Over 110 Cardio Workout Ideas

It amazes me that there are always people that think they are too good for housework to count for cardio. Great for them! If their vacuum is light and moves easily, or their house is small or stays relatively clean, then perhaps, for them, it's not going to count as cardio. But the article lays out the guidelines. Reach the heartrate and last 10 minutes. Whatever meets the guidelines counts. So check your heart rate and you know if it counts. It doesn't matter if someone else thinks that housework isn't good enough-ignore them. This is something that I use to motivate myself to do all my housework at once. I use a bodymedia fit and before that I used a basic heart rate monitor. I know when I'm doing cardio and when I'm not. If that means climbing the counters in my boys' bathroom and scrubbing down the mirrors, scrubbing their counter, toilet, and tub, then so be it. And if I do all that and my heart rate didn't reach the desired number for the right time? Then it didn't count. Oh well. - 4/17/2013 9:41:35 AM

Even if you aren't getting your heart rate to that "target" cardio rate while cleaning house, at least you are doing something other than sitting on the couch. You burn more calories cleaning than just sitting. That has to count for something. - 2/22/2013 12:39:48 PM

I have never figured out why people will buy every labor-saving device known to man (riding mowers, snow blowers, leaf blowers, robot vacuums, etc, etc...) and then pay more money to join a gym and then pay yet more money for gas to DRIVE to a gym...in order to work out! Goodness, most of us have plenty of opportunities to engage in useful activites (housework, yard work, child care, pet care) and fun activities (walking, hiking, skating, biking, playing games/sports) and get all the cardio & strength training we need. Grab a pair of shoes, a shovel, a rake, a bicycle, a football, or whatever and just get out there and DO something! - 12/29/2012 2:06:21 PM

I just added Fencing and Sculling to my Cardio list for spring and summer ! Woo Hoo ! - 12/29/2012 10:59:48 AM

You can also DANCE while doing chores. Some of us are addicted to dancing.... - 11/4/2012 9:15:41 PM

To all of you that are dismissing housecleaning and chores as aerobic activity, you are missing the point of the article! ANY activity that elevates your heart rate into your target aerobic range AND lasts at least 10 minutes can be considered aerobic!

Obviously, it will depend on a person's fitness, the size of their house, the chore/task that they are doing, etc., but, YES, if they do it for at least a solid 10-minutes, at an intensity that gets their heart rate up to their target aerobic range, it most certainly DOES count as aerobic activity! If you are already relatively fit, or have a small enough house, or whatever, that house cleaning activities do NOT meet those 2 requirements, then that is something you need to account for in your own workout plans. But, someone who has been extremely sedentary, or who is morbidly obese, or who has a large house and cleans with a fervor? Yes, they absolutely could meet the 2 requirements to call something an aerobic activity!

Also, dismissing the efforts, and energy required, of someone morbidly obese and sedentary, especially if they are just starting out and 10 minutes of intense house cleaning can leave them sweating and short of breath, is not helpful, and can be, in fact, very discouraging! - 10/30/2012 1:51:45 PM

An excellent list of things to do. But I wish they had not listed house keeping., unless you do the whole large house everyday. or work as a professional housekeeper.
Making a bed, vacuum a floor is part of our daily life and is already figured into the calories a normal person uses. It's misguided to let people think those chores will give them the cardio they need. This is my opinion.
When I was 335 lbs, yes it was strenuous to do certain household chores, but not a cardio workout. - 10/29/2012 12:45:36 PM

Vacuuming would not count as cardio if you are doing a 700 square foot apartment, but might if you are doing 3000 square foot house! The same with other household chores. - 10/29/2012 7:33:07 AM

maybe vacuuming or make other activity in the house isnot cardio trainig but i think if you clean your house and put all your effort in the activity, you siege a lot of benefits, because your maintain your body in movement.. - 9/12/2012 1:18:17 PM

I am encouraged to see that household chores are cardio. I am 300+ lbs, and vacuuming floors always puts me in a sweat. I cleaned my windows last weekend, and believe me when I say I was soaked. Of course, to break a sweat at my weight as opposed to a hundred lbs lighter depends on intensity and duration, right?
Thank you so much for this segment. It's very useful to me. - 9/6/2012 3:34:10 PM

Housecleaning should not be considered a cardio choice unless the person has never moved in their entire life. I am a professional housekeeper and I know it doesn't give me the benefits that walking, biking, or dancing can do. I work 4-10 hour days and know it's not enough to count as cardio. - 8/13/2012 4:15:26 PM

Does marching in place count as a cardio exercise? I do not see that listed except for marching (band). - 4/26/2012 8:59:40 AM

i like to belly dance for my cardio. it's awesome for the hips & makes me feel so sexy.

and i hate hate hate to clean house.
- 2/7/2012 7:57:39 AM

Nice article, but I feel like the author is "dissing" rebounding as being a light activity or a "play time" activity....it can be just as heart pounding as a Zumba class, and there ARE gyms that offer Rebounding Class Workouts. There are serious benefits, research articles about benefits to rebounding - http://www.urbanr
eboundinggym.
com/research.html

Other articles about gyms that use rebounding http://www.reboun
d-aerobics.co
m/afaa.htm

I'm glad EVITA7 is in good cardio health, but for me, vacuuming is very cardio intensive, especially as I have to do a lot of picking up and moving things in order to vacuum underneath, and up the stairs and a big two story house to boot. So I'm glad to see they count it as cardio...
- 9/26/2011 10:34:39 PM

I think some household chores are aerobic based on my heartbeat, breathing and the sweat dripping off me like melting ice on a hot summer day.
However, I will have to clarify. When I was working there were times when a construction contract would be delayed or not available for a month or two.
One of the temp jobs I took was maid work at various hotels and casinos. They have high standards and time limits. You have 15 minutes to clean a room with double beds. That includes scrubbing bathrooms, even using sticky tape to make sure no unwanted hairs were on floors or fixtures, changing beds, mirrors, dusting, vacuuming, windows, setting everything straight and then they were checked.
I was good enough for the VIP suites, 2 to 3 baths, 2 to 3 bedrooms, fold out couch, kitchen, bar, conference room all cleaned in 30 minutes. Trust me there is no good enough in four or five star hotels.
I still clean like this. I hate housework and can scrub down a kitchen with all the knick knacks washed, 2 bathrooms and sweep, scrub then vacuum the floors in 30 minutes or less. It takes me 30 minutes to vacuum a 20 by 15 Dining room, 20 x 20 Living room, 30 x 4 hall, 1 master, 2 reg. 15 x 20 bedrooms, 1 kitchen, 1 laundry, the 2 baths and this includes fans,walls and moving the furniture to get behind it except for the master bed. Yes this is exercise. Not only aerobics but when you move Steel and glass furniture around it is strenght also. - 4/29/2011 5:17:17 PM