What?! Cleaning?! You mean surely not picking up a spray and wipe the kitchen tiles with a couple of swipes? How can you call this a workout?!

Well, back in the days (let’s say the good old 70’s) you filled a bucket with water and a bit of multi- purpose cleaner, using a cloth (& perhaps a brush for a thorough bathroom clean), wearing your marigolds while giving the house a good scrub. The bucket itself was pretty heavy, let’s say 20 litre water weighs 20kg (44lbs) and you carried this bucket around from one to another part of the house, climbing the stairs, thoroughly scrubbing the tiles in the bathroom and bathroom floor, working yourself into sweat! A good old scrub and you burn approx. 350 kcal with the side effect of taking a shower in a healthy mould free, shiny bathroom!

Making life easier and become less active.

Cleaning is annoying, a waste of time and for old fashioned housewives so let’s make life easier by using sprays and just give it a wipe. A variety of cleaning sprays were introduced over the years and the manufacturers make us believe you can get rid of the worst dirt by giving it a spray and wipe so you have quality time to spare to lie on the couch and watch your favourite show. (let’s have a bag of crisps as well to celebrate) Making things easier made us less active.

In the past 35 years the amount of people with overweight (obesity) in the Western world has grown significantly because of our sedative life-style, eating more ready meals/take-aways and some other factors playing a role in this matter.

In short; we move less + eat more crap = gaining more fat (increasing the risk of developing diabetes, cardiovascular disease etc)

So, lift your bump of the couch, get a bucket of water with a bit of multi-purpose cleaner and let’s go for a cleaning workout!

The cleaning workout.

You can burn quite a bit of calories with a thorough old-fashioned cleaning. The calories per cleaning task shown below are an estimate because age, gender, weight and fitness level play a role in how much you burn. If you’re quite fit for example and can climb the stairs without catching your breath, you’ll burn less calories getting on the stairs than someone who isn’t that fit. As well the size of your house/apartment/car matters.

Important here to mention is how to execute the cleaning tasks because it’s more likely to hurt your back at home picking something of the floor than in the gym.

Hoovering the entire house/apartment: 150-250 kcal

When you hoover do not not round the back completely while moving your arm forth and back because you end up with lower back pain. Keep the back in a neutral position and when you move your arm forward you just round the spine a bit from mid-spine. Make your workout more intense and the cleaning worthwhile, so hoover beneath your bed, drawer etc. behind the couch and shift some furniture around. When hoover beneath something, go down on your knees, make sure when you get on your feet again lift yourself in an upright position from the legs. (not the back)

Changing bed sheets: 120 kcal

How simple can it be, changing the sheets, pillow cases, duvet cover etc.

Bathroom cleaning: 350 kcal

To burn this amount of calories you really need that bucket of water and a cloth/brush. Make sure that when you lift the bucket of the floor you squat and lift yourself in an upright position from the legs. Clean the (tiles) walls from top to bottom, to get of rid limescale and mould you need a brush and use more power. Scrubbing the floors or use a cloth and get down on the knees. (sensitive knees? Place a towel beneath them) If you have back problems, it’s better to stand up right and use a mop. This big-time cleaning task will make you sweat!

Scrubbing/mopping the floor: 200-300 kcal

Depending whether you’re down on all fours and washing the floor with a cloth or scrubbing or standing on your feet. If your back allows it to be down on the floor then go for it, your floor will be cleaner when you put some pressure on your cloth.

Washing the car: 300 kcal

Washing the car by hand, inside & out. Hoover the seats etc. as well. It saves you money not driving through a car wash and you’ll get fitter.

Gardening: 300 kcal

You can burn even more if you have to lift heavy bags of soil and other material. Weeding, mowing etc. it’s a nice outdoor workout.

Now, there are other parts of the house that might need a good clean, the kitchen for example, so you may burn even more.

Same rules apply here like in the gym

Remember to be mindful when you lift something of the floor, squat and lift from the legs. Never round the spine whilst picking something from the floor! Be careful on a stepladder, don’t carry heavy things and/or not being able as well to hold on secure to the ladder. The rules apply here as they do when you would be exercising in a gym, keep your alignment and use the right technique! As well, the more you intensify the tasks the more you burn!

