Calorie Burning Power Cleaning

In weight loss, burning more calories than consumed is the ultimate goal. Working out is a a very important part of improving fitness levels and overall better health, but as far as weight loss is concerned, burning calories is of utmost importance. So why not transform simple, everyday tasks into calorie burning activities?

The thought of cleaning used to make me groan and complain and involved all sorts of eye rolling (just ask my mom). Back in the day, I used to carry around a Discman (remember those? lol) and listen to my favorite music as it skipped through the songs. The age of the iPod makes this a lot simpler! Listening to music makes cleaning so much more fun, but why not take it to the next level? And this is what makes me look forward to cleaning.

Supplies needed:

iPod or other music source

Workout clothing

Cleaning supplies

Something in need of cleaning

Optional: Heart Rate Monitor

Don’t forget to close the shades.

THE MISSION: TO TAKE CLEANING TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL BY MOVING AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.

Swiffering or Mopping:

This is my favorite cleaning activity. It’s very easy to dance around while you’re mopping. Move as much as possible. You can do side steps and jump up and down. It’s ok to stop here and there and use your mop as a fake microphone (really, it’s ok). You can have so much fun with this. As you’re mopping, move those arms as fast as you can. You don’t have to be sloppy in your mopping, go over the same spot a few times, just very quickly. I actually got muscle cramps in my arms from doing this!

Dusting:

This one is a little harder to move around too much while you’re doing it because it takes detail while you move items around to dust. But you can do things like shake your butt and keep on dancing. Do lunges as you move from furniture to furniture. Stop and do a few jumping jacks here and there. Just keep moving!

Scrubbing (sinks, toilets, countertops):

Scrub as hard as you can. Put as much effort into it as possible. Not only will you be doing a great job at cleaning away that grime, you’ll be increasing your heart rate as you do it which means more calories burned. When cleaning in the kitchen, stop and run around the table a few times. Keep on dancing.

Vacuuming:

This is very similar to Swiffering/mopping. Switch up your arms as you’re vacuuming. You can move your legs a lot while you’re vacuuming, whether you’re dancing or running in place. You even have one free arm that you can raise up and down like you’re discoing. Any movement increases that heart rate!

To a New Level:

Do you have an upstairs or downstairs to clean? Bring your cleaning supplies up/down one by one. That means you have to run up and down the stairs multiple times before you’re even ready to start cleaning. And once you have all of your supplies upstairs/downstairs, run up and down the stairs a few more times just for the fun of it. This really gets your heart rate up and works those leg muscles!

These are just a few ideas to turn your cleaning chore into a cleaning opportunity. I promise, you will look forward to it and you’ll burn calories while doing it!

Do you have any cleaning “moves” to help  burn those calories?