London

In the bathroom
Don’t use an electric toothbrush Your wrist muscles have to work harder with a manual model.

Shower, don’t bathe Simply standing up uses an extra 0.3 calories per minute, while showering tends to be a more active method of cleaning ourselves than luxuriating in the bath.

Towel your hair dry instead of using a hairdryer This provides a gentle workout for your biceps and shoulder muscles, and is also a great stretch for your neck.

Use roll-on deodorant rather than a spray. It works the flexor and extensor muscles in your wrist.

Use the upstairs loo rather than the downstairs one, if you have one.

After a shower or bath, stretch the backs of your arms by holding a small towel in your right hand above your head, then grab the other end with your left hand behind your back. Hold for ten seconds, and change sides. Now briskly towel yourself dry.

Feature continues

In the lounge
Ditch the TV remote control Getting up and changing the channel manually ten times a day will burn an extra ten calories. That’s a total of 3,650 per year – good enough to burn one pound of body fat.

When you’re watching telly, sit on a fitball rather than slumping in an armchair. This requires you to use your core stability muscles, which will improve your posture and help to make your abs flatter.

Move around during the ad breaks Use the two- or three-minute gaps in programmes to stretch your legs and burn up six calories per minute.

After you’ve read the newspaper, crumple up each sheet This works the muscles of your fingers and wrists, and helps to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome where pressure increases on the nerves between your hand and wrist.

When you’ve crumpled the sheets, press them all together into a big ball This is an isometric contraction that will exercise the muscles of your shoulders and arms.

Now walk with the ball of newspaper to your recycling bin.

Cleaning up
Don’t skimp on dusting With the stretching and walking involved, up to nine extra calories per minute can be burned.

Sweep the path or patio regularly It’s a good workout for your arms, shoulders and abdominal muscles.

Wash your windows Not only do they look good when clean, it’s an activity that uses your arm and shoulder muscles and burns 60 calories in 15 minutes of vigorous rubbing.

Give your rugs and mats a good beating You’ll burn around 40 calories in ten minutes and your external obliques (where love handles grow) will get a good workout.

Even if you’re a shower person, give your bath a regular clean A five-minute scrub will burn around 20 calories.

Fifteen minutes of vacuuming burns around 80 calories and recruits your core stability muscles to maintain good posture.

Don’t use a dishwasher Do the washing-up yourself and reckon on using an extra two calories per minute.

When you’ve washed them up, dry the dishes instead of leaving them to drain and count on another two calories per minute burned.

And when you’ve dried them, put the dishes away one at a time Turn your body from side to side, allowing your torso to twist and give a satisfying stretch through the spine.

Wash the car by hand instead of using the carwash A 30-minute session of vigorous sluicing and buffing will burn around 100 calories.

Use good old-fashioned elbow grease rather than a host of wonder-products for polishing. The saw-type motion is great for toning your upper-back and shoulder muscles.