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Calorie-burning activities include cleaning, gardening, tai chi, and playing with your children.

A 30-minute walk can burn just as many calories as daily activity. (News18)
For basic fitness, walking is regarded as the gold standard. A vigorous 30-minute walk usually burns between 120 and 150 calories, depending on pace and body weight. However, here’s an idea: what if physical activity could seem more like play than exercise? Without putting on a treadmill or running in a park, there are fun and lesser-known everyday activities that not only equal but occasionally exceed the number of calories burned by walking.
These walk-free activities are listed below; some are relaxing, others are fun, and all have real data to support them. Each one makes the heart work a little harder while feeling more like living a happy life than an exercise.
Gardening
Planting, digging, weeding, and watering can burn 150–200 calories in a 30-minute gardening session. Gardening also increases hand strength, promotes stretching, and lowers cortisol (the stress hormone) levels, in contrast to monotonous gym activities. Instead of feeling like training, this type of exercise seems therapeutic.
Dancing in the living room
Play a 30-minute of music, then simply get up and move. Depending on intensity, freestyle dancing can burn anywhere from 150 to 250 calories. A study found that dancing lowers the symptoms of depression and enhances cardiovascular health, flexibility, and balance.
Tai Chi
Even though tai chi seems calm and contemplative, its flowing movements work every part of the body. According to a study that was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, 30 minutes of Tai Chi practice can burn up to 150 calories.
Tai chi’s true strength is its ability to improve mental clarity, gently engage muscles, and train balance. It provides both exercise and mindfulness, making it particularly beneficial for elderly people or those recuperating from injuries.
Hula hooping
In just 30 minutes, hula hooping can burn almost 200 calories. It raises the heart rate without the strain of high-impact exercises, strengthens the core muscles, and enhances coordination.
Playing with kids
In a half-hour, pretend play activities including running around with kids, crawling, lifting, dancing, and even chasing can burn up to 200 calories. Play that is more involved burns more calories.
Active play with children enhances agility and releases hormones that promote mood, according to a Mayo Clinic study. It doesn’t seem like exercise—until your tired muscles remind you otherwise the next day.
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