We have been looking at ways to mimic God’s design by making exercise part of daily life rather than having to fabricate it in the gym (due to modern conveniences).  So far we have posted several options including 37 fun sports, 100 jobs or careers, and 50 business opportunities that keep the body moving or standing. Today we will share some everyday activities that can provide the exercise needed to stay healthy. If you are paying for a house-keeper and a gym membership, maybe you can save on both and put the extra money into some do-it-yourself projects that can improve your home in the process. Here are some ways to get exercise naturally through daily activities in and around the home:

1. Plant a garden. Gardening in general burns 327 calories an hour for the average person. Plus it gets your joints moving and helps keep your muscles toned.
2. Mow the lawn. You can burn 410 calories an hour if you push a hand mower but only 123 if you have a riding mower. While pushing may take a bit more time, it will give you some good strength training in the process.
3. Wash the windows. You could burn 164 an hour washing your windows — and you’ll be able to see better too.
4. Vacuum the house. Get out the vacuum and go through the whole house. You could burn 205 calories an hour.
5. Mop all the floors. Don’t stop with the vacuum, get out the mop next and burn another 205 an hour.
6. Go grocery shopping. You have to do it anyway, you might as well consider it as exercise — 165 calories an hour.
7. Sweep outside and burn 246 calories an hour.
8. Rake your leaves and burn 272 calories an hour.
9. Trim your trees and bushes and help strengthen your arms and burn 231 calories an hour.
10. Do the laundry and burn 82-107 calories an hour depending what part of the task you are involved with.
11. Build a tree house. Get out your hammer and nails and build a playhouse for your children or grandchildren. You could burn 340 an hour.
12. Walk the dogs. This is a great way to get out and enjoy the sunshine. Your dogs will thank you  and so will your body at 225 calories an hour.
13. Paint. Paint that drab room on the inside and burn 136 an hour. Paint the outside of the house for 272 an hour. Or give the fence a fresh coat for 238 calories an hour.
14. Build something and burn 136- 340 an hour and have something fun to show for it.
15. Do spring cleaning vigorously — the faster you go, the more calories your burn, even 245 calories an hour.
16. Chop wood. Burn 506 calories an hour chopping wood and work on toning those arms.
17. Rearrange your furniture. Tired of the same ole? Move that furniture around and burn 410 calories an hour.
18. Clean your closet. You could burn 245 calories an hour.
19. Wash your car. Do a good job and you could burn 372 calories an hour.
20. Clean the refrigerator. You know it needs to be done. Get moving and burn 245 calories an hour.
21. Wash the baseboards. You do wash your baseboards, right? When you do, you burn 245 calories an hour.
22. Dust. Here is a job that could be done every day. It might not take you a whole hour, but if it did, you could burn 192 calories.
23. Have a garage sale. There are tons of ways your body has to move to prepare for a garage sale. You could burn 205 calories an hour or more. Plus you’ll earn a little income in the process.
24. Pass out flyers for your church, business, or organization. You’ll be walking around and burning up to 189 calories an hour.
25. Pull weeds. Yes, it is work, but it does the body good. You could burn 327 calories an hour.
26. Trim the ivy (or other growth) for 327 calories an hour.
27. Pick up trash in your neighborhood or around your yard. You’ll be walking, bending, and getting sunshine — and you’ll be burning about 250 calories an hour.
28. Clean out your kitchen drawers. Having trouble closing that kitchen junk drawer? Perhaps it is time to clean it out. Burn 150 calories and hour.
29. Wash your dishes. Don’t let your dishwasher do all the work; stand there and do it your self — and burn 107 calories an hour.
30. Clean and organize the garage. You should do this at least once a year and it could be a week’s worth of exercise at 245 calories an hour.
31. Build a fence. Been dreaming about a white picket fence. Here’s your excuse — 250 calories an hour.
32. Organize the pantry. Do this and you’ll probably find food you didn’t even know existed (and some you’ll have to throw out because it is outdated). In the meantime, you’ll be burning 205 calories an hour.
33. Alphabetize or sort your library. Do you have trouble finding that one title you are looking for? Rearrange your library by author, title, or some other useful system. You could burn 205 calories an hour.
34. Wash the walls. If you still have spaghetti stains on your walls from when your children were little, now is the time to do something about it. Wash those walls and burn 164 calories an hour.
35. Wash the dog. Why pay the groomer to do the job when you could burn 205 calories an hour doing the deed yourself?
36. House cleaning, general. The task doesn’t matter. Just get to it and in general you’ll burn 164 calories an hour.
37. Iron your clothes or linens. Yes, Iron is a four letter word, but at 107 calories an hour it might be worth pulling out.
38. Scrub floors on hands and knees. Nothing cleans a floor better than a little hand and knee scrubbing. Plus, you’ll burn 230 calories an hour.
39. Carry a load upstairs. Forget the stair stepper, carry a load upstairs. You could burn 533 calories an hour — plus tone those legs.
40. Replace the roof. Thinking about a new roof? Why pay someone when you could do it yourself and burn 340 calories an hour?
41. Electrical or plumbing repairs. This one might take a little know how, but if you are mechanically or plumbingly inclined, burn 136 calories an hour fixing it yourself.

This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but hopefully it will get you thinking about some ways you can incorporate natural activities into your life that will get your body moving. God has created us to move — let’s get to it.

Unfortunately, sometimes we just can’t get the exercise we need in daily activities. For numerous reasons we may need to incorporate some exercises into our regime. The next three posts in the Biblical Health Study will discuss three different kinds of exercise that can help the body, can be done at home, require no equipment, and deal with circulation, cardio, and strength training.

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Next: 5 Minute Exercise Routine to Get Your Blood Circulating at the Capillary Level

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Disclaimer:

Reformed Health exists so you can take control of your own health and be all that God has designed you to be. The information shared on Reformed Health is the sole opinion of the author and is not meant to diagnose or treat any illness. None or our claims have been evaluated by the FDA or any other government organization. We are not medical doctors, nor do we have any medical doctors on staff. If you are having a health emergency, please call 911, contact your doctor, or visit a local emergency room. Always consult your doctor before engaging in any new exercise regime.

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Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

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© 2017 Mischelle Sandowich
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