Energize Your Day: Beginner-Friendly Cardio Workouts at Home

Exercise that is cardiovascular or aerobic activity can be essential to good health. This increases your heart rate, which makes your blood flow faster. It helps to deliver more oxygen to your body. This keeps your heart, lungs, and arteries healthy.

Regular cardio exercises can help you lose weight, improve your sleep, and reduce the risk of chronic diseases.

What if you don’t have time to run every day or don’t want to go to the gym? You can still do a lot of cardio exercises at home.

Cardio Workouts at Home

Cardio Workouts With Less Intensity And A Longer Duration

Beginners who are not comfortable working out at high intensity can benefit from low-intensity cardio. Walking and stationary cycling are gentle on the joints and accessible for beginners.

Walking regularly can help improve your health and fitness. It will also reduce unhealthy cravings, as well as joint pain. Working out on the treadmill is easy if you combine it with your favorite TV program, podcast, exercise playlist, or gym partner conversation.

  • How do you get started:
    • Longer low-intensity workouts can be a great way of easing into a regular fitness routine. They are also a good stepping stone to more intense workouts at a later stage in your journey. Beginner workout plans might include at least one long, low-intensity cardio session per week (but no more than three).
  • Frequency:
    • Try to do this type of exercise one to three days per week at a low level. Try stationary cycling, elliptical, or rowing for between 40 and 90 minutes.

Cardio Workouts With High Intense And Shorter Intensity

The high-intensity cardio exercises will improve your cardiovascular endurance and help you to increase your overall fitness. You’ll be able to run up the stairs faster, chase your children during a game or tag, and load your car with luggage. Try to look at each high-intensity exercise as an exciting challenge rather than feeling intimidated by it.

You can modify high-intensity exercises like burpees or jumping rope. Many high-intensity exercises (like burpees) require you to jump up or plank while in a pushup. Beginners should reduce their jumping motions to a step up and instead plank on their legs.

  • Start:
    • High-intensity exercise increases your heart rate significantly, so you don’t need to do it for longer than a few moments at a stretch. Incorporate five to 10 minutes of intense exercise into your weekly workouts. Five-minute “bursts” of cardio are a great way to fit in a workout at the gym or even into your busy morning.
  • Frequency:
    • Perform this type of exercise at high intensity two to four days per week. For 5-15 minutes, do burpees and box jumps.

Best cardio exercises to do at home

These are simple exercises to burn calories that can be done at home.

These exercises can be used to form a cardiovascular program.

You could do 45-90 seconds of each exercise, then rest for 30 seconds before moving on to the next.

Circuits are a great way to increase fitness.

A person performs circuits by completing 30-60-second rounds in succession of the exercise they choose before taking a 30-60-second rest. Then, they repeat the course as many times as desired.

Cardio Workouts at Home

1. Single leg stand

This abdominal exercise will strengthen your abdominal muscles.

To perform:

  1. Start by placing your feet together or at least 3 inches apart.
  2. Lift one leg 3 to 6 inches off the ground by bending the knees.
  3. Hold the position for 10 to 15 seconds, then return the foot to the floor.
  4. Repeat the same procedure for the other leg.

A person can increase the difficulty by lifting their leg higher or jumping from one leg to another more quickly.

2. Circles of the arm

All skill levels can benefit from arm circles, which are ideal for sitting or standing.

To perform:

  1. Rotate your arms both clockwise and anticlockwise. This movement can resemble a backstroke or butterfly.
  2. When a person’s arms are limited in mobility, they can draw small circles by extending their arms out to the sides.

3. Snow angels (wipers), seated.

While lying down, a person should perform the exercise that works the abdominal muscles, chest, and shoulders.

To perform:

  1. Lay on your back, feet flat on the floor.
  2. Place the lower back on the floor by tucking the pelvis.
  3. Extend your arms outwards from your shoulders. Bend the hands slightly towards the ears.
  4. Slowly lift your hands to the top of the head.
  5. Repeat the process of lowering the hands back to their starting position.

