How to Clean Your House While Becoming Physically Fit

Today’s homemaker is usually a harried soul. She may well have a houseful of children or pets, even if she is single. She probably does her housework when she is not working at her “day job.” She has the pressures of entertaining, of impromptu visits from family and friends, and of wanting her surroundings to be neat, attractive, sanitary, and comfortable. To top it all off, the homemaker can as easily be a “he.” The modern homemaker has a full life outside of cleaning the home, and thus, has the goals of finding housework techniques that are simple and that quickly result in a clean house. This goal of “simple and clean” is one that can be attained. What is more, with thoughtful planning and a housework checklist, the homemaker can quickly have a clean house, and have completed a daily workout as well.

To achieve these goals, the first step is to get the right tools. As every construction worker, artist, seamstress, engineer, cook, or mechanic knows, jobs are easier with good, sturdy, well-designed tools. Good tools are designed specifically for each job, taking into consideration the motions a person makes as he does the job, the best size tool to complete the job, and the best materials to create a tool that lasts. Brooms, mops, brushes , and dust pans are some of the tools for efficiently completed housework. A carpenter will shop around to find a well-made hammer, knowing that purchasing a good hammer is an investment that will enable him to produce quality goods. A homemaker must also invest in good tools to meet the goals of “simple and clean.” A broom that sheds straw will never sweep a floor clean.

Second, write your plan down. Not only will this housework checklist help you stay on task, but you can organize your activities for the week so you will plan to clean the kitchen floor after the heaviest cooking days (instead of mopping the floor and then spilling the flour) and will remember to dust Aunt Tillie’s photo BEFORE she shows up at your door on Sunday afternoon. As an added bonus, write down how many calories you will burn if you complete each task in a certain amount of time. Keep a daily log of these “housework calories.”

Studies have shown that it is not the type of exercise you do but the combination of how vigorously and how long you exercise that creates quick results. Simply taking a 10,000 step walk every day will keep most people fit. If the exercise activity you choose is one you can work into your everyday life, it can also create permanent results, without the guilt or stress of trying and failing to include an inconvenient exercise routine in an already busy schedule. Housework done in a consistent, vigorous manner is an excellent aerobic exercise, and has the added benefit that necessary work is completed at the same time, freeing time for relaxing and socializing in a clean house.

These “housework calories” can easily be scheduled throughout the week, during one continuous session a day or scattered throughout the day. Doctors now say that frequent ten-minute bursts of activity are just as effective as one long stint of exercise in controlling weight. Your list may look like the one below. These calorie counts are for a 150 pound person doing a task at a moderate speed for ten minutes. Recommendations are for everyone to “exercise” for thirty minutes to an hour a day.

Making Beds – 39 calories
Mopping Floors – 46 calories
Standing while you fold clothes or wash the dishes – 24 calories
Wash Windows – 42 calories
Light gardening – 36 calories
General housework (i.e., sweeping floors, picking up toys) – 41 calories
Walking up stairs – 175 calories
Walking downstairs – 67 calories

As you can see, each of these chores would probably need to be extended for twenty to thirty minutes in order to complete the task at hand. Twenty minutes of mopping floors and another twenty minutes spent sweeping and tidying up will become a workout that burns 174 housework calories. Walking up and down stairs while straightening the house can add another 200 calories burned. Counting these chores as part of your daily exercise routine allows you to focus on their benefits to your health. Keeping a housework checklist and calorie count of chores completed will bring the homemaker closer to the goal of “simple and clean,” and a bonus goal of being physically fit.
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Author Vincent Platania represents the Fuller Brush Company.
Fuller Brush has been in business since 1906, and offers safe, environmentally friendly products for keeping your home and your body clean.
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