Today we live in the age of remote controls. We operate anything and everything through remote control and the house is fully automated. Even household chores are mechanized.
We light the stove with a lighter and do not face the difficulty of having to stroke a match stick against the match box.

The wet grinders have removed one wonderful physical exercise of grinding using hand power. The same trend is taking over other house chores, like washing your clothes, sweeping the floor and so on, with the arrival of electronic home appliances like the washing machine and the vacuum cleaner.

When we wash our hair we dry it with a hair dryer. It is a waste of electricity and an opportunity of an excellent physical exercise is lost. Imagine wiping the wet hair using a towel with your hand. Your hair will dry and at the same time your hands and palms will receive good exercise besides a natural massage to your head and acupressure to your palm muscles.

One of the best exercises that can be done at home and is equal to body building is the wrenching of wet clothes with your hands instead of using a washing machine / drier. The shoulder, hands and palms are made to exercise. Washing the dishes is another exercise for the hands that has reduced due to the dishwasher. Thanks to wrinkle free pants and shirts, the exercise of ironing has gone. Vacuum cleaner reduced almost 80% of physical exercise like bending, fast movement of hands and neck by holding a broomstick and sweeping. With the microwave oven coming to use and Instant foods increasing, the hands are not put to much exercise.

Even shaving has become effortless with the arrival of electrical shavers. There are shoe polishing machines and all you have to do is insert your foot into the machine. The rotating brushes will do the rest.

A while back, the home itself was a kind of GYM, every activity involved body movement and physical exercise. Thanks to the invasion of electrical and electronic gadgets, today everything can be done without moving a muscle. People are becoming unhealthy as the opportunity of doing exercise while working has greatly reduced. In order to compensate for the lack of physical activity they join a gym for a workout. Joining a gym is usually expensive and also consumes a lot of time which could have been spent in more constructive and useful activities. People have become overly dependent on machines and have begun to assign tasks which can easily be done themselves to the machines. When we do these tasks on our own we save money in terms of what we would have spent on the electricity required to work these machines and gadgets.

In the olden days we collected water in a bucket and used a mug to have a bath. But in this day and age, showers have become more popular which has again reduced the need for any physical exercise while having a bath. Using an elevator even to go to the second floor has taken the excellent physical exercise of climbing steps. This exercise is especially good for your calf muscles and thighs. The calculators and computers have zeroed down any need for mental exercise especially in terms of number crunching and memory goes. Now in the age of Global Warming we need to reconsider. Therefore make your home a gym.

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Your Home Gym

In addition to formal exercise, there are many opportunities to be active throughout the day like doing some household chores. Being active helps our physical well-being. The more you move around, the more energy you will have. These strategies can help you increase your activity level:

• After a head bath wipe it with a towel using your hands.
• Clean your car.
• Wrench your wet clothes before hanging them out to dry.
• Water your garden with a water can and not a hose.
• Stair walking, climbing up & climbing down.
• Clean your home, floor, windows and  doors for 30 minutes everyday.
• Electronic fittings can be dusted and cleaned.
• Garden at least two hours per week.
• Go shopping  on a bicycle.
• If you are in a cold place, shovel the snow.
• Collect water in a bucket and use a mug to pour water while having a bath.
• If you have elderly people who cannot walk, take them in a wheel chair and push them accordingly.
• If you have a baby push the cradle yourself to make the baby sleep.
• Have a swing and use it for exercise and relaxation.
• Occasionally grind food using a conventional grinder using your hands.
• Carry your luggage during travel instead of using a trolley.
• At least occasionally lift water from the well using a pulley.
• Use the stone and chapatti roller when making chapattis.
• Get up to change the TV channel instead of using the remote control.
• Members of a family can become masseurs and massage one another instead of using electric massagers.
• Play with the kids.
• Park your vehicle at the far end of the car park and walk.
• In the office carry the papers yourself and personally hand them over.