Exercising with a purpose without exercising on purpose

Nobody likes to exercise on purpose, except maybe my eldest son, who has jumped on the Crossfit bandwagon. I however, am 1. bored easily and 2. the old bod just doesn’t roll like it used to.

So what’s a body to do???

Well. My grandmother loved housework, and back in the day it took many hours and a lot of moving and grooving and I’m pleased to say she taught me some of her tricks. I am going to be sharing those same tricks with you so that you too can incorporate them into your everyday life that will 1. result in a sparkling, clean house and 2. leave the exercising on purpose behind.

Let’s get started with laundry. I have a side loading washer and dryer and I do knee bends while sucking in the ole gut as I move clothes from the washer to the dryer. Of course not all clothes need to be put in the dryer, so after doing more knee bends to pluck clothes out of the basket, I also work in some stretches in order to hang the clothes on the line.

While taking on housework, always have music on, whether its blasting through your ears or you’re sharing it with your neighbors, a mix of music makes the work go faster and you really don’t notice that its work because your having fun singing and dancing. For example, Springsteen is my personal go-to. You will be amazed at the amount of housework you will accomplish while singing off tune at the top of your lungs and dancing around like a fly-girl.

Dusting is totally annoying and I usually wait until you can write “dust me” on the furniture before I take on this chore. What is the point of dusting if you can’t see that your making a difference. This activity involves bending and stretching, and working it from top to bottom gives you a full arm stretch and works those knees.

Always remember to suck in the gut.

Vacuuming can be a fun activity because you can pretend that you have a dance partner. Slinking and hopping around the house pushing and pulling your “partner” gets those long dormant body parts hopping and bopping. If you’re short like me there will be a lot of stretching and hopping involved in reaching those high places and if I’m really ambitious I’ll be flexing those arm muscles by yanking out the ladder and incorporating some step aerobics in all the while slaying dust mites. Another win-win.

Scrubbing the floors the way gram used to do it, on your hands and knees is always a calorie burner. Toss those mops out with the bath water and grab a bucket and brush, with lots of towels. Hauling a bucket of water around gets those flabby arm muscles in shape, and getting up close and personal with your floor by being your knees will allow you to get into those dirty corners and clean those baseboards. Using a stroking and/or circular motion with the brush or towels while stretching out those arms, pulling the brush back and forth, as well as side to side keeps the arms lean and mean and the bonus is working those abs and obliques. Of course now there is a lot of water being sloshed about, the use of towels to dry the floor is a must. Because my body is now stiff and sore from being on the floor, standing up and moving works out the kinks. Place two towels on the floor, step on them one foot on each, and by shuffling your feet back and forth or skating over the floor (being careful not to fall) works every leg muscle you have, guaranteeing bright and shiny floors and long, lean legs. And if waxing the floors is involved, well that will get you double activity points. Does that rock or what.

All in all it appears that our ancestors were onto something and they didn’t have to waste time exercising on purpose, as they received enough activity just doing chores around the house. I personally use all the tactics I mentioned, but sadly I don’t use them on a daily basis, which is what exercise is all about. I can tell that if you choose to incorporate these activities into your lifestyle, you will have a wonderfully clean house and if its your first time, sore muscles.

Turn up the volume and suck in that gut.