I read something interesting yesterday. It was about a study that said it was better for a woman’s health to do housework than to work out at a gym.
Now my first reaction is to ask: What’s the gender AND the agenda of the person(s) doing the study?
I’m also somewhat skeptical. On the other hand, I can sort of see how it might be true. I’ve been making it a point to walk every day for some time now. And I thought I was doing pretty well in terms of keeping in shape. But then I climbed to the top of a hill with my daughter—and got way more winded than I liked. And I decided to start mowing my own lawn this year. (I’d hired a service last year because I didn’t think I could manage the heat.) Well, first time out I thought I’d about die. Took me an hour to mow the front and an hour to mow the back. Now it takes me half an hour for each. I still mow half one day and the other half a different day because otherwise I get too hot but....I can tell the difference and it’s in me not my lawn!
So I can sort of see that all the different actions one does with housework might be really good exercise—if one does enough of it! And that’s the kicker. The study cited 17 hours of housework a week. It does not say that women who went to the gym were spending 17 hours at the gym!
At any rate, it means there is one more option for staying fit.
April
