Cardiovascular exercise, more simply known as cardio, is an incredibly easy way to burn out calories and get your heart beat faster. As a result, your heart is able to pump more blood, and your body is able to retrieve more oxygen— providing you with a healthier lifestyle and longer life expectancy.
Cardio makes you active and more alert about your surroundings, helps you sleep better, and get the most out of the day, thanks to your body being fully activated and in the best form to push you to perform at your maximum stamina. Not only that, studies have shown that people who perform cardio workouts daily have better moods and a flexible body structure, which screams of health and heartiness in the finest mode possible.
While you are at it, check out the benefits of Cardio Workouts.
Cardio is essential for good health— and that’s a fact. However, no one likes to get up early in the morning to see sweaty gym enthusiasts aggressively trying to cut down fat.
But here’s the deal; when it comes to cardio, you don’t need to get out of your comfort level and slug off to a gym when you can simply perform the same thing at home.
Before you begin, understand what cardio workout really is;
What is Cardio Workout?
Cardio workout is an exercise that speeds up your heart rate and turns on the level of oxygen, providing you more energy but cutting down on excessive fat. It is not just running or slight jogging, but also includes hardcore training that can build muscle strength.
How to do to Cardio Exercises At Home:
Always start with beginner level cardio exercises at home that can help you warm up in the morning before you really push your body to the limit. You can also purchase home gym equipment to perform cardio, even though that would provide you with faster results— you’ll need to spend a dime or two on it. These cardio exercise regimens can help build up strong muscle in your body without having you to go to a gym.
1. BURPEES
The best part about Burpees is that you don’t really need a lot of equipment. All you need is an open space and a pair of legs ready to jump in the air. To do a burpee, you need to make sure that your hands are flat on the ground with your back completely straight as you continuously shift between plank position and jumping in the air in forwarding motions.
Here’s how to do a Burpee at home
- Stand straight keeping your feet apart and arms straightened up by your sides
- Slowly bend your knees, but keep your posture straight. Reach in a forward motion and place your hands flat on the ground. Make sure that you are balancing your weight on your toes at this point
- Lower your body into a horizontal L position. This means bending your body at the elbows and putting the weight on your toes and your flattened hands.
- Immediately kick back your feet and stand up straight with your arms straightened up in the air.
- Repeat Step 1 to Step 4 at least 100 times a day. This will only take around 10 minutes of your time but prove to be extremely beneficial to get the most fat-blasting results.
2. Indoor Cycling
Do you remember how much you enjoyed riding a bike through your streets? That was for fun, but now you need to lose weight or build leg muscle, and there is no better way than indoor cycling.
This is the easiest home gym equipment that will help you burn fat fast. Simply get on the indoor cycle and adjust the seat according to your convenience. Avoid pushing your hips forward in an attempt to lose more weight. Simply relax and cycle like you did when you were a kid.
3. Jump Rope
Our personal favorite method of a cardio workout at home has to be jump rope. This is hands-down the easiest method and shows proven results of weight loss in the easiest way possible. Not only that, but it also provides a refreshing remembrance of your childhood when you used to jump rope to have fun— not to lose weight.
Jumping is, ultimately, the best cardio exercise. No matter what form of jumping may it be, jumping is a proven method of cutting down fat and reducing cholesterol levels by improving your heartbeat rate. This is the reason why jumping rope is always the most preferred form of training and is used by many athletes all over the world.
Here’s how you can use a Jump Rope to build muscle and strength in your body in the easiest way possible:
- Take a jump rope and hold it tightly from both ends. Some people like to tie the ends of ropes on their arms to get extra support, but we would never advise that since it increases the chances of you falling down rather than getting a swift jump
- Turn the rope around your head and to the ground, but as the rope reaches the ground, take a swift jump and let the rope pass underneath your feet.
- Now fasten your pace of rotating the jump rope between your head and toes.
With practice, you’ll be able to pick up a threshold of speed and burn a lot of calories. If you only jump rope for 25 minutes, you can burn around 230 – 240 calories easily. If you like to increase the time limit to 30 minutes straight up, you can go as far as to burn 270 calories without any hassle.
Be advised that even though it was easier to jump rope as a kid, you need to make sure that you don’t overdo it. Start by warming up your muscles and then slowly move your way around to get the maximum benefit out of cardio. You don’t want to end up with sore muscles.
4. Squat Jumps
Squats help strengthen your legs, glutes and improve your body mobility for the lower part, such as legs and thighs. It also ensures that your bones and joints remain healthy for a long time. Jumping warrants that your overall body weight is also shifted, and your lungs and heartbeat are energized to perform better.
Squat Jumps can help you lose as far as 250 calories a day within 10 minutes. That’s right — time to add some current in the barely used knees by doing a squat jump. If you’re wondering how you do a squat jump, let me tell you— you squat and then jump.
Follow these steps to perform a squat jump easily
- Since squat is a lower body exercise, you start by standing straight. Make sure your legs are parallel to your shoulders and that your body weight is transferred into your hips. Don’t forget to place your hands on your hips
- Inhale to tighten the muscles of your stomach and then slowly lower down as you’re trying to sit on your hips. Make sure not to put pressure on the knees.
- Straighten up your legs in the same position, and then jump
- Repeat Step 1 to Step 4 in the same way. You need to start slow but then increase your pace. Whatever you do, do not put pressure on your knee, especially if you have suffered a knee injury in the past.
You can also achieve the same results using a vertical jump machine, which is easy to use at home. For that, you need to adjust the elevator and power cords to your body and then stretch and de-stretch your legs. The home gym vertical jump machine would provide the added strength to your back, as well as your hips.
5. Running the treadmill
You might have seen a lot of celebrities and fitness experts diverting their attention to this cardio workout at home, and for the right reasons. Running the treadmill is one of the easiest ways to lose weight fast and build power in your lower body while also getting your heart rate pumping and making you feel more active.
Like all the other cardio workouts at home, you also need to make sure that you start slow and then speed up your pace. Make sure that you always buy a good quality treadmill, which is easy to use.
6. Stair Climber a.k.a running the stairs
The newest technique to lose weight in town is the stair climber gym equipment. What happens during this cardio workout is that you start by putting your hands under the bars that are added for support, and then move your weight around by quickly placing your weight on each stair and shifting and balancing on the stair climber without standing straight. That’s right, seems easy with the supporting bars, doesn’t it?
Whatever version of the cardio workout at home you choose, make sure that you start slow, warm up your body and get your hand on it and then move towards speeding up your pace to get your heart rate pumping.