8 ways to work out without even realising it
1. Go at it with a mop
Housework – vigorous dusting, vacuuming, washing the floor or cleaning windows – can be just as good for you as a session at the gym in terms of your mental health. But you really need to put your back into all those chores – making sure you use every opportunity to walk, lift and stretch. Exaggerate each movement – for example, when dusting a top shelf, really stretch out.
2.Ditch the remote
Choose active over inactive every time. For example, rather than using the remote control, get up and switch off the TV. Doing this ten times a day burns over 15,000 kJ a year – the equivalent of half a kilo of body fat.
3. Multi-task
Don’t sit around – do the dusting while you listen to the radio, iron standing up, walk around when you make a call. Sitting adversely affects the way the body handles fat.
4. Use your bus pass
Leave your car at home and catch the bus to go shopping. Taking the bus usually involves a relatively long walk to the bus stop and more walking once you reach your destination. In addition, carrying shopping bags requires energy, meaning more kilojoules burned.
5. Get gardening
Research confirms that gardening is an effective way to exercise. Reaching for weeds, pruning tall branches, bending to deadhead flowers and extending a rake are good for flexibility, while carrying a watering can, pushing a wheelbarrow and lifting pots are all weight-bearing activities. An hour of energetic gardening can burn 3000 kJ.
6. Walk a dog
Dog walking can make you fitter than walking with a partner or friend. In a 12-week study of 54 older adults, those who walked with a dog improved their walking speed by 28 per cent compared with just 4 per cent for those who walked with a friend or spouse.
7. Be a fidget
Moving around – what scientists refer to as ‘incidental physical activity’ – can boost your cardiovascular fitness and also make a difference to whether you’re fat or thin. So instead of just sitting there, jiggle your legs, get up and down from your chair, tap your toes, drum your fingers or pace up and down.
8. Cook up a storm
Peeling, chopping, stirring, whisking and beating all burn more kilojoules than simply heating up a ready meal in the microwave. And if you really want to work up a sweat, try making your own bread – kneading dough is good hard work, and therapeutic, too.
Source: Readers Digest Asia
