Great Cardio Workouts to do at Home

When you’re stuck indoors, finding creative solutions to get your cardio fix can be tough. Most at-home cardio sessions include lots of jumping – which is great if you live on the ground floor, but not so good if you have neighbours underneath you. Even more annoying is that at-home cardio gets dull really quickly and can feel super taxing on your ligaments and joints since the movements are extra repetitive.

But! There are several ways to get your heart racing that don’t involve excessive jumping.

Remember that the true definition of cardio activity is anything that gets your heart pumping fast.

At home cardio is tough to evaluate because it often includes several exercises. Here’s an easy chart to help you gauge if you’re working hard enough.

With this chart, you now have a target heart rate that you should aim for with every cardio session.

The thing to keep in mind when doing at-home cardio is you need to look past the obvious movements. Yes, burpees and skipping rope will help get your heart where you want it to be, but those exercises might not be accessible for you. Repetitive bodyweight movements can be overly taxing on the joints, so it’s important to keep variety when you’re creating an at home programme.

Here are four workouts that can be performed anywhere, all without jumping. Remember to always warm up properly before each bodyweight workout and ensure you have enough space to move unencumbered without running into anything.

Workout Twenty-One

This workout is named for the number of reps you do each round.

For time:

• 20 push-ups, 1 sit up
• 19 push-ups, 2 sit ups
• 18 push-ups, 3 sit ups
• 17 push-ups, 4 sit ups

Continue in this pattern until you’ve reached

• 2 push-ups, 19 sit ups
• 1 push-up, 20 sit ups

You’ll notice there’s no jumping around with this, but it will definitely get your heart beating fast. Even better, you’ll be working on developing a lean physique with killer abs and amazing biceps.

Super Legs

This workout is leg-centric because who says being inside means you get to skip leg day?

Five round for time

• 20 air squats
• 20 reverse lunges
• 20 wide stance air squats
• 20 1 leg deadlift

To make sure your heart stays in the right zone, keep your movements quick and snappy. The faster you cycle through each round, the more your heart will need to work and the more overall caloric burn you’ll achieve.

Full Body Cardio

The goal of this workout is completing it as fast as possible. That means you should push yourself as hard as possible to move through the movements quickly. Don’t let the simplicity fool you. It’s a tough one.

8 rounds for time:

• 11 hand release push-ups
• 30 walking lunges
• 19 sit ups

Make sure you don’t compromise form for speed in this workout.

Overhaul

This is a hard workout that’s going to challenge you in all the right ways.

For time:

• 8-16-32-50-64-80 Air squats
• 4-8-16-25-32-40 Alternating lunges
• 2-4-8-12-16-20 Hand-stand push-ups

If you can’t complete all the rounds of hand-stand push ups, switch to hand-release push ups or use a push-up bar to get more depth.

If you can’t complete all the rounds of hand-stand push ups, switch to hand-release push ups or use a push-up bar to get more depth.

All four of these workouts demonstrate the fact that you can easily get a sweat-inducing, heart pumping workout at home without relying on jumping up and down. Of course, if you’re keen on jumping, there are several at-home cardio workouts that might be fun. One of our favourites is the 3000 Burpee Challenge. Test your limits with 100 burpees a day for 30 days and see how your mental strength and your body transforms.

We know that being inside without access to a gym is challenging, especially when it completely disrupts your patterns and routines. The key here is to remain flexible and adaptable. Working with what you have on hand instead of mourning your losses is a great first step. Plus, a good sweat always helps shake the cobwebs loose.