9 Spring Cleaning Activities that Burn Major Calories

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Slash calories--and your spring-cleaning checklist--with these slimming household activities
By: Jessica Chia, Fitbie.com

Skip the gym and bust out the broom: These household activities torch up to 200 calories in just 30 minutes--nearly double the amount you'd burn pumping iron in the gym. Keep the routine up on a weekly basis and you're bound to banish both extra clutter and inches. Read on to find out which projects will put a dent in your to-do list and prep your body for spring's skin-baring clothing.

PLUS: 25 Zero-Effort Ways to Lose Weight

Task: Tame the Yard
Clear out winter's leftover leaves and make way for spring greenery by rooting out weeds and trimming trees. While you're killing calories, add some new life by planting flowers, herbs, fruit, or vegetables.

Raking
Burns 146 calories*
Weeding Burns 153 calories
Manually pruning bushes/shrubs/trees Burns 153 calories
Mowing Burns 204 calories
Digging and planting Burns 170 calories

Task Total: 836 calories
Knock out all five outdoor activities, and you'll have burned 122 more calories than you would have during an hour and a half of intense aerobic dancing.
*All figures are based on a 150-pound person

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Task: Gut the Garage

Increase your heart rate and your garage's functionality by sweeping the floor, organizing tools and storage, washing the car, and de-gunking the gutters.

Sweeping Burns 136 calories
Organizing (standing) Burns 119 calories
Washing the car Burns 153 calories
Cleaning gutters Burns 170 calories

Task total: 578 calories
The number of calories you'll burn bringing your garage up to speed beats the 544 you'd burn cycling at 13 mph for an hour.

Task: Attack the Attic

Make your attic accessible and combat calories by clearing out cobwebs and sorting and organizing stored items.

Packing and unpacking boxes (standing) Burns 119 calories
Moving boxes Burns 191 calories
Vigorous Cleaning Burns 102 calories

Task total: 412

If you can overhaul your entire attic in an hour and a half, that is. The longer it takes, the more you lose.
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Task: Restore the Floor
Show your floors and your body some love by cleaning carpets and getting grime off hard flooring.

Vacuuming Burns 119 calories
Scrubbing Burns 130 calories
Mopping Burns 119 calories
Buffing Burns 102 calories

Task total: 470 calories

The number of calories burned during these four activities trumps what you'd get rid of by running for 30 minutes at a 10-minute-mile pace.

Task: Shine Surfaces
Counters, tables, shelves, mirrors, and windows are magnets for dust, handprints, and mystery sticky spots. Get these surfaces gleaming and you'll shave off a few calories to boot

Dusting Burns 85 calories
Wiping down counters/objects
Burns 102 calories
Washing windows
Burns 187 calories

Task total: 374 calories

You'd have to walk for more than two and a half hours at a casual pace to match the number of calories burned by these three activities.

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Task: Spruce up Your space

Get a quick workout by giving your furniture a facelift: refinish, paint, and rearrange pieces for a fresh look.

Refinishing furniture
Burns 153 calories
Moving furniture Burns 205 calories
Painting Burns 102 calories

Task total: 460 calories

You could burn 408 calories by jumping rope at a fast pace for 30 minutes, but would you want to?

Task: Revamp A Room
Fitness benefits are the perfect excuse to finally update your décor.

Shopping Burns 78 calories
Hanging artwork Burns 51 calories
Decorating Burns 102 calories

Task total: 231 calories
You'd burn 170 calories kayaking for an hour. If you're not in it for the outdoorsy cred, giving your house a makeover could be an appealing alternative to a traditional fitness session.

Task: Put on Finishing Touches
Freshen up the fabrics in your house and get rid of extra calories. Don't forget the drapes and tablecloth.

Doing laundry Burns 73 calories
Making beds Burns 68 calories
Ironing Burns 78 calories

Task total: 219 calories

These simple activities will wipe out about 50 more calories than the 170 you'd burn during an hour-long hatha yoga session.

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Task: Get Rid of Clutter
Dispose of clutter hiding out in your home by recycling, donating, or selling unwanted items. You'll do some good--and not just for your health.

Taking out trash
Burns 107 calories
Recycling, donating, or bringing items to a resale store
Burns 107 calories
Holding a yard sale Burns 82 calories
Selling valuables online Burns 51 calories

Task total: 488 calories

Half an hour on the rowing machine at a moderate pace burns 238 calories, so this task is guilt-free, even if you have to skip the gym to fit it in.

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