Terms & Conditions

This page will provide you information with the legal terms & conditions, privacy policy and refund/cancellation policy. These terms will apply to any contract between me and you. Please read these terms carefully and make sure that you understand them before ordering any of my services. Please note that by ordering any of my services you agree to be bound by these terms and other documents expressly referred to in it. Since I offer various services you can read the terms & conditions of the service you intend to buy. Privacy policy and cancellation/refund policy/payment apply for all services.

Interpretation and variation

In the Terms & Conditions the following definitions apply: “Me and I” means Patricia Brenner “ You, the client, participant” means any person that has bought and/or use any of Patricia Brenner’s services. “Both” means Patricia Brenner and any person that has bought and/or use any of Patricia Brenner’s services “Terms & Conditions” means these Terms & Conditions.

  1. Patricia Brenner reserves the right to adjust the Terms & Conditions when considered necessary and will notify clients within reasonable time.

Personal fitness and Pilates training

  1. I will use my skills and knowledge to design a safe and enjoyable training programme that will take in to account your lifestyle, personal goals, fitness levels and medical history.
  2. I will coach, motivate and advise you within my best ability to help you reach your goals and /or needs.
  3. You understand that the results of any fitness programme cannot be guaranteed. Your progress depends on your effort and co-operation in and outside the sessions. In particular you acknowledge that individual results may vary and no particular result can be guaranteed.
  4. You are required to complete a Parq (physical activity readiness questionnaire) before starting your first training session.
  5. It is your full responsibility to inform me entirely and truthfully of your health and physical condition at all times and if necessary a medical certificate of your gp or specialist might be required. I reserve the right to refuse (further) training with you or designing a programme in case you fail to inform me entirely and truthfully of your health and physical condition as well in case you can’t hand over a medical note if required.
  6. I cannot be held liable in any way for declared or unknown medical conditions which results in injury, illness or death.
  7. You fully understand that there are inherent risks in participating in a training programme. If you sustain or claim to sustain any injury while participating in training you acknowledge that I am not responsible, except where the injury is caused by my own negligence or intentional act.
  8. You are required to arrive on time for each session. In case of late arrival your training will end at the agreed time, there will be no extension or extra time given for the time you’ve missed neither will it be refunded. In case I arrive late I will make up for the time by extending the session or we agree to make up for the missed time another training session.
  9. You must be fully committed to your training programme in order to achieve the desired results or goals.
  10. You are required to follow my instructions at all times
  11. I reserve the right to refuse sessions with male clients at home or other private property if I feel that my safety is being compromised. Another suitable location will be offered.
  12. I reserve the right to refuse my service to you in case you treat me with disrespect, being rude or abusive.

Life coaching

Let me be clear what life coaching is about and for whom it is not suitable. A life coach guides and helps people in the process of achieving personal goals such as for example a change of life style, achieving a successful career, relationships, finding a purpose in life etc. The life coach is there to support, motivate, inspire and handing out the tools for the client to work on his/her life path, to be able to make the client see what’s already there.

Life coaching is not suitable for those diagnosed with mental illness or receiving psychiatric treatment.

  1. I’m there to help you, motivate and inspire you but through the entire process you have to take ownership, you make the decisions and being responsible for them and the outcome.
  2. I’m not a psychiatrist or therapist and therefore my coaching programme isn’t a treatment or therapy.
  3. You are required to be on time for each session. In case of being late, the session will end at the agreed time, there will be no extension or extra time given for the time you’ve missed neither will it be refunded. In case I’m delayed I will make up for the time by extending the session or we agree to make up for the missed time another session.
  4. I reserve the right to refuse sessions with male clients at home or other private property if I feel that my safety is being compromised. Another suitable location will be offered.
  5. I reserve the right to refuse my service to you in case you treat me with disrespect, being rude or abusive.

