I have been researching and have combined several charts for calories burned per different exercises/activities. I have it put together on a spreadsheet so you can enter your weight (in pounds) and the minutes expended to come up with the calories you burned. Since it is in a spreadsheet, you can put several activities in and it will give you the total calories burned at the bottom of the spreadsheet. I also have a converter to convert kg to lb. Then enter the pounds value in the spreadsheet.

You can download the spreadsheet – right click here and save to your computer. It is in the 2003-2007 excel version and can be opened in Google documents also. If you do not have excel or have an older version of excel, you can get the excel viewer for free from microsoft. Click here.

Leave a comment an let me know how you like it!

Today we have a guest writer. He has investigated and found how much exercise you can get from house cleaning. Let’s see what Guy Marlow has to say.

House Cleaning Fitness

Many people live a busy life in this day and age which stops them from pursuing a fitness regime that sees them travel to the gym three or four times a week to get fit. This does not mean you can use this as an excuse to not keeping fit.

There are many ample opportunities in the home to keep fit, opportunities that also fit in to your daily workload without you realising it. If you work your household chores correctly you could make a fitness regime from your cleaning duties, meaning you don’t even need to visit the local gym.

I must say at this point there may be quite a few of you sighing as you do not like your household chores, don’t worry I am one of those people. What you have to think is “Hey this is helping my fitness and supporting my weight loss”, to do this though you have to manage your chores effectively.

Below is a list of household chores and the calories they burn.

• Cleaning windows: 40 calories for ten minutes
• Scrubbing floors on: 50 calories for ten minutes
• Vacuum cleaning: 40 calories for ten minutes
• Dusting: 30 calories for ten minutes
• Mopping: 40 calories for ten minutes
• Making beds: 20 calories for ten minutes
• Washing the dishes: 30 calories for ten minutes

Now we break these down in to three fitness workouts that will benefit your body greatly and support your home routine at the same time! Imagine doing the housework yet seeing this as a fitness benefit.

Day one

• 20 minutes cleaning windows
• 15 minutes scrubbing floors
• 20 minutes washing dishes

• Total – 215 calories burned

Day two

• 20 minutes dusting
• 30 minutes vacuum cleaning
• 20 minutes making beds

• Total – 220 calories burned

Day three

• 20 minutes mopping
• 20 minutes washing dishes
• 20 minutes vacuum cleaning

• Total – 220 calories burned

If you find these three workouts interesting and want to make them harder then why not try adding other household chores to the fitness workouts.

It is important to note that to get the most out of this training regime you need to complete all house hold chores without breaks in between so you work up a sweat. Actually thinking about it this is also a benefit as it means you complete your chores in a more timely fashion so that you have more time to rest!

This article was written by Guy Marlow, writer and owner of www.musclepowershop.com

Now – I ask you – What household chores do you do that will burn calories? Leave a comment.

When we decide to exercise or become more fit, the first decision is what type of exercise to do.

1. Activity – I would call this your normal activities that you do more of like playing with the kids, playing sports, walking, shopping, etc.

2. Aerobics – these are available in low impact, intermediate, and advanced programs. Find one you like (Richard Simmons has quite a variety) and have fun doing.

3. Water aerobics – most Y’s, community colleges, and some fitness clubs have classes available. The resistance of the water help to burn calories without putting stress on the joints and heart.

4. Exercise - I classify sit ups, jumping jacks, squats, toe touches, everything they have you do in gym class as exercises. There are a lot of DVDs with exercise workouts available – and some target a specific area such as abs and thighs.

5. Speed walking, jogging, running, bicycling – Some people enjoy this. Basically, your legs muscles are strengthened, you burn calories (thus lose fat), and increase your endurance. You can get more exercise by adding wrist and ankle weights. These are good for your heart also. The only draw back is once your body becomes used to the amount you do, you have to increase the amount you do. At that point, you need to add some other type of exercise to round out your workout plan.

6. Resistance - This can be done in a myriad of ways. You can do resistance just by the way you tighten your muscles, putting an imaginary resistance – like pulling an imaginary rope. There are resistance bands you can buy, and weight machines. Resistance exercise is very effective.

7. Weight lifting - Weight lifting will not only define you body, but also burns calories more quickly. It can help skinny people fill out and overweight people slim down. I would suggest you get a good workout plan such as Tony Little’s or Vince Delmonte’s for the guys and Shannon Clark’s for the gals. Their workouts are formulated for the whole body (you don’t end up with Popeye arms) and if you following their coaching, they are safe. Remember to have a spotter when doing the more difficult routines.

8. Yoga - Yoga is a great way to become more limber while relaxing not only your body, but also your mind. Yoga appears to be an easy type of workout – unless you remember that all the martial arts use a form of Yoga in their workouts. Whew, that could be quite a workout!

When decided which type to start on, keep in mind your present physical condition, your weight, your age, and your goal. One thing is for sure. You workout will never help you until you actually start doing it.

What type would you choose and why?