Cleaning

How cleaning burns calories

Cleaning involves frequent light-to-moderate movement — reaching, bending, scrubbing, carrying — spread across a sustained period rather than one continuous motion. No single action is demanding, but the constant low-level activity keeps your energy use steadily above resting for as long as the chores last.

At 3.0 MET, an hour of brisk cleaning burns a meaningful amount of energy simply because it's sustained, not because any one task is hard.

What changes the real number

• Task type: vacuuming and mopping involve more whole-body movement than wiping surfaces or folding laundry
• Pace: cleaning briskly with momentum between tasks burns more than a slow, paused approach
• Stairs and carrying: hauling laundry baskets or cleaning supplies up and down stairs adds real load on top of the base activity
• Session length: because the MET is low, total time spent matters more here than in almost any other activity on this list

Technique notes

• Batch similar tasks (all vacuuming, then all wiping) to keep moving continuously rather than stopping and restarting
• Use your legs to lower into a squat when scrubbing low surfaces instead of bending from the back
• Carry loads close to your body and brace your core before lifting laundry baskets or boxes
• Put on music at a brisk tempo — your pace tends to match what you're listening to

How it compares