Household Physio

stickywicket

OK it's not proper physio ie not the sort of systemised workout that ensures all muscles get a good going over, but it can still give some of them a fair crack of the whip.

This morning I decided to haul out my heated clothes drier which has been languishing in the utility room for months. Not to have the heating bit on – perish the thought :shock: Just to air them. It's tall and I'm not, so I'm at full stretch as I haul heavy, damp bath sheets up one side of a rack and down another.

I get a workout of a different kind when pegging out. The hauling isn't quite so onerous but it's still a stretch and I must negociate 6 steps down to the garden and 6 back up again with each load. Usually that's 4 loads out and, later, 4 in.

I also swiffered and vacced this morning. (I know. I'm stupidly proud of myself m0150 ) These are all-body workouts the way I have to do them. They 're also a memory test as I rehearse my full range of expletives.

Washing up (Twice so far), making the bed, cleaning the bits of the bathroom that either don't get cleaned regularly enough :oops: or else need it daily. Some intricate finger work here.

It's not quite 2.30. I'm tired but pleasantly so.

What are your glutes and abs and pecs suggestions? (Although I'm not sure I have a clue where any of them should be but I'm fairly confident mine went awol years ago.)

BettyMac

Phew!
I’m tired just reading that.
This should also be on the Triumphs Thread!

I did the opposite of a full body workout yesterday; sat at my sewing machine most of the day, quilting a cot quilt.
It did involve a bit of upper body exercise as I wrestled the bloomin’ thing back and forth.
I have a very sore back today so more sewing is deferred until that resolves.

Yesterday’s activity also exercised my recall of swearie words, not difficult in my case as I’m embarrassingly fluent.
:oops:

dreamdaisy

I think you have made a valid point, Sticky. It is easy to disregard our normal, every-day activities as exercise but it is. In this modern world we are not thought to be exercising unless we are pounding pavements, cycling from here to waaaaay over there, swimming at least fifty lengths or pounding kit in the gym. Utter nonsense.

I've been recalling my Ma's household chores back in the 60s and 70s: no steam mop for the floors, a very early Hoover which weighed a ton, no automatic washing machine, no tumble dryer, no dishwasher, no food processor, no fridge, no freezer, no anti-bac sprays, no car so shopping was daily (none of this one big shop and home to the fridge and freezer nonsense) the list goes on and it ensured a very active day even on a quieter one.

My home physio today will involve stripping the bed, loading the washing machine (a nice stretch for the washing liquid will be involved), unloading the machine, festooning airers and preparing for the chimney sweep this afternoon: the hearth and mantlepiece needs fifty-two items cleared so mucho bending and straightening there! DD

Airwave!

Phew time for a sitdown after that! I find doing all the household chores a good workout, mowing the grass is half a days work every five days, washing the car, weeding, trips to the dump etc etc. Why do I get all the good jobs? Because noone else is going to do them. Right, Post office next.

stickywicket

dreamdaisy wrote:

I've been recalling my Ma's household chores back in the 60s and 70s: no steam mop for the floors, a very early Hoover which weighed a ton, no automatic washing machine, no tumble dryer, no dishwasher, no food processor, no fridge, no freezer, no anti-bac sprays, no car so shopping was daily (none of this one big shop and home to the fridge and freezer nonsense) the list goes on and it ensured a very active day even on a quieter one.

Yes indeed. Going back a little further, to the '50s, I recall my Grandma's huge wringer, her posser and 'Dolly Blue'. With these she washed for her husband and 9 kids and also took in washing for others to earn some money. She never actually sat still. Even in her armchair (next to the range) she would be shelling peas, darning or polishing. She lived to a ripe old age.

Slosh

My Mum never had a washing machine (they don't wash clothes properly), just a little spinner, a electic boiler with mangle, later replaced with a stove top boiler, and never used a hoover (they ruin your carpets) and used to wash the carpets with a scrubbing brush. I can still remember the steamy air and the distinct aroma of wash day! She also made the most delicious suet pudding and spotted dick using a pudding cloth.

I was also brought up with the dictum "The devil finds work for idle hands", and still find it hard to sit, rest and do nothing.

daffy2

I was also brought up with the dictum "The devil finds work for idle hands", and still find it hard to sit, rest and do nothing.

I still live with that gem of a guilt trip Slosh! Funnily enough it was only my maternal grandparents(with whom I didn't have much contact) who ever actually quoted it, but having thoroughly indoctrinated their daughter it always hung in the air at home, especially if we were ever foolish enough to mention the 'b' word(boredom).It was reinforced by my father's attitude that children were there to make his life easier by doing as many chores as possible, so releasing my mother to devote her time to him.
In recent years I have thankfully made good progress in rejecting it as unhelpful....Telling myself that I'm not 'doing nothing' but practising 'mindfulness' even makes it desirable!

daffy2

Ignore the double quote - I don't know what I did but I can't undo it. Hope you all can make sense of the post - it's too hot is my excuse!

Slosh

Makes perfect sense.
Hope it cools down again soon.

stickywicket

daffy2 wrote:

.Telling myself that I'm not 'doing nothing' but practising 'mindfulness' even makes it desirable!

daffy, life has few better things to offer than 'doing nothing' with people one loves. It is recreational in the true sense of re-creating. It kind of re-sets our habits and thoughts and puts them in perspective.

daffy2

Sticky, being with loved ones is, for me, doing something regardless of what activity or not is happening, possibly because for me it is an infrequent event.
My weak spot is being at home, and particularly in the garden, where my compulsion to 'just do' is very hard to overcome.

stickywicket

It's true that home can be the hardest place to relax because our eyes always light on something that needs doing.

I gave up on mindfulness / meditation very early on as, invariably, the phone or doorbell seemed to ring ten times louder than usual and made me extremely 'unrelaxed'. But I have learned, by dint of being regularly 'abandoned' in the wheelchair while others explore strenuous areas, to enjoy being where I am, find the beautiful bits of sometimes quite ugly places and that, in itself, is relaxing - especially as I don't have to dust, tidy or wash anything