Make Housework a Workout!

chores-fitness-exercise

Quick Win

Turn chores into a healthy workout with the steps below, adjusting to your fitness level.

Try this today

• Move faster. While making the bed, cleaning the floor, wiping down counters or mowing the lawn, increase your speed — and by extension, your heart rate. Make it fun by timing yourself speed-cleaning — then try to beat your best time.
• Up the intensity. Use some extra “elbow grease” while scrubbing the sink or tub. Work your upper-body muscles by using an old-fashioned rake instead of a leaf blower.
• Splice in strength and stretching. Do some lunges as you clean the floor, squats as you unload the dishwasher, and modified push-ups against the kitchen counter between tasks. Other ideas: arm curls as you stow cans in the pantry, calf raises while dusting high shelves or gentle stretches while cleaning baseboards.
• Get your groove on. Music isn’t a requirement while cleaning— but it’s great for lifting your mood and motivating you to keep moving! Turn on the radio or pop in your earbuds and power-clean to your favorite upbeat tunes. And remember, dancing is exercise!

Why

Physical activity is good for you, whether you’re pumping iron at a gym or swishing a mop on your kitchen floor. Movement of all types, whether formal exercise or everyday activities such as housework, was linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease as well as longer life in a study of more than 130,000 adults ages 35 to 70, reported in 2017 in The Lancet. Researchers who looked at housework specifically found that it was linked to better physical and mental health in a 14-year study of 4,000 adults ages 65 and up reported in 2023 in BMC Geriatrics.