My mom cleans her own house and maintains her own 1 acre yard--mowing, weeding, planting a full garden. She scrubs all her toilets herself, mops floors, etc. She also paints, fixes light bulbs, you name it. Guess what? She's also obese and struggles to walk one mile without stopping. House chores don't maintain the kind of muscle mass that keeps you fit as you age, and they do very little for overall cardio fitness.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a DC thing. It's a status symbol. In the Midwest, you have a nice car, or a boat. In DC, you hire cleaners. Neither makes much sense.

This

It’s not a status symbol. It’s just status. I hate cleaning. I make enough that I don’t need to. Therefore, I don’t and I hire someone. Why not??

It’s basic economics. You make $109 per hour or more it doesn’t make Vatican economic sense to clean your own house.

You want me to replace hiking, kayaking and rock climbing with scrubbing toilets because it’s better for my mobility?

I think you hate to do healthy things so you’re trying to convince yourself that cleaning is a workout…. Even if you mean yoga.

I know people who go watch football when they could just throw a football outside.
I know people that pay yo go to concerts but they could buy a cheap guitar and play themselves.

/s

Anonymous wrote:House and yard work can help you stay active and contribute to your daily exercise , but it is not comparable to structured exercise in terms of its specific cardiovascular or strength-building benefits.

Unless you are vacuuming, sweeping, gardening at a consistent level for a very prolonged time it may not provide the same targeted benefits as dedicated exercise sessions. Structured exercise, such as aerobic activities (e.g., running, cycling, swimming) or strength training exercises, offers specific benefits like improving cardiovascular fitness, building muscle strength, enhancing flexibility, and promoting bone health.

Technically true, but the majority of spry seniors I’ve met over the years weren’t ever gym goers, but rather people who kept physically active through walking, hiking, gardening, cleaning, taking the stairs, grocery shopping, cooking, caring for grandkids, etc.

I think it matters less what you do than that you keep it up as long as you can, making adjustments as needed.

OP here. I wasn't trying to insult anyone with this. I just think it's an interesting part of our culture. Like I said, people who do this obviously have some money to burn, and they can spend it as they wish. No one has to justify their life choices to me.

But I agree with the PP who mentioned that functional movement is a huge part of maintaining physical fitness and health into old age, and much of the labor that gets hired out to other people would contribute greatly to that functional movement/fitness. Most white collar professionals spend the majority of their day sitting at a desk, looking at a computer, which is pretty terrible for your fitness. So yes, they have to work out (pretty aggressively) to undo the negatives of that lifestyle. So they are spending some of the money they earn doing this work to undo the negative impacts of the work. Then on top of that, many of the activities they could be doing that would be beneficial to their bodies, get hired out to others. It is a strange arrangement. It sounds like the premise of a science fiction story, except that it's not fiction.

Two other points:

(1) I find the strong aversion to cleaning interesting. I have felt that way at points in my life -- that cleaning is drudgery, that I'd rather do anything than clean. But my thoughts on that have shifted with time and now I find a lot of dignity in things like scrubbing floors or pulling weeds. What changed? I studied mindfulness and incorporated it into my day-to-day life, and it gave me a newfound appreciation for manual labor, which can be very meditative and satisfying. It's been a great boon to my mental health, and I no longer hate doing these sorts of chores around the house. Food for thought.

(2) A LOT of people commenting that they clean and they aren't thin, or their housekeeper isn't thin, or the cleaning ladies they see on the street aren't thin. I'd just like to point out that "thin" and "physically fit" are not the same thing, and that the confusion over that might be one reason why many prefer to hire out their manual labor and then pay someone else to help make them "fit" (read: thin). Perhaps cleaning/gardening doesn't feel like a workout because you have a narrow idea of what fitness is, and are looking for aesthetic results that no, cannot be accomplished via just functional movement (unless you're building a house or clearing a field of rocks or something, maybe). But that doesn't mean that cleaning/gardening (or childcare, for that matter) don't contribute to your physical fitness.

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you enjoy cleaning so much and find that it keeps you fit, then offer free cleaning to neighbors on NextDoor. You’ll have many takers.

You’re all sooooooo defensive about this. It’s fun to watch.

not OP

Anonymous wrote:I’m not wealthy but I do like a house cleaner to come once a month. I was never taught how to clean properly, and they do a much better job which makes it easier for me to maintain.

Oh, PLEASE.

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you enjoy cleaning so much and find that it keeps you fit, then offer free cleaning to neighbors on NextDoor. You’ll have many takers.

I enjoy playing w/young kids (I work at a preschool/daycare,) but would never watch stranger’s kids for free.

So this PP has very flawed logic here.

I agree OP that your posting contains many excellent points - however for the majority of people (especially those who work many hrs. and/or have small children to care for,) cleaning house is the worst form of drudgery.

If I could afford to outsource people to scour my bathtub, vacuum my entire house I surely would!

So those that can afford to do so are willing to pay in order to not clean their homes which I can totally get behind!

Working out 🏋🏻‍♂️ in a gym sounds much more fun than spending an entire Saturday afternoon dusting bookcases.

You are not wrong OP. Varied movement patterns are a hugely important part of retaining your mobility and range of motions. In other cultures you see senior citizens who will squat and prepare food or perform tasks. Most “fit” people in America cannot even get into a deep squat!

So, any activity that has you bend, squat, crawl, etc. is really great for you, whether that is cleaning or gardening. Do it every day. And watch…all the heavy cardio people will be jealous of you some day!

OP, if you enjoy cleaning so much and find that it keeps you fit, then offer free cleaning to neighbors on NextDoor. You’ll have many takers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a DC thing. It's a status symbol. In the Midwest, you have a nice car, or a boat. In DC, you hire cleaners. Neither makes much sense.

This

It’s not a status symbol. It’s just status. I hate cleaning. I make enough that I don’t need to. Therefore, I don’t and I hire someone. Why not??

Anonymous wrote:It's a DC thing. It's a status symbol. In the Midwest, you have a nice car, or a boat. In DC, you hire cleaners. Neither makes much sense.

This

Anonymous wrote:Why do you need to get it though? How about you do you and let other people do them?

Yep. Why does anyone need to justify how they spend their time and money if it doesn’t impact others and isn’t doing damage to the environment etc.?

Let me know when they have underwater cleaning methods, OP. I’m a swimmer. THAT is my workout. My second-favorite is walking outdoors, the benefit of which IT IS OUTDOORS.

Stupid thread premise.