Christmas Fitness: 10 Holiday Chores That Count As Exercise (It's a Holiday Miracle!) by Joyce Knestrick, CRNP, FAANP

New tweaks to exercise guidelines are making it easier for Americans to cross “workout” off their to-do list, all in time for the holidays. While the guidelines still say to shoot for 150 minutes of rigorous physical activity a week, you no longer need to sweat in chunks of 10 minutes or more to reach your goal. Racing upstairs to grab more wrapping paper, for example, counts toward your weekly total, even if it only takes two minutes! 

For those keeping track, you’ll only need 22 active minutes a day to get your weekly fill, and chances are, most of you will exceed that this holiday season, if you move with gusto. Since time is scarce, here are 10 holiday chores that double as exercise:

• Mall shopping.
• Mopping the floors.
• Putting up the holiday lights.
• Decorating the tree.
• Shoveling snow.
• Gathering firewood.
• Raking leaves.
• Grocery shopping.
• Making a feast.
• Hand-delivering holiday cards.
  

Adopting a “move more, sit less” approach to your holiday to-do list will help improve your productivity – and your health!