If you do not have time to go to the gym, or do not like exercising outdoors, you can still burn calories by performing household chores. Doing housework every day or several times per week can help to burn calories while also improving your living environment.
Benefits
The more effort you put into your housework, the more benefits you will see, dietitian Juliette Kellow explains on the Weight Loss Resources website. Scrubbing a surface vigorously will burn more calories than simply passing a cloth over it. For additional calorie burn, take up more energetic chores such as decorating or spring cleaning. Outside tasks, including mowing the lawn and sweeping, will help burn calories and also tone muscles.
Indoors
The exact amount of calories burned when doing household tasks will depend on your weight. The more you weigh, the more calories you will burn. A woman weighing 170 pounds will burn around 190 calories during an hour of vacuuming, Kellow calculates. Dusting for an hour would burn around 170 calories, and each hour spent ironing burns approximately 110 calories. Simply walking up and down stairs burns calories, and if a 170-lb. person were to do it continuously for an hour, she would burn about 510 calories, according to the Health Status website.
Outdoors
An hour spent washing the car washing will see a 170-lb. person expend around 230 calories. An hour spent gardening will use a further 280 calories. Shoveling snow for an hour would burn 470 calories, Health Status calculates.
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