How To Turn Everyday Tasks Into Exercise

Think exercise is a chore? Turns out you’re onto something!

Between work, family, and tasks around the house, there’s limited time for much else, including exercise. A recent Canadian Men’s Health Foundation study showed that time constraints prevent men from exercising more.

Meeting movement guidelines doesn’t always require going to the gym or playing sports. Just getting off the couch and being physically active around the house improves mood, reduces disease risk, and helps you sleep better.

How much physical activity do guys need?

According to the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines, men under 65 years of age need:

• At least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic physical activity each week
• Muscle-strengthening activities at least twice a week
• Several hours of light physical activity, including standing (if you’re able) every day

If that sounds intimidating, don’t worry. By spreading your active time across the week, it becomes much easier to build up to meeting the guidelines. Across seven days, you’re looking at roughly 22 minutes of physical activity per day, or smaller still, two bouts of 10 minutes per day. 

Sitting is the new smoking

Another important part of the guidelines involves limiting sedentary time, which is sitting or lying down, to eight hours or less each day. 

This means breaking up long periods of sitting as often as possible and limiting recreational screen time to no more than three hours. (If you’re over that amount, you might be one of the 83 percent of Canadians with a sedentary lifestyle.) 

Sitting for too long has enough negative health effects that it has been called “the new smoking.” 

Reduce sedentary behaviour

If you’re among the millions of Canadians who work at a desk and have to sit all day, here’s some good news: Any activity helps to offset the adverse effects of sitting. Add more movement to your workday by:

• Walking while talking on the phone
• Taking standing breaks every 30-60 minutes. Standing for just two to three minutes is beneficial, and it’s even better to stretch while standing
• Inviting your coworkers to go for walking or standing meetings
• Using a standing desk

At home, you can:

• Listen to a podcast or watch a favourite show while using a stationary bike/treadmill
• Turn off the autoplay feature on your streaming service to introduce a binge break

How to turn chores into exercise

There’s more to household chores than simply getting them out of the way (although that does feel good). Here are ways to amp up everyday tasks and turn them into a workout.

Mowing the lawn

Pushing a mower at a speed that makes you sweat provides moderate to high-intensity cardio exercise that works your back, glutes, hips, and core. Remember sunscreen and water on hot summer days. 

If you want to make it more intense, consider a manual push-reel mower. 

Washing the car

Skip the drive-through and wash your car at home. You’ll work your biceps, triceps, and shoulders. Alternate your scrubbing hand to ensure both arms get a workout. Also, change the direction of your circles periodically to work different muscles. 

When you reach down for the bucket, keep your back straight, bend at the knees and do a deep squat to strengthen your quads, hamstrings, and glutes.

To get in more vigorous exercise, do extra calf raises when you wash the upper half of your car, add extra squats while washing the lower half, and use the bucket of water for a few rounds of bicep curls.

Gardening 

Depending on the task, gardening can range from low-intensity physical exercises to vigorous intensity. It works the legs, glutes, shoulders, stomach, arms, neck, and back.

Light shovelling, bagging leaves or grass, raking, pulling weeds, and trimming trees and shrubs are moderate-intensity activities. For vigorous-intensity exercises, try heavy or rapid shovelling or carrying heavy loads. 

Change gardening stances to use different muscles. If you’re raking, put your left foot forward and use your left hand on the lower handle. Then, switch the right foot forward and your hand positions. If you’re weeding, switch the weed-pulling hand from time to time. 

If you want to make it more intense and increase your heart rate, take a cardio break every 30 minutes to run on the spot or do jumping jacks. 

Pull weeds from an alternating lunge position to work your glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves.

Vacuuming or mopping

Put on some good tunes and get to work! Move large items for a full clean combined with moderate-intensity exercise. Take those area rugs outside and give them a good shake.

Remember to squat correctly (bend knees, chest forward, back straight) when lifting anything heavy. 

Do a front lunge every time you step forward for more vigorous exercise. Bring your front knee directly over your ankle at a 90-degree angle. Then, push off your front leg and use your core to return to the start position. Keep your chest facing forward and your back straight to maintain good posture.

