AEROBIC HOUSEWORK

Sometimes when I skip a day at the gym I say I did "aerobic housework" instead.  I know that you burn calories doing pretty much anything you do - so housework can certainly be done vigorously in a way that will up the burn.

This weekend we moved a sofa from Tom's office to make room for his new "litigation table."  So that meant we had to make room for it in the house.  We moved my comfy old reading chair and ottoman out of the master bedroom (and listed it on the Free Craigslist - it's still sitting in the driveway...)

Tom and Zac, did the moving in and out of the furniture and left it to me to do the arranging.  In the course of the morning I moved the queen sleigh bed, side tables, eight drawer dresser, armoire and sofa around into 3 different configurations.  Of course I did not empty the dresser and armoire and this is all on carpet. Thus, the aerobic and weight lifting component of the day.  (I also vacuumed  because there were feathers from my leaking former down pillow everywhere!)  Then I dusted everything and cleaned the glass shelves and mirrors and picture frames and glass. Finally I was done -  hot, sweaty and while drinking an iced tea I wondered about the reality of the workout aspect of my morning.

So I checked out the calorie burn based on the effort and time spent.  Looks like I did better than I would have if I had done my regular gym routine!  About 620 calories which includes lugging the vacuum up and down the stairs twice because I thought I was done and then rearranged it again and found more feathers...

WORKOUTS ON THE CLOCK

This morning I enjoyed the benefit of my daughter getting her driver's license. I got up and went directly to the gym at 6:45 instead of waiting to drive her to school first. It was so nice to park easily and the gym was pleasantly uncrowded.

Today I did interval training on the step machine. I read a funny post at Cranky Fitness about interval training suggesting it was like torture, so maybe I don't do it right!

What I do is warm up for 5 minutes, then increase my speed for 60+ seconds to as high/fast as I can, then recover for 1-3 minutes, then repeat. I do this for 30 minutes, then I cool down for 10 minutes.

The benefits of interval training include increased metabolism, increased fat burning and increased cardiovascular fitness. All this in a shorter period of time spent, due to the intensity of the workout. The intensity depends on the individual fitness level. What I could do 6 months ago was much different than what I can do now - and certainly much less that that of an elite athlete! There is a good guide for beginners on Spark People.