Daily Physical Activity: What Counts as Exercise?

When do everyday tasks count as exercise?

Daily physical activity is essential for good health and the prevention of chronic disease. Exercise is one category of physical activity, and refers to activity performed for the purpose of improving fitness and athletic performance. But physical activity also includes some activities of daily living, such as walking errands, and household and yard-care tasks.
When do these tasks count as exercise? This seemingly simple question is hard to answer, because the answer depends on many factors. Here are some of the things to consider when you are trying to figure out how much physical activity you get out of daily life.

How intensely do you exercise?

As you can imagine, the number of calories burned during household activities varies greatly, depending upon how vigorously a person works. Vacuuming is a good example of an activity that may or may not count as exercise, depending on the intensity with which it is performed. Do you move quickly or slowly? Do you go after the cobwebs on the ceiling, reaching or climbing a ladder? Do you crouch down to get dust balls under furniture?

 

What's your current level of physical fitness?

If you are really out of shape and have been fairly inactive for a long time, then even vigorous vacuuming counts as exercise. Your cardiovascular system will find activities, such as washing windows, scrubbing floors and raking leaves, challenging.

The bad news is, if you are in pretty good shape, you have to work harder before daily activities, like washing your car, count as exercise. Because your fitness level is already fairly high, your cardiovascular system is more efficient, and it doesn't have to work very hard during most household tasks. These tasks will still burn calories, but they won't help you maintain your cardiovascular fitness.