Get Your House (and Yourself) Fit for the New Year
Has some post-Christmas pudge crept up while you were celebrating? Fight the fat with some chores to get you and your home back in shape
Christmas parties, long lunches, rich food and a break from normal exercise routines are all it takes to pile on a few unwanted kilos over the holidays. If this sounds familiar, it could be a good idea to begin the New Year with a vigorous domestic blitz and watch the extra weight start to disappear. Although regular aerobic activity is essential for a balanced exercise plan, there are plenty of household jobs to get you back on track. These ideas will help you start the year with a squeaky clean house, and a bit less around your middle too.
In the kitchen
There are so many wonderful kitchen appliances to make cooking effortless that it’s easy to lose touch with our food. Hands-on cooking is a great way to reconnect with it, and a couple of hours in the kitchen will get your juices flowing, muscles working and feed the family at the same time.
Making bread and other yeast doughs that require at least 10 minutes of kneading is one way of getting back to basics, seeing the magic of yeast at work, and bringing arm and shoulder muscles along for the ride.
Reasons to bring back ‘Baking Day’
There are so many wonderful kitchen appliances to make cooking effortless that it’s easy to lose touch with our food. Hands-on cooking is a great way to reconnect with it, and a couple of hours in the kitchen will get your juices flowing, muscles working and feed the family at the same time.
Making bread and other yeast doughs that require at least 10 minutes of kneading is one way of getting back to basics, seeing the magic of yeast at work, and bringing arm and shoulder muscles along for the ride.
Reasons to bring back ‘Baking Day’
Fun, fragrant and as easy as pie – grab a mortar and pestle and tailor-make your own spice mixes for sprinkling on roasts and vegetables, and to use as dry rubs. A session of grinding and pounding whole cloves, peppercorns, cardamom and other hard pods and seeds should produce a little glow, and jars full of flavour and fragrance for your cooking pleasure.
Another surprisingly strenuous kitchen job to try, just for the pleasant tiredness in your arms and shoulders, is whipping cream with a big balloon whisk. The process produces lovely silky volume, and it’s easier to control the exact texture than with a powerful electric beater. Just make sure it’s light cream!
Another surprisingly strenuous kitchen job to try, just for the pleasant tiredness in your arms and shoulders, is whipping cream with a big balloon whisk. The process produces lovely silky volume, and it’s easier to control the exact texture than with a powerful electric beater. Just make sure it’s light cream!
Are your pots and pans looking a bit grungy? Cookware this pretty deserves to sparkle. Treat it to a New Year dermabrasion with scouring pads, hot soapy water and a good dose of elbow grease. Include baking trays and roasting pans too.
How to clean your microwave properly
How to clean your microwave properly
In living spaces
Lounge and dining rooms that have been the social hub over Christmas probably look a bit haggard. Kick off a general cleaning workout with polishing, dusting, plumping cushions, cleaning glass tabletops and vacuuming carpets.
KILOJOULE COUNT: An hour of miscellaneous housework that leaves you feeling slightly damp around the edges gives a 700 kilojoule burn-up, and a clean and tidy place to relax afterwards.
BONUS TIP: Wielding the vacuum cleaner vigorously is wonderful exercise, but remember to swap arms every so often.
Lounge and dining rooms that have been the social hub over Christmas probably look a bit haggard. Kick off a general cleaning workout with polishing, dusting, plumping cushions, cleaning glass tabletops and vacuuming carpets.
KILOJOULE COUNT: An hour of miscellaneous housework that leaves you feeling slightly damp around the edges gives a 700 kilojoule burn-up, and a clean and tidy place to relax afterwards.
BONUS TIP: Wielding the vacuum cleaner vigorously is wonderful exercise, but remember to swap arms every so often.
While you’re on a high, why not tackle some places you haven’t visited in a while, like top shelves and bookcases. Undisturbed books and ornaments are dust magnets, so clear and clean a shelf at a time with some energetic stretching and bending in between. Do some squats while you reacquaint yourself with the skirting boards.
KILOJOULE COUNT: If you feel like changing things around, just 15 minutes of rearranging furniture burns an extra 350 kilojoules.
KILOJOULE COUNT: If you feel like changing things around, just 15 minutes of rearranging furniture burns an extra 350 kilojoules.
So you adore your polished timber floors? Beautiful to look at when they’re sleek and clean, but they tend to show up debris from meals, pets and general traffic quite easily. Chase down the dust bunnies that have probably snuck in with a dust-attracting microfibre mop, and restore the glow with an energetic damp buff-up.
TIP: Timber floors should be mopped with a just-damp sponge, so moisture doesn’t stay visible for more than a minute.
TIP: Timber floors should be mopped with a just-damp sponge, so moisture doesn’t stay visible for more than a minute.
On the stairs
If you have stairs, you have a perfect workout area for calves and thighs. As you fetch and carry, see how much energy you can expend every time you use them – walk on tiptoe, take two steps at a time, jog, go up two and down one. Another workout trick is to keep a set of small weights to carry up and down with you.
KILOJOULE COUNT: Beef it up by adding a few extra trips just for the exercise – you burn 530 kilojoules per 30 minutes of mindful stair climbing.
