Juggling your career and parenthood can make it difficult to also find time to take good care of your home. However, it doesn’t have to be this way. While you can always hire professional cleaners to take the burden off your shoulders, there’s an even better way to keep your home pristine.
If every family member chips in and helps with home upkeep in their own way, your space will look and feel great in no time. More importantly, housework makes for great cardio exercise, so it can keep you fit and healthy. There’s something for every family member to do, regardless of age and fitness level, and you can always turn it into a fun activity full of music and laughter.
When it comes to raising happy, well-adjusted children, encouraging them to do housework has other benefits, too. For example, you’ll teach them the importance of hygiene, help them adopt good habits, and give them a sense of responsibility and achievement. If you’re not sure what chores to pick as the best cardio workouts, read on.
1. Home maintenance
This is a great way to teach your child to be handy and resourceful, and most children enjoy figuring out how things work and fit together. But the biggest benefit of doing home repairs is all the exercise you’ll get while doing them. As long as the repairs are small and safe to do on your own, take some tools and get to work. Your shoulders, arms, chest, and back will thank you for it!
2. Painting the walls
Painting requires multiple muscle groups to be activated, so it’s a full-body workout like no other. You’ll need to bend and stretch, as well as work fairly quickly while still maintaining precision. Children and teenagers are usually interested in this type of work because of the final transformation, especially if it’s their room that’s being painted, so this can motivate them to take part.
3. Taking care of pets
Growing up with pets develops children’s empathy and responsibility. The connection they can establish is truly one-of-a-kind. Apart from these advantages, having a pet can also give kids plenty of exercise opportunities. Cats and dogs are typically very active and require lots of play. This makes them the perfect match for fun-loving and playful kids. They’ll enjoy walking the dog and playing around with the cat while also keeping active.
4. Gardening
It’s great for kids to be in touch with nature and get their hands dirty. Gardening provides children with invaluable learning experiences because they learn how to identify different plants and care for them. It also gives them a chance to be physically active as they water the garden, pull out weeds, and perform other types of work.
5. Deep cleaning
Deep cleaning is super detailed, so it makes you work extra hard and burn lots of calories. You have to get to every nook and cranny of the house and make sure everything is dirt-free. Simple chores like vacuuming and dusting can make you sweat and get your heart rate up. They’re great forms of aerobic exercise that every child can do. Once everything is clean, tidy, and freshly scented, treat them to some play time at a trampoline park so that they can take a break!
6. Doing laundry
Your children can assist you with sorting dirty clothes, emptying the hamper, folding freshly washed clothes, and doing other laundry day chores. These tasks need speed and precision, so they’ll keep your kids busy for some time and they’ll get some much-needed exercise out of them.
The author, Dr. David K Simson is a trained radiation oncologist specializing in advanced radiation techniques such as intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT), volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) / Rapid Arc, stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT), stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). He is also experienced in interstitial, intracavitary, and intraluminal brachytherapy.