Expert reveals how to burn 500 calories cleaning your house, with minimal effort

Squeezing in a workout as well as getting through all the household chores can be a challenging task.

But if you are savvy about how you clean your house, you might be able to do both in one, experts have said.

Scientists refer to activity like this as unintentional exercise or NEAT, which stands for non-exercise activity thermogenesis.

The most popular form is getting 10,000 steps in a day, but all other forms can help you burn adequate calories to stay healthy, alongside a balanced diet.

While tidying your home, there are two ways to make the activities into a workout.

Vacuuming can burn around 80 calories in just half an hour. To intensify the activity, experts suggest switching hands throughout 

You can either add in gym movements such as lunges and squats, or simply be more deliberate about the way you tackle chores and put  more physical effort into them. 

Dr Duston Morris, a professor of health promotion and health behavior at Maryland University of Integrative Health, says consistency is key: ‘If you’re using house cleaning as a way to increase movement and physical activity, do 20 to 30 minutes each day.’

Dr Morris also recommended changing the tasks to promote muscular balance.  ‘Focus on laundry and dusting one day, bathrooms the next, and vacuuming and sweeping on other days,’ he told The Washington Post.

Experts advise you begin a full house clean with dusting. Done for half an hour, this can burn 80 calories for an average 175-pound person.

Scrubbing floors and carpets on your hands and knees will burn far more energy than doing it with a mop, and you’ll do a more thorough job

 Stephanie Thomas, a certified personal trainer based in Annapolis, told the Post that dusting engages the shoulders and arms, particularly with high-up, hard-to-reach spots.

If you want to add in an extra challenge, Ms Thomas suggests adding in lunges or squats as you move around the room. Studies show that you burn roughly eight calories for every minute of squatting – so even 10 minutes can expend up to 80 cals. 

You could also add in standing side leg lifts while dusting high shelves to make it a full-body workout.

Dr Morris also stressed that people should switch arms room by room to ensure you aren’t just working out your dominant side.

Moving into the bathroom, scrubbing floors, showers, bathtub, mirror and toilet can all get you working up a sweat. 

Mopping bathroom tiles for half an hour will burn a solid 100 calories and engage muscles in the hands, arms and shoulders.

Squats and standing calf raises can also be added, and squat holds will give you an extra burn.

In the kitchen, tackling the dishes is a surprisingly effective way to exercise. Hand-washing dishes will burn around 160 calories per half hour, while those with a dishwasher can still expend roughly 105 by loading and unloading for the same amount of time.

Like mopping and scrubbing, moving heavy dishes will work out the upper body. You can also try incline pushups done against the countertop.

By leaning against an elevated surface, they are slightly easier to do than traditional push-ups.

Doing the laundry is another opportunity to get your heart racing. You can also incorporate pushups when folding clothes – against the bed or a couch to get an incline. Ms Thomas suggests five pushups between every five folded pieces of clothing.

Laundry can burn up to 50 calories per half hour, with actions like squatting down when loading and unloading the washer and dryer, transporting loads around the house and putting away clothes.

Cleaning floors are another mini-workout in itself. Vacuuming engages core muscles and can burn 80 calories in half an hour. Arms and shoulders will also be engaged, too. 

Switching up the hand position on the vacuum or on a mop or broom will mean you target different muscle groups.

Moving larger items such as sofas, beds and coffee tables will not only engage the biceps, triceps, chest and back, but it will also make sure you don’t miss any bits of dust lurking beneath.