Achieving and maintaining a healthy and strong body takes more than a few gym sessions each week. Every day offers opportunities to invest in your fitness, from the moment you wake up to the second your head hits the pillow at night. From dynamic stretching exercises to better sleeping habits, there are so many basic moves that can serve as ‘assets’ in building an impressive physique.
In this article, we’re going to tell you about 10 of those brilliant ‘merits of daily movement’ that shouldn’t be overlooked if you want to establish and preserve your long-term strength and well-being. These simple practices have been proven time and time again to bring great rewards…let’s get started!
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Up and down stairs:
It’s a habit that many of us pick up without even realizing it. Whether it’s taking the stairs at work or simply going up and down them to move between the different floors of your home. The benefit of stair climbing is that it burns around 100 calories per 10 minutes (depending on intensity). Which means that if you regularly take the stairs instead of the elevator, you’ll burn an extra 500-600 calories a day! It can be a great boon to fitness because it doesn’t take any real effort and it’s something we often do without even thinking about it.
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Do the dishes by hand:
If you’ve ever taken the time to calculate how much time you spend doing the dishes each day, you know how beneficial this activity can be for reaching your fitness goals. On average, people spend 20-25 minutes doing the dishes each day, which burns an extra 100-125 calories each session! At first, doing the dishes may seem like a chore, but once you realize how much energy this daily activity can save you, it will become almost enjoyable.
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Go shopping :
Whether it’s going grocery shopping or zipping around town doing various chores, shopping burns more calories than most people realize! For example, walking for an hour to run errands burns around 250 calories, which means that if you go out everyday for an hour or two to run various errands, you can easily burn over 1000 calories in just one week! It’s also a great way to get some fresh air and exercise during your busy days; so why not turn your runs into a full body workout?
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House cleaning :
Cleaning is not everyone’s favorite pastime. However, when done effectively, it burns more calories than intended (although some tasks obviously require more effort than others). On average, depending on the activities involved, general cleansing can burn between 200 and 300 calories in just one hour. Which means if you spend five hours a week cleaning your house, that equates to over 1000 extra calories burned over the course of a month!
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Take leisurely walks during lunch break:
Taking a walk may seem simple, but it has many physical and mental health benefits. Not only does walking increase energy levels, but it also helps improve mood and reduce stress levels. A leisurely walk of about 30 minutes (at a speed of 6 km per hour) generally burns between 150 and 200 calories. If you practice it regularly throughout the week, you could burn almost 1000 extra calories each month!
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Gardening/Landscaping:
Gardening and landscaping are not activities that everyone enjoys. Although they have their benefits as they are both excellent forms of physical exercise that provide tremendous health benefits. Like better heart health and stronger muscles and bones. Depending on the type of work to be done (digging or pruning), gardening can burn between 300 and 500 calories per hour. Which is great news when looking to supplement your fitness routine, as the impact on joints and other parts of the body is low.
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Cook meals from scratch:
Cooking meals from scratch can seem daunting to some, but putting in the effort to cook meals instead of buying pre-prepared foods has its benefits. Particularly when looking to achieve weight loss goals, as it helps to control fat and calorie intake and have complete control over the ingredients used.
The average person who cooks their own meal from scratch typically burns 150-250 calories in an hour. This number increases significantly if larger quantities are prepared ahead of time, making nutrition planning easier for busier people who don’t have much time on their hands during the week.
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Bathing a child or pet:
Bathing a child or pet may seem like a tedious and mundane task, but it can actually be great for boosting your fitness. The repetitive movements involved in the washing, rinsing and drying process can be quite physically demanding. Depending on the size of the person or animal you are bathing, you can burn up to 100 calories doing this simple task.
If you’re bathing an infant, you may need to exert more effort than if you were bathing an adult, because babies don’t yet have the motor skills to help you with this task. You will also have to bend down and kneel for long periods of time, which is great for working your leg and core muscles.
Bathing your pet may also involve some physical labor depending on its size. Rubbing its fur may require lifting its paws and legs if it’s a larger animal like a dog or horse. By taking occasional breaks during the bath to stand up and stretch, you can reap additional benefits from this seemingly mundane chore.
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Car cleaning:
Washing a car is another activity we tend to do without really thinking about it, but it has serious potential when it comes to improving fitness! When cleaning the exterior of a vehicle, bending down and using your arms and legs to move buckets of soapy water can help you build muscle strength in those areas while removing dirt and dirt from all angles.
Similarly, when cleaning the interior of a car, having to contort yourself into different positions, for example to get between seats or under seats, helps to build flexibility over time. Also, just moving from side to side of the car and scrubbing hard to reach places with a rag burns calories. On average, you can burn between 60 and 90 calories depending on how much effort you put into effectively cleaning your car.