Cleaning your windows

Make a day of it and clean them inside and out. Exaggerated circular arm movements will build chest, shoulder, and arm muscles. Alternate arms and switch from clockwise to counterclockwise as you go. Reach as high as possible to work your ab and waist muscles (obliques). 

For a more vigorous workout, increase the speed and add calf raises when reaching the high spots.

Lacking time, energy or motivation?

“The most common barriers preventing people from getting active are lack of time, energy, motivation and confidence,” says Dr. Leigh Vanderloo, the Scientific Director at ParticipACTION. “It’s important to remember that roadblocks are going to pop up along the way—life happens, after all—but being ready for these challenges gives you a head start. Get creative and avoid all-or-nothing thinking. Some activity is better than nothing, and more is always better.”

As well as turning chores into workouts, Dr. Vanderloo offers these strategies to overcome barriers to exercise:

• Schedule time to get active in your calendar and treat it as a “must-do” item, just like you would with a medical appointment. If your scheduled outdoor activity is cancelled due to bad weather, have a backup plan and take your workout indoors.
• If your evenings are busy bringing kids to their activities, use the time you wait for them to walk, jog, or wheel around the field, arena, or community centre.
• Meet a friend for a walk or run. Not only is it motivating to have a buddy to exercise with, but it also keeps you accountable.
• Reward your progress. If you’ve met your goals, for example, book a massage at the end of the week.
• Build your confidence. Start working out at home or in the neighbourhood, then progress to the gym.

Six big-time benefits of getting more active

Dodge disease and accidents

Physical activity contributes to a healthy immune system and reduces inflammation. This can help with everything from healing wounds to fighting colds to reducing the risk and severity of heart disease, some forms of cancer, arthritis, symptoms of depression and anxiety, prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, dementia and overall cognitive decline, and muscle and bone injuries.

Improving your balance, core strength, and stability can be game-changers when preventing trips and falls, which are the leading cause of injury-related hospitalizations among older adults in Canada.

Reduce stress

As well as getting away from daily stress and enjoying some you-time, engaging in heart-pumping activity calms your mind and body by inhibiting the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol. 

At the same time, “people who take part in regular movement are better at handling stress and are able to stay calmer and maintain a stable mood,” says Dr. Eli Puterman, an Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia’s School of Kinesiology. “Starting small can be the best way to ease yourself into a movement routine. A brisk 20-minute walk is very beneficial for mental and cognitive health. And if you cannot find 20 minutes, try 10 to start. See what that feels like, and if it feels good, plan to increase it by a few minutes every week. “

Boost energy

Getting your body moving increases energy-boosting neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine. Researchers have found that healthy adults who engaged in as little as 20 minutes of low-to-moderate physical activity per day, three days a week for six weeks, reported feeling less tired and more awake.

When you increase your heart rate by moving, oxygen travels to your heart and lungs, improving your cardiovascular system, endurance, and stamina. When you make morning workouts a regular part of your routine, you’ll notice improvements like a consistent boost in your energy, powering you through the day.

Sharpen your mind

Problem-solving, memory, and concentration all improve following physical activity, in part due to the release of a chemical called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).

There’s also evidence that parts of the brain grow as people get fitter, which delivers longer-term brain benefits. Regularly active people are more productive at work, think more creatively, and are less likely to make mistakes than those who aren’t active.

Sleep better

Sleep is essential for many reasons, including your mental health. According to Dr. Vanderloo, “When you feel tired, stressful situations might feel more intense, or problems might seem more magnified. When you lack sleep, your ability to regulate your emotions is compromised. Quality sleep helps regulate your moods better.” 

Physical activity gets your body ready for a good snooze. It can also help you sleep for longer, improve sleep quality, and decrease the time it takes to fall asleep. However, you should avoid strenuous activity close to bedtime.

What is your favourite way to add more movement to your day that isn’t considered traditional exercise? Share in the comments below!