House chores- an easy way to keep fit

The most common traits among people who don’t like doing household chores include the couch potato syndrome – doing nothing but watching TV all day, only broken by the need to eat and sleep! Too much TV not only puts your eyes at risk but also other major parts of your body. If the body is inactive, you can gain unnecessary weight. Eating a lot, especially junk food, not only causes obesity but also other health complications.While you might have house help, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to lend a hand and do some of the chores yourself.This will keep you physically fit and also help you monitor your house maid – you do need to see if he/she is doing things the right way. Some household chores you can do yourself include washing dishes and cleaning the house.The calories burned while doing household chores can be compared to those burned in a workout session. According to fitday.com, yard work offers some of the most labour intensive household chores. Tasks like digging and raking leaves not only burn a lot of calories but also help tone the muscles in your arms and legs. Below are statistics from fitday.com on the number of calories burned while doing house chores;30 minutes of digging in your yard will burn about 315 calories, the same amount burned by 45 minutes of cycling on a flat terrain. Digging tones the muscles of your calves, thighs, arms and shoulders. If you do it vigorously and continue the activity for 20 minutes or more, you can raise your heart rate and strengthen your cardiovascular system.Washing your car works your arms and abdominals. For every 30 minutes of car washing, you burn 143 calories.Scrubbing the bathroom for 30 minutes burns 200 calories. Removing that stubborn soap scum from your tiles is a great way to tone the muscles of your arms and shoulders.Making beds for 30 minutes burns 130 calories, the same number you’d use if you jogged on a treadmill or on a flat terrain for 15 minutes.Cleaning windows for 30 minutes burns 125 calories, the same number used in 20 minutes of power yoga.Dusting windows for 30 minutes burns about 50 calories. Ironing for 30 minutes burns about 70 calories and tones the muscles of the upper body. Stand up straight at the ironing board and press down firmly. Switch hands periodically so you don’t overdevelop one arm.