5 Workouts that Don't Feel Like Workouts

For most of us, the word ‘workout’ conjures up images of sweat soaked t-shirts, bulging muscles, a gym trainer, or running shoes. This image may not be entirely real because there are a few things you can do in your daily life, or maybe weekly life, which have the ingredients of a good workout without necessarily being one. Many of these chores are left entirely up to domestic help, but there is no reason for us not to make them part of our weekly routines, if only just to ingrain more activity into our busy schedules.

However, we are not suggesting that you replace regimented strength and cardio workouts with the following five activities. This post is meant to encourage daily chores or activities that offer variations in your body's activity levels, and not offer any alternatives to real workouts.

1) Clean your house: Start with your bedroom. Re-arrange furniture, pick things up, bend, squat, lift heavy things. Cleaning your house and re-arranging furniture has all the elements of a good gym session though you may not even know it. This may not be a weekly routine, but it can certainly be made part of something you do on a regular basis, when you have time to yourself at home. Not to mention, this one is truly therapeutic with good music to keep you moving.

2) Play with your kids: Anything goes. Your kids will truly love it and there will be no dearth of action. Pillow fights, go to a park and throw a ball around, go to a pool and have races, and of course ask the kids for more ideas. Physical playtime is a great workout and also an unparalleled family bonding time.

3) Bathe your dog: Even better, bathe your cat. If you have a larger dog, or a cat, you will know what a great exercise it is. First the battle to hold on firm, the usage of your body weight to get the upper hand, the scrubbing, the rinsing, and then the drying. All the while holding on to dear life. If this isn’t a workout, then we don't know what is!

4) Walk in a mall: Ladies, the ideal workout! For the men, a nice way to spend time in a mall while your better half disappears. Of course the idea is to walk, climb stairs, and keep a decent pace.  Walking is a good exercise to stay active and to stay on your feet more.

5) Go on a hike: This one's clearly not for people well encased within miles and miles of metro city traffic. But perhaps even city dwellers can find some park, nearby town, or natural feature to visit over weekends? Try and incorporate hiking into your weekend activity. Sunday’s are a great day to take off outside the city and spend time hiking, climbing a hill. Take a picnic basket and soak in all the vitamin D that you have missed out on during the week.

So here they are, 5 workouts that you can try and incorporate in your schedule that will ultimately lead to a fitter and more active you.