Does “cleaning” count as “playing sports”?

Cleaning instead of sport?

Many people do not want to take up sport due to lack of time. The latter often have the excuse that they already do the housework every three days and that this compensates for the lack of sporting activity. We would be tempted to believe them, but unfortunately this is not what an  Irish study  on the question concluded. Indeed, this study found that people who report “doing sports through housework” tend to be heavier than those who do sports in a more traditional way. The study goes even further: the more people say they spend time on household chores, the more fat they tend to have.

Confusing results

At first glance, one might wonder about the seriousness of this study as the results seem strange, counter-intuitive, even illogical. And yet, there could well be a rational explanation at the psychological level… Indeed, it seems likely that people declaring that they “do sports through the household” largely overestimate the intensity and effectiveness of their activity.. Indeed, it is much more complicated to measure the number of calories burned by doing the dishes for 30 minutes than by going for a run for 30 minutes. Thus, this overestimation could well have perverse effects since it could push people who think they have done sports to eat more. After the effort, there is always comfort. But when the effort is overstated, the reassurance can absolutely ruin everything.

Sport VS household

It is true that not all of us have time to go to the gym or take a group class. Thus, it may seem wise to seek physical activity where you can. Why not, provided you don’t delude yourself about the effort made. For comparison, 30 minutes of vacuuming or sweeping burns about 130 calories , while 30 minutes of brisk bicycling burns 400 calories. It is best to include a wide range of physical activities in your exercise program. Cleaning is often not enough, it is better to combine it with traditional sports activities such as  jogging  or  jumping rope …

We always have time for fitness at home

Very often, the excuse of lack of time is a pretext, because doing a few  squats  a week in your room does not take much time, for example. Home sports are not time-consuming at all. In addition to not having to leave home, it is very easy to embark on a micro sports session when you get up in the morning or while cooking the meal. Many body weight accessories (pull-up bars, push-up handles, etc.) or resistance bands make it possible to carry out a complete and effective session with little means . Doing sports at home is within everyone’s reach and a good training session at home is much more effective than cleaning.

If you really want to turn housework into consistent physical activity as part of weight loss, the only solution is to do housework while wearing sweat clothes. These will optimize the effort provided (see our  article on sweat clothes ) and help burn more calories while increasing sweating and facilitating fat loss.