Encouraging Health

Next time you feel a little overwhelmed, grab your Swiffer and give the kitchen floor a quick sweep.

Truth is, you shouldn’t dread housework. It actually — studies bafflingly show — has the power to cheer you up!

Dusting with a Smile
Chores and other forms of medium- to high-intensity activity may lift our emotions in a big way. And it doesn’t take much of a time commitment to do the trick. A recent study found that just 20 minutes once a week of any kind of activity — not just traditional things like walking, but also doing laundry, gardening, or washing windows — can keep people from feeling anxious, depressed, or overwhelmed.

Give Us Our Daily Exercise
For extra feel-good measure, try 20 minutes daily, not just weekly. That amount of physical activity improves well-being even more — in both men and women.

Step 1: Add intensity
The key to turning any household task into exercise is to pick up the pace or intensity and sustain it for as long as comfortably possible without resting.

For example, if you have three floors to mop, throw on some headphones with upbeat music, put some major muscle behind your scrubbing, and time yourself to see if you can get a sparkling result under a certain time limit. This will help you keep the activity intense enough that it counts as exercise.

Step 2: Get creative
Some activities already require a high level of energy, such as weeding the garden or raking the lawn. Turning up the burn on some other, less intense activities, such as washing dishes or dusting, may require you to be a little more creative.

Dirty dish dips
Has a mountain of dirty dishes come between you and your workout? Do both at the same time. Every 5 minutes, stop to use the kitchen counter for an upper body workout.
Areas worked: chest, arms.
Starting position: Facing counter; hands on edge of counter, arms straight; feet slightly farther than arm-length away from counter so that your body is at a slight angle.
Action: Without bending at your waist, slowly bend your elbows and lower your chest toward the counter. Dip your chest toward the counter as far as is comfortably possible for you before returning to your starting position. Repeat 5 to 10 times.
Tip: Make sure both the counter and your hands are very dry and your feet can’t slip.

Backyard twists
Raking the yard is already a great workout. Do it for half an hour and you’ll burn about 171 calories, which is close to what you’d expend by running a mile. Boost the calorie burning even higher with this raking twist.
Areas worked: arms, shoulders, stomach, back, sides.
Starting position: Rake gripped in both hands, right hand lowest on the rake handle; arms extended to make a long rake stroke.
Action: Reach the rake out as far as you can and pull debris back toward your left foot by taking long, steady strokes while twisting your hips and upper body to the left. Do half your raking with this motion, then move your left hand below your right on the rake handle and do the rest with a left-to-right twisting motion.
Tip: Start by raking for only a few minutes with this motion and add time as you get stronger. This motion works well when sweeping floors, too. Consult your healthcare provider first if you have back problems.

Squeaky clean squats
Many household chores require buckets of water. Whether you’re mopping the floor, washing the car, or scrubbing windows, you can get a lower body workout with a couple of buckets half-filled with water.
Areas worked: arms, thighs, buttocks.
Starting position: Standing with one bucket handle gripped in each hand; feet shoulder-width apart; back, arms, and legs straight.
Action: Keep your arms straight down at your sides while you slowly squat by bending at the knee and hip joints. Lower yourself until your thighs are roughly parallel to the ground, then return to starting position. Repeat 10 times.
Tips: To avoid injury, keep your knees centered over your toes when squatting, do not allow your thighs to dip beyond parallel to the ground, and keep your back straight.

For more health tips, browse Encouraging Health.