Can doing the housework burn MORE calories than a gym session?
It’s a surprising new fitness trend. So . . .
JUST imagine getting all the benefits of exercise without having to break into a sweat or change into your leggings. That’s the promise of a new form of everyday exercise which, according to top fitness experts, could get us in shape faster than going to the gym.
You’ve probably heard of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) — where you exercise hard and fast for 15-45 seconds, then rest for the same and repeat for up to 15 minutes — that has taken us all by storm for the past five years.
Well, now the latest trend is for High Intensity Incidental Physical Activity or HIIPA, which is all about going hard and fast for short bouts of movement in your everyday activities
not in the gym. In a piece published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, sports scientists from around the world argued that many daily tasks can be considered ‘high intensity’ physical activity, if they’re done with enough oomph.
But just how easy is it really? As a founder of health website Healthista and fitness fanatic, I asked leading personal trainer Jane Wake to create a HIIPA plan for me. I then measured the daily calorie burn on my Fitbit. I tried it out on a Saturday, which I would normally spend shopping, meeting friends and doing a little half-hearted cleaning.
8-9.30am: CLEANING
I HAd a mountain of chores. When it comes to cleaning, ‘limit your use of technology’, Jane instructed. ‘That means scrubbing, polishing and sweeping by hand as much as possible. Whether vacuuming or mopping, use big movements, such as lunging, and work on corners and edges by squatting to clean areas under sofas and tables that are hard to reach.’
My floors had never had it so good, but it was a mammoth task. The entire house is wooden floorboards painted white. Moreover, my vacuum is broken so not only did I have to physically pick up a lot of the dirt, hair and debris, I then had to sweep and scrub the really dirty bits before mopping the whole thing.
I crouched and squatted into the corners of the bedroom, going hard for two-minute bursts, going slower for another two minutes and repeating, thighs burning — cursing Jane and the whole HIIPA idea.
Then I moved on to the bathroom, cleaning at intervals of breakneck speed by squatting into the shower’s recesses and working my pectoral muscles and core with fast, circular scrubbing moves.
When it came to windows, Jane explained that the fewer chemical cleaning products you use the more elbow grease and physical effort you will need to put into the task.
‘Use vinegar and water to clean each window, moving high and low along each glass panel, using your entire body for a cardio effect.’
Putting in this level of oomph on the windows got me huffing and puffing so much that I could feel the muscles in my core and waist working much more than when I do sit-ups in the gym.
10.30-12.30pm: SHOPPING
NexT on my Saturday agenda was grocery shopping. How much of a workout could that possibly deliver? ‘Park your car at least a two-minute walk away from the shops, ideally with some stair climbing in between,’ Jane recommended. ‘Take a rucksack and fill that along with two large, strong shopping bags filled with about three kilos of shopping each. ‘Move fast as you ferry the shopping back to the car, connect to your core and work on your posture,’ says Jane. ‘Lift up tall, work your shoulder blades back and down.’ A tip — wear gloves, as heavy shopping bags can cut into your hands. I parked the car five minutes away with 75 steps between the car park and the supermarket, which I took at high speed down and almost died as I climbed them — as fast as I could and loaded like a pack horse — on the way back. This felt like super hard work and carrying the bags up all those steps meant their handles burned my hands. I felt it in my stomach muscles as I engaged my core to lift the load.
Calories burned: 380
1-2pm: COOKING
JANe assures me that beating things such as egg whites can be a tough workout. ‘don’t use any electric equipment when making anything that needs beating,’ she said.
I opted for American-style pancakes. ‘Hold the bowl in one arm against your body, engage your core and beat as fast as you can until one arm is exhausted. Rest for 15 seconds, change arms and repeat,’ Jane says.
When you give it that HIIPA oomph for a couple of minutes at a time, beating a pancake mix is, well, a battering workout for the biceps and core, especially if you dance around the kitchen as I did.
According to my Fitbit, this was the most intense I had worked all day per minute, burning 78 calories in one 15-minute period of pancake-making.
Calories burned: 170
5-9pm: ACTIVE COMMUTE
I WAS off to meet friends across town for dinner, which in HIIPA terms meant turning my commute into an opportunity for interval training. ‘Create a walk to the station or bus stop that is at least 15 minutes and then charge up any hills or stairs,’ Jane suggests. It was easier than I thought. I walked halfway to the station, across the park, running for about 20 seconds between trees, which was enough to get me puffed but not enough to get me so sweaty I’d ruin my make-up.
Other tricks I have discovered are to walk in intervals of fast/normal pace along the train platform as you’re waiting — ignore the glances, you’re getting fit, they’re not.
‘escalators are the perfect training ground,’ says Jane. ‘Walk or run up them fast, taking every step, pushing up through your heels and extending into your glutes.’
I charge up the escalators and by the top (according to my Fitbit) my heart rate is up around 180 bpm — in my peak training zone.
Calories burned: 320
THE VERDICT
dURINg my HIIPA day, according to my Fitbit, I burned a total of 2,182 calories, 42 floors (a record day) and covered 11.85km — all without setting foot in the gym. Compare that to a gym day where I work out for an hour doing running intervals and lightweight training in the morning, then go about my typical day, burning 2,149 calories, climbing 33 floors and covering 10.27km. HIIPA clearly takes the biscuit. Or at least will allow me to eat one.