Clean Exercise

Those of us who battle our way through each day, juggling work and family, home and gym, among a range of other hats, know how quickly our own needs are discarded by the wayside.

Sure, a couple of hours at the gym would be wonderful, but there’s ironing to do, a bathroom that hasn’t been touched in a week, a dishwasher that is unlikely to unload itself and a home that would fall apart without you. Frustrating, isn’t it?
Here’s a little something to think on: why not combine your exercise with your house cleaning? Sounds crazy, right, but it’s actually quite a good idea. Cleaning requires a range of stretching and repetitive movements that could be easily worked into a routine – and tell me that cleaning your home isn’t a lot more fun with some good, pumping music on to motivate you.

Make yourself a soundtrack that inspires you to move. Put it on loud and dance your merry way around the dusting, the scrubbing and the vacuuming. Get your heart pumping and your lungs working as you sing along.

For a more focussed workout, why not assume the position behind your ironing board. Set the ironing board too low and sink into a squat. Maintain the squat as you iron one item, then relax, then do it again. Squats work your bum and your thighs.

Something else you could try while standing at the ironing board, or cooking the dinner, or dusting the dresser are sideways leg lifts. Find your balance on one leg and raise the other slightly to either the back or the side (depending on whether you want to work your hip or bum muscles). Raise the leg and lower, moving it only a few centimetres, about 20 times, then swap legs and do the same on the other side.

Ages ago I read ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ and something struck a chord with me. The geisha, who was to inherit the geisha house, took on the most honourable of all jobs: cleaning the toilet every morning. It was the most honourable because it gave her the chance to do something for all of the other geishas who worked for her. Or something along those lines, anyway! I decided, way back then, to clean my toilet every day. And what do you know, it’s now one of the most relaxing tasks I do. I do it as soon as I wake in the morning. It’s almost like a yoga routine. I get on the floor and clean the cistern, the bowl and the floor. I stretch and gently reach to clean. I love yoga, but cleaning the toilet has endured as my morning stretch above all else for years now.

Of course everyone has a different cleaning pattern, everyone takes a different amount of time doing it, so have a look at the cleaning jobs you do and see work out how they can help you work out. Think of stretching and weight lifting, cardio and aerobic. Don’t overdo it, be sensible and don’t launch yourself at your exercising – or cleaning – if it’s not something you do often.