From vacuuming and gardening to climbing stairs and carrying the shopping, everyday activities can help you move more, strengthen your muscles and increase your daily calorie expenditure – without setting foot in a gym.
Pics: Getty Images
Household chores may be a drag, but they can be turned into mini workouts if you want to multitask. For women over 50 who can’t get to the gym, combining housework with other everyday activities can help increase movement and contribute to fat loss.
Believe it or not, the NHS lists carrying heavy shopping bags as a muscle-strengthening activity. By putting a little more oomph into everything from vacuuming the house to doing the laundry, you can use everyday chores to increase your calorie expenditure and support the deficit needed to lose body fat.
While these activities won’t replace a structured exercise routine, moving consistently and using the right muscles for each task can still be hugely beneficial.
Can housework really help with fat loss?
Don’t underestimate how much movement housework can involve, particularly if you keep moving continuously. According to physiotherapist Rebecca Bossick, co-founder and clinical director of One Body LDN, housework can provide both strength and cardiovascular benefits.
“Vacuuming, mopping, scrubbing, carrying laundry all involve repeated lunging, reaching and rotating movements that engage your legs, shoulders and core, and repeatedly going up and down stairs adds up to muscle-strengthening activity, particularly for your legs and glutes,” she explains.
“For women over 50 specifically, keeping this kind of everyday loaded movement high is one of the most sustainable ways to keep both fat levels and muscle mass in check long-term. So, if you’re tidying upstairs, don’t worry about making one perfectly efficient trip. A few extra journeys with the laundry basket count.”
Canon EOS 5D Mark II · f/2.8 · 1/125s · 16mm · ISO100
Take the stairs whenever you can
Fat loss ultimately requires you to expend more calories than you absorb. Personal trainer Bruno Pontes, who works at Muscle Booster, explains how taking the stairs can contribute.
“When it comes to walking up the stairs, our analysis found that for the average American, walking up stairs for 15-minutes can burn 150 calories, more than the approximate 110 burned during a circuit training session that lasts for the same amount of time, so try to use the stairs a lot when doing your household chores.
“When taking the stairs, engaged muscles are able to build strength without enforced joint stress or high impact. Key muscles such as the hamstrings, glutes and quads are all put to work through these functional activities, which in the long-term can subtly support strength building, endurance and in some cases, even help prevent injury.”
Turn cleaning into a functional workout
“Looking at the comparisons for these activities, 15-minutes of vacuuming the floors burns an average of 66 calories, the equivalent to 15-minutes of body weight resistance exercises such as squats, lunges, or push-ups.
“Chores such as cleaning, vacuuming, and making the bed are also examples of functional exercise, as the body engages multiple key muscle groups, including the lower-back and shoulders.
“Home-based chores force the body to make a variety of movements; including lifting, pushing and pulling. By continually repeating these low-intensity movements over a short period of time, muscles throughout the arm and back can build greater endurance and increase grip strength.”
Canon EOS 5D · f/5 · 1/125s · 97mm · ISO250
Make gardening more physically demanding
While gardening won’t specifically target body fat, it can increase the amount of energy you use and help create the calorie deficit required for fat loss. Turning gardening into a more physical activity by digging and raking, rather than simply sweeping leaves, can make it more effective.
“Digging, weeding, squatting, kneeling, standing back up and pushing a wheelbarrow all get different muscles firing, combining strength, mobility, and cardiovascular work in a way that’s far closer to a real functional training session than most people realise,” explained Rebecca Bossick.
“Plus, this kind of varied, low-impact loading is brilliant for joint health too, particularly hips and knees, because it keeps you moving through ranges you might otherwise avoid as you get older.
“An hour of moderate gardening can burn a similar number of calories to an hour-long brisk walk, and because you’re switching between different movements and muscle groups, you’re less likely to overload any single joint.
“If you want to get a little more from your usual gardening, think about how you move. When weeding a low bed, try getting in a deeper squat rather than repeatedly bending from the waist, and use both arms evenly when digging or raking.”
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV · f/16 · 1/400s · 38mm · ISO1250
You can also turn a shopping trip into a functional exercise session. Carrying bags increases your total daily energy expenditure and makes several muscle groups work at once.
“Next time you’re carrying the shopping home, remember that those bags are basically weights you got for free,” pointed out Rachel Bossick.
“Carrying an uneven load makes your core and stabilising muscles work harder to keep you upright, turning an ordinary walk into a type of loaded carry, which is one of the most effective functional exercises there is.
“And because muscle loss accelerates after 50 (around 5-10% per decade), which is only compounded by hormonal changes due to menopause, strength and resistance work becomes even more useful. So, whenever possible, skip the trolley and carry your bags home, swapping sides as you go.”
Bruno Pontes agrees, adding: “Carrying the groceries and resistance training exercises such as bicep curls and chest presses both burn 77 calories over a 15 minute period.
“Lifting heavy shopping can be considered one of the ultimate functional strength activities, as well as having cardiovascular benefits dependent on the distance.
“This everyday activity brings together a variety of key muscle groups, including the legs, back, shoulders, arms, and core. By involving weight, the heart rate can be raised, and there is also the opportunity over time to maintain bone density and muscle strength through lifting bags of groceries.
“The carrying of bags will also support grip strength, providing a workout to smaller muscles within the lower arm and hand.”
Pick up the pace when you walk
Whatever chores you’re doing, try to turn your usual walking into faster-paced movement, whether you’re going up and down the stairs at home or walking while out and about.
Walking is an impact exercise. Each time your foot strikes the ground, it sends a small force through your bones, which can help protect bone density as oestrogen levels fall. Climbing stairs can also support fat loss because it makes your body work against gravity, increasing the amount of energy you use.
Stand up on public transport
Finally, one surprisingly simple activity could also contribute to your daily calorie expenditure: standing on public transport.
According to Pontes, it uses slightly more energy than sitting and can therefore make a small contribution towards the calorie deficit needed to reduce body fat.
“Our analysis found that standing for 15 minutes on public transport burns 55 calories, slightly more than the 51 burned during a yoga flow.
“Choosing to stand instead of sitting on public transport may seem like a hassle, but the decision can come with some health benefits, particularly if you have been sitting for long periods throughout the day.
“By standing you are able to improve circulation to the legs and feet, alongside further supporting your core muscles, which help with balance and posture. These benefits can be heightened further by wearing a bag on your back.”