I know that exercise can improve my mood and it's one of the best stress management tools I have, but I can't say that scrubbing the bathtub has ever had me jumping for joy. But that's what the authors of a recent study were trying to determine -- just how much physical activity is necessary for better mental health. It doesn't take as much as you would think. Their study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, reveals that as little as 20 minutes of mild activity such as house cleaning can boost your mood. So get out that vacuum, polish the furniture, and chase away all the dust bunnies -- it's time to give your mental health a little spring cleaning.

I was glad to see that the study went on to say that, while mild activity was effective, greater mental health perks were realized with more intense and more frequent activity. I'm not a big fan of the articles and programs that tout cleaning house as physical activity. It's active, it's good for you, and everybody needs a clean house... but let's not fool ourselves. 20 minutes of vacuuming is not the same as 20 minutes of real exercise. So take it up a notch -- if 20 minutes of mild activity will boost your mood just imagine how great you'll feel when you exercise (for real) every day!

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If you find that some days make it hard to get in that run, walk or treadmill routine, try a good dose of housework instead and lose a chunk of calories anyway.

According to this source, regular cleaning activities like washing dishes and mopping the floor (among others) burned about 50,000 calories per year. Wow!

In other words, standard household chores are equivalent to walking more than 22 miles each and every year. It's something we have to do anyway, so instead of having the spouse or kids (or housecleaner) clean that house, do it yourself and get some calorie burning in there.

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