Finding time to exercise could be as easy as doing a few simple moves while cleaning your house. Your chores get done, and you tone up at the same time — talk about efficient multi-tasking!
It can be hard to find time in your busy day to get to the gym and fit in a workout. At the same time, doing household chores can be a bore, but you have to take the time to do them. Why not kill two birds with the same stone and incorporate some exercise into your household chores? While it won’t give you as intense a workout as committing an hour to a class at the gym might, you will get some light to medium physical activity into your day, and getting up and moving (rather than staying parked in front of the TV) can have a significant, beneficial impact on your health — like prolong your life expectancy, for one.
Here are some ways you can add some exercise into your household chores:
Squats
Instead of bending over to load and unload the dishwasher, do squats instead. Keep your feet wider apart than hip width, and remember to keep your torso upright. Want to make it more intense? Once in a squat, pulse gently rather than rise out of the position.
Arm extensions
When dusting bookshelves and washing windows, instead of thinking about all the other things you’d rather be doing, put on your iPod and focus on the workout the sweeping gestures are giving your arms. We bet your windows will have never looked so clean!
Stair work
When vacuuming the stairs, start at the top step, then move down to the bottom step. Walk back up to the second step, and then down again to the second to last step. Continue in this way until you’ve vacuumed all the steps, leaving you at the middle of the staircase. This method forces you to take more steps up and down the stairs than vaccuuming them in order would.
Tree pose
If you have great balance, you can practice the tree pose from yoga while doing such chores as sorting and folding laundry. Stand on one leg, and with your other leg’s knee bent out to the side, place the other foot on your inner calf or inner thigh (upper thigh if you can) — anywhere along your leg where you feel steady, except for at your knee.
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