Lose weight without training: 5 life hacks

I grew up in a village where there was always a lot of physical work: cleaning the barn, hauling bales of hay, weeding the beds. My sister and I admired my mother’s tirelessness: she worked without unbending, while we allowed ourselves to lie on the grass with some fascinating book.

When I moved to the city, at first I was amazed that here people pay for the opportunity to run on the spot or lift weights. Physical effort for the sake of effort itself – the meaning of this did not reach me for a long time. But that was in my youth. Now I’m already over 50, and I perfectly understand that I should go to the gym more often, but where can I find time for this?

The author of several books, clinical psychiatrist David Servan-Schreiber wrote about the possibilities of transformation that gives us a mindset for results. One example is an American study of 84 maids from different hotels.

The girls were divided into two groups. The first were explained that the amount of work they do daily (cleaning 15 rooms) burns as many calories as a half-hour exercise. And this load is enough to lose weight and improve health. The other, control, group was not told this.

A month later, it turned out that the maids from the first group lost an average of 2 pounds and their health indicators improved – in particular, their blood pressure decreased by an average of 10 units. There were no changes in the control group.

We can really improve our physical fitness with just everyday activities, such as cleaning the apartment. The main thing is to engage in them not being bored, but with passion. This idea formed the basis of the concept of NEPA – the so-called non-exercise physical activity, from the English. non-exercise physical activity.

A study for the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that older people who actively do housework, such as mowing their lawn or washing their own car, stay healthier longer, whether or not they exercise.

I decided to check it out for myself. And I can confirm: just understanding that routine homework has a positive effect on my body became a powerful incentive for me to act and brought amazing results. Here are five home fitness options I’ve tried.

1. Home care

Getting wet clothes out of the washing machine, straightening and folding them, carrying a laundry basket up the stairs and hanging it up is a decent amount of work if you do everything at a brisk pace. Polishing a table for an hour trains the muscles of the arms, while burning approximately 300 calories. Running up and down stairs, 24 steps in my case, in search of points burns about 100 calories – twice as much as jogging.

Time — 1 hour 30 minutes.

Pulse – 120 beats per minute.

The number of steps in total is 240.

Calories burned – 463.

2. Walking the dog

If you have a dog, getting fit is easy: you need to take the opportunity to run with it. Of course, at times he will be distracted, for example, freeze in the rack in front of another dog. Alternate walking at a brisk pace with a few runs, throwing a stick to the dog, bending over it, fighting to take it away – all this also burns calories.

Time – 36 minutes, of which fat burning – 34 minutes.

The number of steps is 3174.

Calories burned – 163 (equivalent to two chocolate biscuits).

3. Gardening

The hedge near our house was extremely neglected. Sometimes, when explaining to taxi drivers how to find us, we said: look for the most neglected garden on the whole street. Now the work that I have been putting off for so many years has taken on a new meaning for me: the fence is a great calorie burner. If I work hard trimming the bushes, my fitness bracelet counts it as 17 minutes of exercise. Garden care – digging up the earth, weeding – “cost” even more.

Time — 1 hour 15 minutes.

Pulse – 160 beats per minute.

Steps – 2100.

Calories burned – 430.

4. Bike ride to the office

It only took me 15 minutes to bike to work. But now I had to admit that I chose this easy route in order to keep physical efforts to a minimum. Now I drive a new road, climbing a hill instead of going around it in a detour. And as a result, I burn more calories.

Time in one direction – 17 minutes, of which 13 minutes for burning fat.

Pulse – 108 beats per minute.

Calories burned – 82.

5. Activity in the office

I spend most of my day at work at my desk. But according to the NEPA concept, you can also burn calories in the office. For example, while sitting, raise your knees and thus train the muscles of the lower leg. Traveling to the toilet increases your daily step count. If you are not afraid of ridicule or annoyance from colleagues, invite them to hold short meetings standing up.

Working hours – 9 hours

Pulse – 72 beats min.

Steps – 5000.

Calories burned – 170.