The crisp, colorful days of autumn usher in a busy time of year for many — between working, shuttling kids to after-school activities, and preparing your home and garden for winter, you may wonder if you’ll ever find time to exercise.

But here’s the silver lining — many fall and winter chores have physical activity built in. Raking leaves and pruning roses aren’t a substitute for working out at the gym or going for a brisk walk, but you may be surprised at how many calories you can burn while tackling your to-do list. A little elbow grease here and there can really add up over time to help prevent weight gain — and that’s worth your effort, especially with the holidays approaching.

Reach For A Rake

Thinking about firing up the leaf blower? Grab a rake instead, and you’ll burn more calories — along with saving money on fuel and reducing noise pollution. Ditch the riding lawnmower and you’ll do the same. Here’s an estimate of what you’ll burn with these and other fall and winter tasks:

Safety First

As you can see, some very common household tasks and yard work are very strenuous. As with any type of physical activity, use caution when performing chores. If you have a medical condition or risk factors, your doctor may advise against performing physically demanding tasks.

Snow shoveling, for example, can be extremely dangerous for people with any of the following risk factors: personal history of heart disease or heart attack, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, a sedentary lifestyle or smoking. The combination of risk factors, cold air and heavy lifting can be fatal.

If you’re at risk, using a power tool or hiring a neighborhood teenager is a better option than attempting to do it yourself. Know your limits — and when it doubt, check with your doctor.

Torch Calories With NEAT

Who doesn’t want to be warm and cozy indoors when the weather outside is frightful? At this time of year, it’s easy to become sedentary — and pack on the pounds. But you can choose to stay fit and healthy no matter what the season with intentional, mindful physical activity. Any time you move your body, you burn calories — and unless it’s a planned workout, the calories you burn with this type of physical activity is called NEAT, or non-exercise activity thermogenesis. The fantastic thing about NEAT is that it can account for anywhere from 15% to over 50% of your total daily calorie burn — and you can jack up this amount in a big way with even minor boosts in your daily physical activity. Wearing a pedometer is a great way to track your NEAT — gradually work towards 10,000 steps a day for good health. Whether you’re mopping the kitchen floor, hauling wood, or preparing a Thanksgiving feast, it’s motivating to see the steps add up.

Fall Forward

How about using KIDS as a Gym from Zenhabits:

I’m a big subscriber to using whatever you can find to work out: pullups on trees, throw big boulders, flip logs or big tires, jump over things, sprint up hills (see Minimalist Fitness, part 1 & part 2).

As a parent and a minimalist, I’d like to share my ultimate minimalist workout secret: my kids are my gym.

Fellow parents, if you’re not doing this yet, I can’t recommend it highly enough. How are they my gym? Instead of paying hundreds of dollars (even thousands) a year for a gym, I use my kids to get in shape.

How? Every way I can, but here’s a few:

• I carry them on my shoulders as we walk around town.
• We race each other to the corner, sprinting. Often up hills.
• I do pushups with them on my back.
• I lift them up in the air — it’s like lifting weights.
• I’ll let them hang on me as I do chinups.
• We climb and jump around in the playground.
• We play with the soccer ball — getting lots of sprints in as we do.
• We jump around in the ocean. A great workout.
• We wrestle.
• We challenge each other to do pistols (one-legged squats) or handstand pushups (what they sound like). Mostly we can’t, but it’s fun.
• We do lunges while walking up a hill.
• I carry them slung across my shoulders — a fireman’s carry — which is a great workout btw.
• I’ll carry one on my back, piggy-back style, while racing another kid up a hill. Yes, I love hills.

Awesomer than a gym

So why is this so awesome?

1. We bond. Instead of spending time away from the kids at a gym, I spend time with them. And get a great workout in throughout the day. It’s two birds, one stone, saving time while helping me bond with my kids.

2. Work becomes play. It’s not exercise, it’s not a workout, it’s *play*. And that’s a whole different ballgame. Play is fun, it’s challenging, it’s easy, and yet it’s a great way to get in shape.

3. No cost. OK, kids aren’t cheap — but I have them anyway, so why not use them? I’m saving money and getting fit — that’s all kinds of win.

4. I’m being a role model. Kid learn most of all from what they see others doing, especially their parents. You can tell them things all day long, but unless they see you doing it, you’re not teaching them much. When we go to the gym, they don’t see us working out. When we workout as we play with them, they’re learning how to be healthy, and that is a gift that will last a lifetime.

5. It’s a lifestyle. I don’t work out at one time during the day, and then stay sedentary the rest of the day. It’s all throughout the day, every day, which means it’s woven into my life, not a small segment of my life. This is what a healthy lifestyle looks like.

6. It’s functional. When you do a bicep curl with a dumbbell, you’re making a motion that you never would do in real life — when have you ever lifted something heavy while keeping your upper arm fixed to your torso? Instead, when we lift heavy things, we bend at the knees, and use our legs, our torso, our shoulders, our arms — basically most of our body at once. When I lift my kids, that’s the same motion I’d use to lift anything else. Functional exercise is much more useful than isolated lifts.

Working out using my kids as equipment is the best thing I’ve done with my fitness. It’s fun, so I never want to stop. It’s functional, it’s cheap, and best of all, I get to do it with my kids. I love it.


So, no matter what is going on, there is a way! Heck, the kid workout can reduce stress by playing & having fun. The "chores" can turn into some time away & some of those are stress reducers too!

What will you do doing to make it thru & start the new year on the right track?