Burning calories is of paramount importance to ensure that your body doesn’t start depositing the extra fat and all the more important for all those who stay indoors most of the time.
According to a study conducted by the Good Housekeeping Institute (GHI), household chores such as dusting, mopping and cleaning the bathroom are effective at burning calories. In just two hours, researchers found an individual can burn 600 calories doing intense household chores. That is more than double the amount one can burn from a 5km run.
For the study, participants were fitted with FitBit Flex 2 fitness trackers. This helped measure the amount of energy being used up while performing a chore. To determine the amount of calories burned during each work out, the team calculated the average during 20 or 40-minute sessions, the report explained.
- Window cleaning – 115 calories in 20 minutes.
- Mopping the floor – 107 calories
- Cleaning the bathroom – 100 calories
- Dusting for 40 minutes – 200 calories.
- 20 minutes of vacuuming – 86 calories in 20 minutes.
While you may not always want to do housework, the benefit you now know may motivate you to do it more often. “Unfortunately, there are some labour-intensive chores that need to be done but the good news is that you will be getting fit while you’re doing them,” GHI cleaning expert Verity Mann told the Daily Mail.