4. High Knees

You can perform this exercise anywhere, as it involves running in place.

  1. Standing with legs together, arms by your side.
  2. Lift your knee towards your chest. Repeat the process with your other leg.
  3. Continue pumping your arms and alternating your knees.

5. Butt kicks

Butt kicks are the opposite of high knees. You’ll raise your heels toward your butt instead of raising your knees high.

  1. Standing with legs together, arms by your side.
  2. Bring your heel towards your butt. Repeat the same motion with your other heel.
  3. Continue to alternate your heels while pumping your arms.

6. Lateral shuffles

The lateral shuffle increases your heart rate and improves your coordination.

  1. Standing with knees and hips bent, feet at hip-width apart. Brace your core and lean forward slightly.
  2. Keep your form and lift your right leg, then push your left foot off while moving right.
  3. Put your feet together. Continue to shuffle your feet right.
  4. Repeat the same steps on the other side.

Shuffle the space left and right to distribute it between both sides evenly.

7. Crab Walk

Crab walking is a great way to get the blood flowing. The crab walk strengthens the upper arms while also working your core, legs, and back.

  1. Place your feet flat and knees bent on the floor. Put your hands under your shoulders with your fingers pointing outward.
  2. “Walk” backward using your arms and legs, keeping your weight evenly distributed between both. You can “walk” backward using both your arms and your legs. Just make sure that your weight is evenly distributed.
  3. Continue to walk backward for the desired distance.

Tips for Effective and Safe Cardio Workouts

1. Hampton advises that you should choose wisely when you begin cardiovascular exercise. Choose an exercise you are capable of, and avoid performing it at a level that could cause injury. Hampton advises that if you begin with moderate exercise and gradually increase the intensity, you are more likely to avoid injuries or overtraining.

2. Drink plenty of water. Kimbrough advises her clients that they should gradually increase their water intake to three liters or a gallon per day.

3. Plan your week. Pilkington suggests planning your week to maximize your workouts and stay safe. You should start by doing cardio on days that are not consecutive to let your body get used to it.

4. Consider using a heart-rate monitor. Pilkington suggests wearing one to monitor your heart rate ranges and measure the intensity of your workouts. This is an excellent way to improve your fitness over time.

Combine cardio and strength training

  1. Cardiovascular exercise is just one part of your fitness regimen. It should also include resistance training for optimal health. How you plan your workouts will depend on how many days you have available to dedicate to exercising.
  2. If you want to exercise three or four times a week, split your workout into two halves. Do 30 minutes of cardio and 30 of weight training. Kimbrough recommends splitting your days if you are able to commit to 5 or 6 days per week. You can, for example, do cardio on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and weight training on Thursdays and Tuesdays.
  3. You can combine the two exercises on days when time is a concern. “Interval training is a great way to incorporate small amounts of cardio activity into your workout,” Pilkington says.
  4. You can build interval training by alternating 30-second cardio exercises such as jumping rope or using a cardio machine with resistance training. Do 12 repetitions of the squats followed by 30 seconds of jumping rope.
Cardio Workouts at Home

Cardio For Beginners: Q&A

What is the best cardio for beginners?

Exercises that are low-impact, easy to do, and have a low-impact rate make the best cardio exercises for beginners. Walking and bodyweight exercises are great examples. After four weeks, you can introduce dumbbells with low weights and free weights.

How long should a beginner do cardio?

Start by doing 10-20 minutes, four to seven days per week. Don’t worry about intensity; only about duration.

How much cardio should a beginner start with?

To meet the guidelines of the American Heart Association and CDC, as well as Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, you should be getting at least 150 minutes per week.

How Much Cardio Exercise Is Enough for Beginners?

But only in the beginning. Try two or three sessions of 10 minutes per day if you can’t do more than that.

Conclusion:

A beginner cardio workout should also be part of an overall fitness plan that includes a healthy diet, adequate hydration, and rest. A well-rounded workout can be achieved by combining cardio exercises with flexibility or strength work.

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