Vary the way you pick things up from the floor.
No time to go to the gym? That was a problem in the 1920s, too. In 1926, Dr. Lillian E. Shaw had these suggestions for “the housewife and mother whose innumerable duties keep her occupied from morning till night.”
“Her back may be kept straight and flexible, abdominal muscles firm and hips slender by using every day in her work the same kinds of exercises the instructor plans for her classes in the gymnasium.”
Even making the bed is an opportunity to stretch and strengthen muscles. Article in Delineator, March 1926.
Balance exercise: putting on stockings.
[I think I’d put my back against a wall before trying this for the first time….]
Flexing your torso while brushing your hair.
Dust with both hands. Work from the shoulder.
Making the bed or dusting is an opportunity for deep knee bends.
Making the bed can be an opportunity to stretch side and back muscles.
Use different muscle groups to pick things up from the floor.
One way of picking up a piece of thread.
A different way to pick up a piece of thread.
Don’t think of it as vacuuming; think of it as strengthening exercise!
I’m really sorry I missed the opportunity to photograph page 66! I think these illustrations are charming, ( Look!– realistic drawings of the human figure — in a fashion magazine!) and the idea of doing repetitive tasks using different muscle groups makes sense to me. ( I wish I had been doing squats more often, while my knees still worked pretty well….) When your loved ones leave toys and socks on the living room floor, think of those objects as opportunities to use the four “pick up” positions!
What the attractive young housewife wore in 1926.
From the fashion viewpoint: notice that the typical 1926 housewife in the exercise article is wearing stockings and a dress to do housework, but her shoes are very low-heeled, and her belt is at her waist, not her hips….
A woman proudly shows her new Congoleum kitchen flooring to a visitor. Delineator, 1925.
Advertisements are always a useful reality check when you’re doing fashion research. The advertising agency (and Congoleum executives with ad approval) thought their audience could identify with this look, even if the fashions were definitely out of date by 1925.
witness2fashion 
I’d heard of this form of exercise but without specifics. Very interesting. I’ve always liked Callanetics, which was popular in the 80’s, and is still taught and available today.
Something for all of us!
Haha! That was my mother’s get-out of doing any exercise in her later years – she said she already was: housework, gardening, enough!