If it’s raining or snowing outside, your car’s broken down, or you simply don’t want to go to the gym, it doesn’t mean that you can’t get your dose of cardio.
In this post I will show you a few powerful cardio exercises that you can do at home to get your heart pumping, the sweat pouring, and the fat melting.
However, before we begin let me just say this: doing a home workout is no different than doing one outdoors or at the gym. Your focus should be the workout. If you want to train while watching TV I won’t stop you but make sure that you’re giving your workout everything you’ve got.
There are 3 ways to do a home cardio workout: using a machine, following a workout on TV or the computer, or doing one yourself. Let’s quickly go over the first two before I get to the home cardio exercises that I want to share with you.
Using a Cardio Machine
As long as you have enough space in your home you may decide to invest some money and purchase a cardio machine. There are plenty of options to choose from: a rowing machine, recumbent bicycle, a treadmill or an elliptical machine.
Having a machine can be good as it serves as a reminder for you to train. However, it can just as easily turn out to be a waste of money. Unless you buy a machine you actually like training with, it may become nothing more than a clothes hanger. Having one particular machine can also prove limiting as you can do one sort of workout on it.
Following a Workout Video
A more affordable way to do cardio at home is to follow a workout DVD. There are so many to choose from here that it’s impossible to list them all.
Two of the more intense programs I know are the Insanity Workout and the P90X System. Both of these are not pure cardio but they are very effective. Walk Away The Pounds is another option if you’re looking for a lower intensity workout.
You may need to try a few of these programs until you find one which you like and there will come a time when you will grow tired of following the same program or simply need to move on to something else. This is why it is good to be able to create your own home cardio workout. This is what we will talk about next…
Top Cardio Exercises Which You Can Do At Home
Let’s talk about some of the exercises that you can do at home to give you a cardiovascular stimulation. These will mostly be bodyweight exercises but some of them may be made more intense by using dumbbells.
Let me give you a short cardio circuit that you can do to get you really pumped up:
- 50 Jumping jacks – This is just for warmup.
- 30 seconds of jumping with a rope.
- 30 seconds of fast squat jumps.
- 45 seconds of side to side jumps.
- 45 seconds of Mountain climbers.
- 20 seconds of lunge jumps.
- 30 seconds of knees to chest jumps.
- 1 minute of step ups on an aerobic steps with elbow to knee crosses.
This is a short circuit but if you do these exercises with no rest in between, you will be wondering what hit you when you’re done. You just have to do these bodyweight cardio exercises as fast as you can for optimal effect.
Let’s talk about some of these exercises and make sure that you know how to do them correctly:
Squat jumps – I’m skipping over the jumping jacks and rope jumps because I imagine that you already know how to perform them. The squat jumps are less known but they’re still simple. To do these correctly you need to go into a deep squat and from that position jump as high as you can.
Side to side jumps – Place the jumping rope in a straight line on the floor and stand to one side of it. With both legs, jump over the rope, land and immediately jump back to the first side. Repeat this as quickly as you can.
Mountain climbers – To do this exercise go down into a push up position. Lift one foot and move it forward, placing it on the floor beneath your torso or to the side of it. Return to the push up position and repeat with the other foot. Again, speed is of the essence here. If you want to burn fat, you’re going to need to do this fast.
Lunge jumps – This is a fantastic exercise and one of my favorites. You start this exercise by doing a regular forward lunge. From the position in which your knees are bent you need to rise with a jump. Switch your legs in the air and land with the rear one forward and the forward one back. Go into a lunge and repeat.
Knees to chest jumps – This exercise is just what it sounds like. It’s a great cardio exercise because your heart rate will skyrocket when you do this.
Simply stand up straight and jump as high as you can while bending both knees and bringing them toward your chest. Land and repeat as fast as you can.
Step ups with elbow to knee – The picture at the beginning of this post shows you how this exercise is done. To do this exercise you will need an aerobic step. You simply place one foot on the step, push yourself up on it and bend the other knee while bringing the opposite elbow to it. You should rotate your torso so you will also train your obliques with this exercise.
This is an 8 exercise circuit. It may prove to much for you at the moment. That’s OK. Start by doing 5 exercises in a row and then resting for a minute before repeating the circuit. Slowly add more exercises to it and you will quickly find that you’re getting a fantastic home cardio workouts. You will feel yourself getting fitter. I’m sure that you will also see results when you weigh or take physical measurements.
So, now you have a pretty good picture of how cardio exercises can be done at home. Choose the best option for you or combine a few. There are plenty of ways to do this. All you need to have is some time and dedication.