Practice has become the fastest growing in the UK and biggest in the North East. So successful, that companies like BUPA, ASDA, The Vela Group And Coast & Country, repeatedly retain his Physio company's services to keep healthy their own staff and workforce. Paul Gough Physio Rooms is now a large multi-physio, multi clinic speciality practice in Darlington, Durham, Guisborough and Hartlepool.
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