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Want a Killer Workout? Try a Home Renovation

Looking to blast calories, get toned, and build big-time muscles before beach season is over? Have no fear, homeowners—you can skip those pricey gym memberships, embarrassingly energetic Zumba classes, or endless bike rides. Start a home renovation instead!

It’s not so far-fetched. Remember Ralph Macchio in “The Karate Kid” learning to become a martial arts champ by painting Mr. Miyagi‘s fence? OK, that was far-fetched. But truth be told, you can indeed get seriously toned by carrying paint cans, ladders, and lumber instead of lifting weights, say fitness experts.

“If you do any type of home rehab, you’ll find yourself forced to develop some lean muscle mass,” says Anne Vilimek, a personal trainer at Health Track Sports Wellness in Glen Ellyn, IL, who has also worked on more than a few home-remodeling projects. Bonus: “You can save a ton by doing [the work] on your own.”

Want to work your biceps, triceps, and shoulders? Hammer nails, Vilimek says.

How about your quads and glutes? Squat when you’re lifting heavier items such as lumber.

And if you tighten those abdominal muscles while you’re working, you can build core strength, she says.

But the very best projects for developing a bikini- or Speedo-worthy bod? Painting walls and replacing flooring. OK, now the secret is out.

“Painting is a full-body workout,” says Vilimek, who built her two-story home with her husband and now rehabs their rental properties. “You’re up and down ladders. You’re using rollers and paintbrushes. You’re squatting and lifting paint cans and tarps.”

Redoing floors provides similar benefits, as do-it-yourselfers are going to be hoisting heavy materials and hauling lumber and containers of grout.

And don’t forget to get in those steps! Amateur remodeler Michelle Mulak took 19,800 steps after a single day’s work on her new Cocoa Beach, FL, home.

“Who needs to pay for a gym membership when squatting, bending, lifting, reaching, stretching, climbing, pushing, and pulling are all a part of your daily work routine?” Mulak writes in Florida Today.

Homeowners can burn about 238 calories an hour installing carpet, laying tile, or sanding floor, according to Nashville, TN–based GreenPal, which connects customers to lawn care companies. (Fun fact: That’s roughly the same number of calories in a Hershey’s PayDay candy bar.)

Repairing a roof or building a fence can torch about 340 calories an hour. And homeowners really jonesing for a challenge can burn about 400 calories an hour just pushing a lawn mower around the yard for an hour, according to GreenPal. So get your motors running!

But just as if they were starting a new weight-lifting regimen, amateur remodelers need to be careful not to hurt themselves, Vilimek cautions. She recommends folks go online and watch a few demo videos on the proper ways to bend, lift, and twist before starting any work.

“You can really strain your lower back or end up with neck problems if you don’t know how to lift things properly,” Vilimek says.

Fledgling handymen and handywomen should also leave certain projects (e.g., rewiring the electricity or replacing complicated plumbing in a house) to the pros, says Craig Webb, editor of Remodeling Magazine.

“Anything that involves cutting into the walls of the house, and particularly the frame, should give you pause,” he says. “We hear of stories all the time of people who accidentally cut beams and posts and have part of the house fall in.”

But for the most part, novice rehabbers don’t need muscles “the size of Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime” to build up a sweat doing basic projects, he says.

“Working on a house is not going to make you buff enough to qualify for the Olympics in weight lifting,” Webb says. “But it will raise your heart rate and help you get toned.”

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