Pilates classes

  1. It is your full responsibility to inform me entirely and truthfully before commencing the class of your health and physical condition and if necessary a medical certificate by your gp or specialist might be required. I am entitled to refuse you participating in my class if your health might be at risk.
  2. I cannot be held liable in any way for declared or unknown medical conditions which results in injury, illness or death.
  3. You are required to follow my instructions at all times.
  4. You fully understand that there are inherent risks in participating exercising. If you sustain or claim to sustain any injury while participating in training you acknowledge that I am not responsible.
  5. You are required to be at time for your class. No admittance after 10 minutes the class commenced.
  6. I reserve the right to substitute my class if necessary and will inform you within reasonable time.
  7. I will not accept liability for any damage or loss to a participant’s personal property brought in to the studio neither to any damage caused by the participant to the studio and it’s equipment.
  8. I reserve the right to refuse admittance to a class if you’re being disrespectful to me and others or not following my instructions.

Nutrition

A nutritionist is qualified only to provide information about food and healthy eating and not specific diets for treating conditions.

  1. I promote a healthy lifestyle through healthy eating and exercising. I design a custom made nutrition program which is meant to stimulate healthy eating and will inspire you with various, interesting recipes.
  2. I am not a therapist and will refer you to a specialist in case you have a certain condition(s).
  3. You’re required to be at time for your session. In case you’re late the session will end at the agreed time. In case I’m late the session will be extended or the missed time will be added to another session.

Cancellation/Refund policy/Payments

  1. All sessions/class cancelled within 24 hours of the start of the session will be charged.
  2. In case of not showing up for a session/class you will be charged.
  3. Your session/class will be cancelled if the payment isn’t received before starting the session.
  4. Any block of sessions or a single session purchased must be used within 3 months of the initial payment date except for the 12 block of sessions which must be used within 6 months of the initial payment date.
  5. Refunds are only applicable when: a. illness inhibits continuation (doctor’s certificate required) Refunds only apply for the sessions not taken.
  6. Payments for any service must be received before starting your session/class.
  7. The purchase of any service by Patricia Brenner is deemed as acceptance of these Terms & Conditions.
  8. Prices and services are subject to change with reasonable notice.

Privacy Policy

Patricia Brenner operates the patricia-brenner.com website, which provides the SERVICE.

This page is used to inform website visitors regarding our policies with the collection, use, and disclosure of Personal Information if anyone decided to use our Service, the Patricia Brenner Mind & Body Fitness website.

If you choose to use our Service, then you agree to the collection and use of information in relation with this policy. The Personal Information that we collect are used for providing and improving the Service. We will not use or share your information with anyone except as described in this Privacy Policy.

The terms used in this Privacy Policy have the same meanings as in our Terms and Conditions, which is accessible at patricia-brenner.com, unless otherwise defined in this Privacy Policy.

Information Collection and Use

For a better experience while using our Service, we may require you to provide us with certain personally identifiable information, including but not limited to your name, phone number, and postal address. The information that we collect will be used to contact or identify you.

Log Data

We want to inform you that whenever you visit our Service, we collect information that your browser sends to us that is called Log Data. This Log Data may include information such as your computer’s Internet Protocol ("IP") address, browser version, pages of our Service that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, and other statistics.

Service Providers

We may employ third-party companies and individuals due to the following reasons

  • To facilitate our Service
  • To provide the Service on our behalf
  • To perform Service-related services
  • To assist us in analysing how our Service is used

We want to inform our Service users that these third parties have access to your Personal Information. The reason is to perform the tasks assigned to them on our behalf. However, they are obligated not to disclose or use the information for any other purpose.

Security

We value your trust in providing us your Personal Information, thus we are striving to use commercially acceptable means of protecting it. But remember that no method of transmission over the internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure and reliable, and we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Links to Other Sites

Our Service may contain links to other sites. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that site. Note that these external sites are not operated by us. Therefore, we strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of these websites. We have no control over, and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services.

Children’s Privacy

Our Services do not address anyone under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal identifiable information from children under 13. In the case we discover that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we immediately delete this from our servers. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so that we will be able to do necessary actions.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. Thus, we advise you to review this page periodically for any changes. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page. These changes are effective immediately, after they are posted on this page. Our GDPR Privacy Policy was generated from the Privacy Policy Template.