If you have stairs, you have a perfect workout area for calves and thighs. As you fetch and carry, see how much energy you can expend every time you use them – walk on tiptoe, take two steps at a time, jog, go up two and down one. Another workout trick is to keep a set of small weights to carry up and down with you.
KILOJOULE COUNT: Beef it up by adding a few extra trips just for the exercise – you burn 530 kilojoules per 30 minutes of mindful stair climbing.
In the bathroom
The bathroom may be one of the smallest rooms in the house, but it’s a needy child when it comes to keeping it sweet and spotless. Clear the floor and start from the top, as professional cleaners do, with the ceiling, light fittings, mirrors and walls, then move onto basins, loos, baths and shower recesses. Finish with the floor, fresh towels and an invigorating spritz of summery room spray.
KILOJOULE COUNT: Scrub the tub for 15 minutes to use up 380 kilojoules. Spending 30 minutes on the floor and tiles burns a lovely 1255 kilojoules, plus it gives you a great upper arm workout.
The bathroom may be one of the smallest rooms in the house, but it’s a needy child when it comes to keeping it sweet and spotless. Clear the floor and start from the top, as professional cleaners do, with the ceiling, light fittings, mirrors and walls, then move onto basins, loos, baths and shower recesses. Finish with the floor, fresh towels and an invigorating spritz of summery room spray.
KILOJOULE COUNT: Scrub the tub for 15 minutes to use up 380 kilojoules. Spending 30 minutes on the floor and tiles burns a lovely 1255 kilojoules, plus it gives you a great upper arm workout.
In the laundry
Hand-washing tends to mount up when we have more fun things to do. Tackle that pile with energy and add a few items you normally toss in the machine. Our grandmothers had washboards and hand wringers – and probably fabulous tricep definition!
KILOJOULE COUNT: Burn 260 kilojoules in 30 minutes, plus extra for stretching and bending to hang clothes on the line.
Fresh ideas for your clothes line
Hand-washing tends to mount up when we have more fun things to do. Tackle that pile with energy and add a few items you normally toss in the machine. Our grandmothers had washboards and hand wringers – and probably fabulous tricep definition!
KILOJOULE COUNT: Burn 260 kilojoules in 30 minutes, plus extra for stretching and bending to hang clothes on the line.
Fresh ideas for your clothes line
Use some therapeutic ironing for a gentle break from more strenuous tasks. Set up the board where you can listen to music, sing, watch a TV show or movie, or just think. Do deep knee bends to take clothes from the basket, and stretch high to hang them up.
KILOJOULE COUNT: A pleasant hour uses approximately 530 kilojoules, plus extra for folding and putting away.
KILOJOULE COUNT: A pleasant hour uses approximately 530 kilojoules, plus extra for folding and putting away.
In the garage
It’s so easy to let the big scary swishy drive-in carwash do the work, but it won’t shift a single helping of Christmas pudding form your backside. Get out the buckets and sponges and buff your car while you stretch and bend.
KILOJOULE COUNT: A vigorous hand car wash can use up to 600 kilojoules per hour.
It’s so easy to let the big scary swishy drive-in carwash do the work, but it won’t shift a single helping of Christmas pudding form your backside. Get out the buckets and sponges and buff your car while you stretch and bend.
KILOJOULE COUNT: A vigorous hand car wash can use up to 600 kilojoules per hour.
In the garden
For many of us, gardening is such a pleasure that the exercise it gives is just a bonus. An hour or so in the great outdoors can range from low-energy weeding and trimming, to raking leaves and paths and mowing the lawn, both of which will really get you feeling the burn.
KILOJOULE COUNT: An hour of moderate-level gardening can burn up to 1200 kilojoules an hour.
For many of us, gardening is such a pleasure that the exercise it gives is just a bonus. An hour or so in the great outdoors can range from low-energy weeding and trimming, to raking leaves and paths and mowing the lawn, both of which will really get you feeling the burn.
KILOJOULE COUNT: An hour of moderate-level gardening can burn up to 1200 kilojoules an hour.
In the doghouse
Has your best friend been neglected during the festivities? Washing the dog is a very useful activity – for you, at least. Use those thigh muscles to get down low and wash behind their ears, under their tails and all four paws while they tolerate the ordeal.
TELL US
Does knowing that housework helps with your fitness make it any more enjoyable for you? Share your thoughts in the Comments section.
MORE
Think of Your Home as a Personal Trainer
10 Reasons to Love Parquet Flooring
Work It Out: Plan a Home Gym No Matter the Space
Has your best friend been neglected during the festivities? Washing the dog is a very useful activity – for you, at least. Use those thigh muscles to get down low and wash behind their ears, under their tails and all four paws while they tolerate the ordeal.
TELL US
Does knowing that housework helps with your fitness make it any more enjoyable for you? Share your thoughts in the Comments section.
MORE
Think of Your Home as a Personal Trainer
10 Reasons to Love Parquet Flooring
Work It Out: Plan a Home Gym No Matter the Space
NOTE: Most figures are taken from Lean Cuisine’s kilojoule/activity tables, and are based on average activity levels