You don’t have to be at the gym to get in a serious workout. Buzz60's Sean Dowling has more. Buzz60


Let's face it: Some of us can barely make it through our regular day without feeling exhausted, so the idea of hitting the gym or a workout is something we just can't deal with right now.

But even if you don't make it to your local gym or set aside time for a home workout, you can still burn calories with some regular, degular, shmegular activities. So shmegular, in fact, that you won't even consider them to be a form of exercise.

Check out some fun ways you can shed extra calories without lifting a dumbbell or running more than a few feet. 

We used's online calculator to get an estimate of how many calories the average American could burn. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average American man 20 and older is 5-foot-9 and weighs 198 pounds. The average American woman 20 and older is 5-foot-4 and 171 pounds. In our calculations, we used age 40 (midlife) as the baseline.

Droppin' it like it's hot

You don't have to pick between a night out with friends or getting a workout in – you can do both at the same time. 

Going out to a club or bar and dancing can be considered a great workout. Now, the number of calories you burn and muscles used will also depend on what type of dancing you're doing. 

If you're just swaying from side to side for two hours, you probably won't get as much out of it as if you're dropping it low for two hours. If you're doing the latter, men can burn up to 430 calories an hour, and women can burn 370. This also depends on individual factors, such as the amount of work you're really putting in when dancing. 

Keeping up with your kids

If you ever feel like you don't have time to work out because you're running after your kids 24/7, surprise! That's your workout. 

Pushing a stroller with a child in it for an hour can burn 230 calories for men and 205 for women. Playing with your kids for an hour can burn 350 calories for men and about 300 for women, and carrying an infant for 30 minutes can burn about 160 calories for men and 140 for women. 

Tidying up – not necessarily Marie Kondo-style

Think of cleaning as hitting two birds with one stone – you'll have a clean home and have gotten a decent workout in. 

An hour of cleaning, which includes 20 minutes each of scrubbing your floors, organizing your room and mopping, can burn about 340 calories for women and 390 for men. If you wash your dishes for an additional 20 minutes, that's an extra 65 calories burned for men and 55 for women. 

Think of how much you can burn if you really went in on cleaning your entire home from the top down.

Walking your dog

Taking your best friend in the whole world on a walk isn't just beneficial for them, it is for you, as well. Getting in those daily steps with your pupper can burn 285 calories for men and 245 for women in an hour. If you're running around with your dog and exerting more energy by playing around with him, you can burn even more. 

Don't have a dog? No worries; borrow your neighbor's. Or just take yourself on a nice walk – you can burn just the same amount as if you had a doggo.

Sex – no, really 

As if you didn't have enough reasons before to tumble in the hay, now you can add "burns calories" to your list. 

A 30-minute sex session can burn an average 190 calories for men and 160 for women.  It can burn more calories depending on how much physical work you're exerting.

Shooting pool with friends

Forget about driving to the gym and drive to your local pool hall instead. Pick up a friend or two on the way while you're at it and shoot around some balls. An hour-long game can burn at least 220 calories for men and 190 for women.

And we all know pool games usually last a while, especially if you're really bad. If you're an expert at billiards, then just play multiple games to get to an hour. 


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