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Vacuuming can help keep you fit
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The home workout
Carmel Thomason21/ 7/2008
EXERCISE and household chores are two things guaranteed to set many of us groaning.
In fact at least 30 per cent of us it seems, as apparently that is the shocking number of adults who never take any physical activity at all.
For these people especially, putting the two together with a bit of multi-tasking and at least they've killed two birds with one stone and saved an expensive gym membership to boot.
And, for the rest of us, it's a good way to burn off a few more calories without even thinking about it.
Dr Emmanuel Stamatakis, a senior research fellow at UCL, has been researching the benefits of housework on health as part of the government's Health Survey For England.
Beneficial
Currently the government recommends that people take at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise five times a week in order to see a benefit to their health.
Looking at how the amount of housework and other domestic activities interact with this, Dr Stamatakis and his team have so far found that housework not only burns calories, but also decreases your risk of diabetes.
"For people who do no exercise at all, which at the moment in England is about 30pc of the adult population, it's wise to recommend they do as much as they can, even in the house. For these people even housework will be beneficial to their health as they will have less chance of getting diabetes, for example, and their calorific expenditure will help them control their weight."
The kind of house and domestic work Dr Stamatakis is talking about includes vacuuming, moving furniture around, mopping floors, gardening and anything that gets you slightly out of breath.
"For elderly people who may have mobility problems and for people for whom you can not prescribe vigorous exercise, it will be beneficial for them to do some gardening for a few hours a day," he explains.
Readily available
"Housework is another readily available form of exercise for people where organised exercise is not really an option."
However, while housework is a good way to work off that extra chocolate bar, Dr Stamatakis warns that we should also be thinking about taking other forms of exercise too if we want to look after our heart.
"In order to get protection against cardiovascular disease from exercise you need to improve your fitness with exercise that raises your heartbeat above a certain threshold," he adds.
"Housework is not usually vigorous enough to improve your fitness. If you take groups of people who do very little and get them to do some through homework then, yes, you see some improvements in their risk, but they won't necessarily be super fit.
"Doing a little exercise in one way or another will help, but is not necessarily enough and usually it's not enough to significantly benefit your health.
"Under 50 years old you have the capacity to be really fit and by doing housework alone you're not going to achieve this. I'm not saying we all have to join expensive gyms - if you just incorporate 30 minutes of brisk walking every day it will have a huge impact on your risk of getting chronic cardiovascular disease or diabetes."
HOW THE HOUSEWORK ADDS UP...
BURNING extra calories from housework is a great way to lose excess lbs. And by adding a few simple exercises to your household routine you can improve your fitness too.
Personal trainer
Christina Waring (pictured) explains: “You don't need to have a lot of fancy equipment to get a basic workout. With just one step you can get your heart rate going and a couple of cans of beans as weights and a chair as a balance will help get you toned.
“Step-ups are a great way to work your heart and lungs to improve cardio vascular fitness. They are also good for burning calories as well as toning your bottom and legs.
“Just always remember that if you use one muscle group then, for balance, you should also work its opposite muscle group such as the biceps and triceps or inner and outer thighs.
“I think it's best to try to be more active whenever you can. When you are doing housework, such as hoovering, put a bit more effort into it. Take the stairs instead of the lift and walk where you can rather than take the car.”
Light housework/cleaning – 240 kcals/hour
Ironing – 171 kcals/hour
Washing up – 171 kcals/hour
Mowing the lawn – 333 kcals/hour
Washing the car – 343 kcals/hour
Mopping the floor – 343 kcals/hour
Gardening – 300 kcals/hour
Painting/DIY – 383 kcals/hour
How other exercises compare:
Walking – 185 kcals/hour
Brisk walking – 360 kcals/hour
Swimming – 340 kcals/hour
Aerobics – 340 kcals/hour
Cycling – 300 kcals/hour
Yoga – 250 kcals/hour
Step-ups – You can do these on your door-step or at the bottom of a staircase. Keeping your back straight, stomach tight and knees soft, step up with your right foot putting your heel down first. Repeat with the left foot. Then step back down, again starting with the right foot but this time putting your toes down first before your heel. To make it harder you can swing your arms or hold cans of beans. Do for at least 5 minutes, increasing this as your fitness improves.
Bicep-curls – Either stand or sit on a chair with your stomach tight and back straight. Holding bottles of water or cans of beans curl your arm up, making sure you don't lock your elbow on the way down. Do two sets of 15-20 repetitions. If you find that very easy you can increase the number of repetitions until you feel the muscles tighten, but not hurt.
Tricep Kick-back – Using the same weights as for the bicep-curls extend your arm behind to work the back of the arm. Do two sets of 15-20 repetitions. If you find that very easy you can increase the number of repetitions until you feel the muscles tighten, but not hurt.
Outer-thigh leg raise – Holding onto a chair for balance stand with your stomach tight and your knees slightly bent. Lift your leg to the side but when you bring it back down don't let it touch the floor before the next raise. Do two sets of 15 to 20 on both sides.
Inner-thigh squeezes – Again holding onto a chair for balance stand with your stomach tight and your knees slightly bent, but this time move the leg across the front of the body. Don't let the exercising leg touch the floor before the next raise. Do two sets of 15 to 20 on both sides
If you have any medical conditions it is advisable to consult your GP before starting a new exercise programme.
Christina is a personal trainer at Total Fitness, Whitefield. Call 0161 3512400.
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