Weight loss: Expert reveals how to save 28,000 calories a year
You could burn an extra 10,000 calories before 2020 is over just by cleaning your home. Apollo Blinds’ latest survey revealed Brits now spend on average nearly five hours per week cleaning and tidying, double the UK average in 2019. Personal trainer Sarah Jones has revealed how to get into shape for the new year, simply by doing household chores.
We’ve all been spending more time at home this year due to Covid restrictions, and although gyms are back open working out from home has become more popular.
The number of hours spent cleaning has increased to about five hours a day, and this is enough to work up a sweat.
According to Sarah, five hours of vigorous housework has the potential to burn 3,000 calories per week – that’s around 10,000 by January 1 2021.
Sarah reveals her six step exercise guide that you can do while cleaning the house.
READ MORE- How to live longer: Just 11 minutes of daily activity may extend life
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Cleaning exercise guide
Power lunge hoover and sweep
Sarah said: “Perform walking lunges as you hoover or sweep floors.
“Stretch out your arms in a smooth motion, keep your back straight and ensure your front knee is at a 90-degree angle and the back knee is an inch off the floor.
“Do this for 10 minutes to get lean thighs (quadriceps) and a tight bum (glutes)!”
Vigorous mopping or scrubbing
Follow up your hoovering with a mopping or scrubbing session, and put some elbow grease in.
The research by Apollo Blinds found we mop the equivalent of 45.5 miles a year- just think how many calories this sweaty activity burns!
Cleaning a bathroom floor will use up around 244 calories, so imagine how many you’ll have burned once you’ve done the whole house.
Sarah said mopping or scrubbing will “elevate your heart rate and keep you working at a higher intensity, which helps to burn fat.”
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Window and laundry squats
Doing your washing and cleaning the windows are sure-fire ways to get a toned bum, legs, and arms.
Sarah said: “Perform squats while cleaning windows and blinds, lifting the washing basket or when cleaning inside your kitchen cupboards.
“Squat low to the ground (feet shoulder-width apart, back straight, sitting down into your bottom) to get water on your cloth, and then stretch up high moving arms in a circular motion to sculpt your shoulders!
“This will give your arms and legs the perfect dual workout. If you need to get up high, use stepladders and ensure you do 15 repetitions up and down the steps for lean legs.”
Scrub up and press up
Push-ups burn about seven calories a minute, so any time you’re near to the ground you should try and incorporate a few.
Sarah said: “While you’re on your hands and knees, take the opportunity to do at least 10 reps of press-ups.”
This exercise will strengthen your shoulders, arms, lower back, and core.
Stretch, twist and burn
Even the lightest cleaning activities such as dusting are forms of exercise.
If you think about it, all that twisting is tensing your abdominal muscles and working your core.
If you’re looking for rock hard abs before the new year, you better start cleaning.
When you’re doing an activity which involves standing still, such as washing the dishes, dry tensing your abs and sucking them in for 30 seconds at a time.
Sarah added: “You can also clench your buttocks (glutes) – this will burn calories as well as helping to tone up problem areas.
“Try standing on one leg for 30 seconds, then the other, to work on balance and try 30 calf raises (getting up and down on tiptoes) for toned calf muscles. Repeat five times.”
“Work your oblique muscles on the side of your stomach as you twist to transfer wet washing from the basket to the line or tumble dryer.
“Keep your head facing forward and twist at your torso.”
A clean lift
Who doesn’t want big guns? You’ll be on your way to achieving your dream arms if you start your cleaning session with a few extra activities.
Sarah said: “Use bottles of cleaning products to tone arms and start and end your cleaning session with gentle activity like running on the spot or jumping jacks.
“This will warm up the body and then you can cool it down with stretches.”
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