HEALTH
HEALTH
Are you still waiting to go to Gym?
B.Smrithi | 24 March 2021
Maybe now’s the time to turn your boring household chores to a strenuous work beat…
Back in the good-olden days, people had more exercise built organically into their day. Gyms were very rare; those that existed were almost exclusively patronized by men. And what did the women do?
Home fitness has been in our lives for decades now – and it’s taken on a new role since the Covid-19 pandemic closed gyms around the world, and yet many of us are trying to find ways to exercise effectively within the four walls. You’ll be astonished to know that household chores helps us burn more calories than we really think, without us taking out any additional time of one’s own schedule.
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Household chores are definitely boring, but if intense household chores are done with a lot of moderate to vigorous-intensity effort might be good for burning some calories. Even though many studies do not categorize household chores to be exercise, the Compendium of Physical Activities Tracking
Picture Credits: www.bbc.com
Did you know?
The idea for the daily regimen came from Gustav Ernst, an orthopedic machinist in London who invented the portable home gym, a device made of mahogany boards, cords, weights, and pulleys.
Guide says that about 30 minutes of intense sweeping or mopping can burn up to 130 calories. Now, to many people this may not seem like much of an exercise when compared to running, cycling, or even climbing stairs, but if few types of chores are combined, intensity is increased and done for longer period of time, the cumulative effect could be the same. In spite of the health benefits that are associated with physical activities, more than half the population fails to meet the current recommended activity levels known to enhance health.
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In an effort to encourage deskbound individuals to engage in at least some physical activity, prominence has shifted from promoting structured forms of exercises to lifestyle activities which can be a part of our daily routine. If domestic activities are widely promoted as health-enhancing and individuals believe that such activities are likely to improve health results and may displace other activities known to be of moderate-intensity and more explicitly linked to reduced disease risk. Household chores help keep your home clean, organized, and disease-free. Some studies indicate that this can not only reduce stress but also creates a better sleep and rest environment. All you need to do is reduce your stress and improve your sleep patterns, which in turn, improves your health. Some studies indicate that doing high-intensity household activities like mopping, sweeping, and scrubbing can reduce your risk of heart disease.
Fun Fact!
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A study shows that people are more likely to perform daily household chores than to turn up to the gym and workout on most days of the week.
Recent lifestyle approaches to physical activity have included the promotion of domestic physical activities such as do-it-yourself or home maintenance, gardening, and housework. So, let’s belt your muscles and your house into shape!
Chore #1: Mopping
Ladies never underestimate the power of the old school method of mopping the floors with a rag in the squat-crawl movement. Make those floors sparkle and give your leg and arm muscles and your core a heavy intensity workout.
Chore #2: Gardening
When you are squatting, pulling, and carrying about the things in your garden, this really tones down your muscles giving it a good shape. This is not just a physical exercise but also one that helps to relieve mental stress and keeps your overall body calm.
Chore #3: Cleaning Windows
Wipe the grime of your windows while you move your upper and lower arms and get those muscles all toned up. You could reach up as high as you can to stretch and work your abs lower back muscles too.
Chore #4: Kneading dough
Are you feeling the lack of dumbbells at home? But why worry when you can head to kitchen, and knead some dough, toning your biceps and forearms.
Chore #5: Wash your Dishes
Doing your dishes is definitely a full-arm workout as you end-up moving your arms to get the grim of the dishes, wringing the water out and then dry them. All that scrubbing and rinsing provides a great workout for your arms.
Chore #6: Ironing your Clothes
It’s time to iron your own clothes, your abdominal muscles are waiting! The sideways motion of ironing is a fantastic workout for your abs. As you iron, flex your muscles one at a time, from your pelvis, moving into your upper abs.
Find out, which one are you?
While different forms of housework themselves can be physically challenging, one can make them even more determined by adding some physical movements while doing them. For instance, keeping the stomach tightened while performing the household chores, stretching a little bit extra to get the muscles of our body to move to their limits, keeping the back straight while doing the laundry, washing dishes, cleaning the floors can make it much more challenging.
Like our very own Indian actress, Adah Sharma, who posted her videos of mopping the floor, and cleaning the mirrors, on social media platforms amidst lockdown. She taught her fans how to exercise even while doing your household chores on a daily basis.
Tips:
Video Credits: @adah_ki_adah (Adah Sharma's Instagram)