Exercise in your home.
Exercise doesn’t have to mean buying expensive gym memberships or exercise equipment.
All you have to think of is what you can do to start burning more calories than you are today.
Here are some daily calorie burning activities you can do along with the value of calories burned associated with it.
Note – before embarking on any exercise program it is highly recommended that you first consult your physician to assess your current physical state.
Note – these are the average figures for a 185-pound individual, results will vary according to weight. If you are a little heavier you will burn more calories than the figures presented below. These figures are based upon 60 minutes of activity.
- Ironing – 189 calories
- Washing dishes – 189 calories
- Cooking – 222 calories
- Carpentry – 300 calories
- Lawn raking – 333 calories
- Mopping – 377 calories
- Housework– 390 calories
- Gardening – 455 calories
- Wood Chopping – 511 calories
- Furniture rearranging – 555
Exercise, as you can see, comes in many forms. Not only are there practical and useful applications but you also get the added benefit of it improving your health.
However if you are serious about losing weight you have to step up your efforts a little more, these everyday household activities are great for getting exercise but as you know in order to lose even a pound of fat you need to lose 3,500 calories. It would take a lot of furniture moving and gardening for you to get to that point.
To get to the stage where you will lose weight on a consistent basis you need to add extra exercise to your routine.
Let’s start small because these are activities that can boost your level of fat burning that little bit extra.
These activities aren’t too strenuous but can help the weight come off faster.
Light Exercise
This is achievable for most people no matter what your fitness level and will kick your weight loss up a notch.
Note – these are the average figures for a 185-pound individual, results will vary according to weight. If you are a little heavier you will burn more calories than the figures presented below. These figures are based upon 60 minutes of activity.
- An hour’s worth of Yoga stretching – 350 calories
- A relaxing bike ride for one hour – 350 calories
- Running around with your children – 350 calories
- Lawn mowing – 366 calories
- Basketball (shooting hoops) – 377 calories
- Pilates – 433 calories
- Walking (4 miles per hour) – 433 calories
- Game of golf – 480 calories
- Snow shovelling – 511 calories
- Walking up stairs – 577 calories
- Stationary bike – 588 calories
- Walking on a treadmill or jogging – 588 calories
- Low intensity jump rope – 700 calories
Light exercise is fantastic because it can be easily incorporated into our daily lives and will be the exercise most people, especially when starting off on a weight loss program, will be able to do.
Once the weight starts to come off and you gain a little more confidence you no doubt will be able to introduce more rigorous exercise into your regime. When you feel your fitness level increasing you might want to try some moderate exercise.
Moderate Exercise
Here are some examples of moderate exercise. Again these figures are representative of a 185-pound person. If you weigh more than this your calorie expenditure will be much higher. These figures are based upon 60 minutes of activity.
- Low impact Aerobics – 431 calories
- Hiking – 499 calories
- Swimming (moderate) – 511 calories
- Hiking (medium terrain) – 520 calories
- Jogging – 588 calories
- Step Aerobics – 588 calories
- Basketball officiating – 588 calories
- Jogging – 600 calories
- Rollerblading – 600 calories
- Repelling – 677 calories
- Game of Ice hockey – 700 calories
- Press-ups/sit-ups – 700 calories
- Mountain Biking – 710 calories
- Running (5 miles per hour) – 710 calories
- Ski Machine – 810 calories
- Rowing machine (minimal effort) – 820 calories
- Jump rope (moderate effort) – 860 calories
If you want to take your weight loss to newfound levels you can introduce more intense exercise to your routine known as heavy exercise. Not only will it build more fat stripping lean muscle tissue but it will make your body both inside and out stronger than ever.
Proceed with caution – these are advanced exercises and you should consult your doctor before even attempting them. Do not jump into these activities without first having built up your strength with the low and medium impact exercises above first. Not only can this damage your health but it will hurt your chances of weight loss as a result of any sustained injury.
Heavy Exercise
These exercises are the same as above but with the difference of increased intensity level.
Remember that if you have been sedentary for quite some time, you need to build up to these activities by trying the lower intensity alternatives first.
Again these figures are representative of a 185-pound person. If you weigh more than this your calorie expenditure will be much higher.
These figures are based upon 60 minutes of activity.
- Step Aerobics (high impact) – 888 calories
- Rock Climbing – 921 calories
- Basketball Full Court – 921 calories
- Bikram Yoga – 950 calories
- Elliptical Trainer – 955 calories
- Swimming (butterfly stroke) – 1,000 calories
- Handball – 1,010 calories
- A game of Squash – 1,040 calories
- Canoeing (above 6 mph) – 1,040 calories
- Jumping rope (high impact) – 1,040 calories
- Cross-country skiing (high impact) around 1,400 calories.
- Running (12 miles per hour) – 1,876 calories