Chore No More: The Exercise Value of House and Garden ChoresWriten by Arron Stewart
Housework, its a dirty job but somebodys got to do it!
It can often be difficult to find the motivation to tackle all the little jobs around the house and garden, especially when we factor-in all the other demands on our time and attention. To make the idea even less attractive, our efforts around the house and garden often go unnoticed or unappreciated by others. No wonder most people detest chores.
There is however, a way you can develop a new appreciation for domestic duties. Instead of focusing on the chores themselves, think about the additional physical activity you will get from tackling all that dreaded scrubbing, vacuuming and gardening. You may not realize it, but many household chores actually count as moderate exercise, and some are easily as physically demanding as a brisk walk or jog. Out in the garden, the calorie-burning, muscle-building exercise value of chores can be even more astounding.
If you are concerned about your health and wellbeing, as we all should be, putting a bit more effort in around the home and garden can assist in increasing your overall levels of activity and supplement your typical exercise regime. Indeed, you might begin to see housework in a different light when you realize that it offers a rare chance to kill two birds with one stone. As you are about to discover, the exercise value of chores is greater than you think.
Estimated Calorie Expenditure in Household/Garden Chores
The following is the estimated average calorie expenditure for an individual performing house and garden chores. As it based on a great number of variables, it is impossible to define the exact calorie expenditure of any particular household chore. The values are listed per hour and per minute. Some other common forms of physical activity have been included so that you can draw comparisons.
For the record, light house or garden work requires relatively little movement and muscular effort. Moderate housework or gardening regards activity that significantly increases heart-rate and demands purposeful muscular effort, but can sustained for prolonged periods. Strenuous activity around the home or garden is highly demanding on the cardio-vascular, skeletal and muscular systems of the body, and cannot be sustained for long periods of time without regular rest and recuperation periods.
Remember: Calories are a standard unit for energy measurement in nutrition/exercise science. From the scientific perspective, one calorie is the amount of heat needed to increase the temperature of one gram of water by one degree centigrade. From the lay point of view, calories represent the fuel the human body uses to perform all of its functions; such as breathing, digesting, circulating the blood, moving and generating muscular force.
-Estimated Calorie Expenditure in Household/Garden Chores-
Housework, Light - 140+ (/hour) 2.33+ (/min) *
Housework, Moderate - 180+ (/hour) 3.00+ (/min) *
Housework, Strenuous - 260+ (/hour) 4.33+ (/min)
Gardening, Light - 250+ (/hour) 4.16+ (/min) *
Gardening, Moderate - 350+ (/hour) 5.83+ (/min) *
Gardening, Strenuous - 500+ (/hour) 8.33+ (/min)
Golf - 200+ (/hour) 3.33+ (/min) *
Walking(3mph) - 250+ (/hour) 4.33+ (/min) *
Tennis - 350+ (/hour) 5.83+ (/min) *
Hiking - 400+ (/hour) 6.66+ (/min) *
Bicycling - 450+ (/hour) 7.50+ (/min) *
Jogging(5mph) - 500+ (/hour) 8.33+ (/min)
A New Perspective on Chores
The above information clearly shows that work around the house and garden stacks up quite favorably with other forms of activity we would more readily perceive as real exercise. We all recognize that chores can be effortful and tiring but, until now, you have probably never considered just how they compare as a form of exercise. The trick is to alter your mindset, moving away from old-fashioned notions that sports and outdoor recreation are the only true forms of physical exercise.
While this article is unlikely to make you want to rush away from the computer and power through your chores, it should be clear to you that there is actually a hidden value to those loathsome and laborious house and garden tasks. Many of us could benefit from increasing our daily levels of activity, and doing so could be as simple as tackling all those horrible jobs you have been putting off for weeks. Not only will your home be a safer, cleaner and more hospitable environment for the effort, but you will have clocked-up some significant exercise at the same time.
Arron Stewart Is 26 years old, lives in Hamilton, New Zealand, and attends the University of Waikato as a graduate student in Sport & Leisure with an additional focus on Sociology and Human Resource Management. A website has been established featuring more information and selected articles of his work: http://www.geocities.com/arronstew79