For most people, a trip to their local 24 Hour Fitness or a class at PureBarre is their definition of a workout. While, of course, this is true, you don’t really have to go out of your house to get a good workout. In fact, you don’t really need to strictly follow exercise routines to get a nice exercise.
Lots of everyday activities can count as a workout, especially if you observe proper form and exert quite a bit of effort on them. Learning more about these activities will surely come in handy for everyone, especially since it is safer to stay mostly at home nowadays. So if you can’t really head to your favorite gym or trail to get some exercise, take note of these everyday activities instead and you might just find them to be excellent substitutes to your outdoor runs or gym sessions.
Shopping
Hitting the supermarket or roaming around the mall can be great ways to do some cardio. All that walking will surely get your heart pumping and as your cart fills up and your shopping bags add up, you’ll be throwing in some weight training into the mix as well. Depending on how long you’ll be roaming about, you can expect to burn quite a bit of calories in the process.
Cooking
Working in the kitchen will give you quite a bit of a workout, too. All the chopping, scooping, and puttering about will require micromovements that will target small muscles that you might not be able to tone with regular exercise. Standing on your feet for quite a while is good for your body, too, as it will give you a nice stretch.
Gardening
Lots of people started to try their hands on growing some greens at home during the quarantine, if you’re one of these folks, then you can also get a nice exercise while you tend to your plants. Crouching down, digging, pulling, and pushing among other movements will target various muscle groups that can add up to a whole-body workout.
It can also vary in intensity depending on the task that you have. Shoveling snow and raking leaves can definitely be more intense than regular weeding and planting so you’ll get a lot of variety with this activity.
In addition to these, gardening and being around plants also has other great benefits to your health. These beautiful creatures can remove up to 87% of pollutants in the air so you can certainly get in better shape with their help.
Cleaning
This activity can be one of the most satisfying examples on this list as it will let you hit two birds with one stone. All of the efforts you’ll exert to clean your home will benefit you physically which can be a good motivation for many to do the chore more often.
When you clean, you’ll need to crouch down, stretch, push, pull, bend, and squat among other things so you’ll certainly get a great workout in the process. If you focus on your form, you’ll be able to get more out of the process.
Walking
If you live in a place that’s within a walking distance of everything, then you can also get a good workout from just walking from one point to another. A quick run to a nearby convenience store or bodega will already get your heart pumping. Walking to your workplace or to the nearest bus or train station will also do the same. You might not even notice it but all of the walking might already have given you a certain level of fitness without trying.
Taking the stairs
This should be a no-brainer as it is a well-known fact that stairs will require you to exert quite a bit of effort to take on. The invention of the elevator and escalator is a proof of this, allowing us to conquer heights without breaking a sweat.
Stairs at home are normally way simpler to deal with than a huge building’s stairs but both are still useful if you want to get some exercise. Just don’t skip them next time and maybe amp up the challenge by running up on them instead of taking them slow.
Playing with your kids
Having some good time with your little ones can also turn into a workout as such moments can involve running, lifting, and a lot of laughing. All of these are greatly beneficial to your physical health as they can get your blood pumping and strengthen your muscles. As a bonus, you’ll also enjoy greatly and bond with your precious ones.
Fidgeting
Even small movements can be a good way to workout without noticing it. So if you like to tap your feet, swivel around on your chair, twitch your leg, sway your body to the beat, or even just the constant movement of getting up and sitting down, you can expect to get some exercise in as well.