The Housework Workout

Why pay big bucks for a fancy gym when all you need to exercise and get in shape is right inside your home? No, I'm not selling the thigh master or any other home fitness equipment.

Just wanted to let you know that by doing housework you can burn about as many calories as walking on a treadmill for the same amount of time. Seriously. Believe it or not, all those dreary household chores you do burn a significant number of calories. Now if that isn't incentive to do more housework, I don't know what is.

To be honest, I haven't counted calories since high school and I don't plan to start now. But knowing that heavy vacuuming burns as many calories as a Chinese spring roll (120) certainly helps to motivate me. Next time I plan to go out for Chinese food, I'll vacuum the house first!

Amazingly, cooking burns 40-50 calories, although I wonder if that's still true if you're just microwaving a frozen dinner. And do you burn the calories while cooking even if you're munching on potato chips at the time?

Not only does mopping floors burn over 110 calories, but it also helps to tone your shoulders and biceps. I'm going to be a buff mopping mama.

The domestic activity that burns the most calories is gutter cleaning, at 320 calories per hour. It also gives your shoulders, upper back, arms, and legs a good work-out. But it's also a real pain in the ass. And it could be dangerous too, so I don't recommend it unless you know what you're getting yourself into.

I found some housework exercise regimes online. It's worth a try since even if I don't lose any weight, at least my home will be clean.

Do you have any household fitness tips? How about using a jug of detergent as a free weight?