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Things we do in our everyday lives that could be classed as a 'living workout':
- Walking the dog (walk, walk, walk)
- Gardening* (dig, pull, throw)
- Vacuuming (walk, bend, pull)
- Hanging out the washing (reach high, reach low, reach high, reach low)
- Scrubbing the shower (bend, squat, scrub, wax on, wax off)
- Running errands (walk, walk, walk)
- Grocery shopping (walk, reach, push, walk, reach, push, walk, reach, push)
- Having fun at the park with the kids (push the swing, pull it back)
- Feeding the swans by the lake (HONK! Runnnnn ....)
It also occurred to me that perhaps there are things I am doing that go over and above the normal, like:
- Coaching cheerleader training (stretching, dancing, lifting kids in stunts)
- My Cheer Chick Charlie letterbox drops (walk, walk, walk, walk)
- The fact that my house has a shitload of stairs and I run up and down them all day long to the laundry and to the "store room" to get my Cheer Chick Charlie merchandise. (run up, run down, run up, run down)
So now when I push the treadmill to the bottom of my priority list, or forget that I am supposed to be doing sit-ups in the ad breaks of my favourite TV show, I won't worry so much. Sometimes life is already a work out.
What ways do you burn calories without even trying?
Are we perhaps doing something right just by living our busy lives?
Or am I kidding myself?
* That list up there is a very loose "we" list ... "we" as in household owners ... Gardening is not something I actually do at all. Which is a shame, because I'm sure it provides a pretty decent "workout".
I suffer this exercise confusion too. My treadmill never gets used lately because I am too tired. Cleaning the house after 8 people is pretty heavy duty and as you've noted, those stairs are a killer!
ReplyDeleteI suffer this exercise confusion too. My treadmill never gets used lately because I am too tired. Cleaning the house after 8 people is pretty heavy duty and as you've noted, those stairs are a killer!
ReplyDeleteKidding yourself...I think that and then go skiing or something and realise how unfit I actually am...:)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks this way. I don't do much 'exercise' but am constantly chasing after my toddler and picking him up, that's why I have good arms I reckon. And then there's all the house work and shopping...I think I need a pedometer!
ReplyDeleteI lift 20 kilos a hundred times a day - that's hidden exercise, but I suspect it's not as much as I should be doing! :)
ReplyDeleteI reckon it's great to get all the incidental exercise (did I just call housework great) but nothing beats the time-out I get going to a yoga class - getting out of the house just for myself.
ReplyDeleteI think it's good for us, but I don't think it keeps the hips nice and firm. I wish it did though! :)
ReplyDeleteI believe you're talking about incidental exercise & yes it is very good for you so long as your diet it is squeaky clean. I did a leg of the Surfcoast 100km run yesterday & can barely walk today :)
ReplyDeletePlaying rough and tumbles with my super strong boys! Man, that's always a HUGE workout.
ReplyDelete