10 Cardio Exercises At Home That You Can Practice Without Any Equipment

Cardiovascular exercises aren’t just about weight loss. Cardio workouts keep you healthy by exercising your heart muscles while helping you burn calories and improve your stamina. What’s more, cardio workouts at home are pretty straight-forward; they don’t require a lot of equipment and can be done using your bodyweight alone.

In fact, we’ve got a whole list of cardio exercises at home that range between low to high impact moves and vary from low to high intensity. You can moderate your workouts to suit your age and fitness levels.

9 Noteworthy Benefits Of Cardio Workout For Women

Good for all ages, incorporating a cardio workout session in your day has a lot of advantages like:

• Improves cardiovascular health
• Lowers blood pressure
• Helps regulate blood sugar
• Strengthens immune system
• Lift up your mood
• Reduces fall risk
• Reduces symptoms of asthma
• Accessible at any time and affordable
• Helps in reducing body fat

10 Cardio Exercises At Home That Are Perfect For Any Fitness Level

This list of cardio exercises is an easy model for beginners looking to workout at home. They are bodyweight exercises and do not require any equipment or dumbbells. You also don’t need a trainer as most moves are simple, and do not involve heavyweights. If walking, running, or jogging are not appealing exercises for you, here are some alternatives to give you a break from your regular routine. 

1. Jumping Jacks

One of the easiest cardio exercise at home for beginners are jumping jacks. They help tone your thighs and work on your entire body.

How To Do It:

1. Stand with your legs together and arms at your sides
2. Jump and spread your legs wider than shoulder-width, lifting your arms overhead
3. Jump back to the centre. Repeat.

2. Mountain Climbers

Cardio at home should be combined with bodyweight exercises to improve your strength and build muscle tone. One such move is mountain climbers. This exercise, while advanced, is extremely intense and will help strengthen your muscles.

How To Do It:

1. Start in a plank position with your body aligned straight with the ground.
2. Lift your right knee toward your chest. Quickly switch, moving your right knee out and lifting your left knee in.
3. Continue alternating legs.

3. Jumping Lunges

Jumping lunges is a cardio workout at home that will get your heart pumping. A variation on the original lunges, this movement will get you sweating in no time.

How To Do It:

1. Start in a lunge by keeping one foot forward than the other and both knees bent at 90-degree angles.
2. Quickly swing your arms upward and jump while simultaneously switching your legs
3. Land in a lunge and repeat with the other leg.

4. Plank Jacks

Rev your cardio exercise at home with this horizontal jacks movement. It builds muscles in your arms and tightens your core.

How To Do It:

1. Start in a plank position with your body straight and your feet together
2. Jump and spread your legs wider than shoulder-width
3. Jump back to the plank position and repeat

5. Dancing

Want to have fun while doing cardio at home? Put on your favourite music and dance. Dancing is an excellent form of cardio and gives you a full-body workout. Dancing gets your heart racing and gives you an opportunity to let loose. You can either do freestyle dancing or look for structured lessons online like Zumba or Bollywood Bhangra.

How To Do It:

1. Start with a 5-10 minutes warmup that increases blood flow to all your muscles and helps prevent injury.
2. There are four different Zumba styles – cumbia, merengue, reggaeton, and salsa. You can play Latin, English, or even a few Indian songs that match the Zumba dance routine. A few song options for you to start with are “Despacito”, “Zamba Zumba”, and the Latin remix of  “Shape of You”. Choose songs that have a fun beat and get your heart pumping.
3. Always end your dance workout with a simple cooldown to slowly bring your heart rate back to normal and stretch your body to avoid soreness later.

6. Butt Kicks

An effective cardio exercise at home for beginners are butt kicks. They can help improve body stability, agility, and balance for women.

How To Do It:

1. Stand with your legs together and arms at your sides.
2. Kickback one foot towards your glutes. Lower your foot in a hop as you take the other foot up in kickback position towards your butt.
3. Continue alternating your heels at a pace comfortable to you.

7. Skater Squat

This exercise mimics how a skater moves and combines the squat exercise. This is a lower-body strengthening cardio workout at home.

How To Do It:

1. Start in the standing position.
2. Jump to your left while extending your left arm backwards.
3. The left foot should be placed on the floor while the right leg is raised backwards.
4. Squat down quickly without placing the right leg on the floor.
5. Jump again and do the same with the other side. Repeat.

8. Skipping Rope

Skipping or jumping rope is an amazing cardio exercise at home. Jump rope is performed by both kids and top athletes alike, as it is an effective workout to burn calories.

How To Do It:

1. Stand straight and hold the rope with the hands behind your body.
2. Swing the rope forward and hop over it. Repeat for 10 minutes at a constant pace.

9. Burpees

Any list of cardio exercises will always mention burpees. They are an important aerobic movement that engages your entire body.

How To Do It:

1. Stand with your feet slightly apart.
2. Squat and place your hands on the floor.
3. Jump your feet back into a plank position.
4. Do one pushup by bending your elbows and bringing your chest towards the floor.
5. Jump your feet back into a squat. Jump up, reaching your arms upward. Repeat.

10. Standing Oblique Crunch

The final movement in this list of cardio exercises at home is the oblique crunch. This is a low-impact exercise and ideal for beginners.

How To Do It:

1. Stand with your feet apart and place your hands on the back of your head.
2. Bend to the left, moving your left elbow down and left knee up.
3. Bring your leg back to the floor. Repeat on the right side.

Precautionary Tips For A Great Cardio Workout At Home

Here are a few safety considerations to have a great cardio workout at home.

• Start each session with a 10-minute warmup. This lowers your risk of injury and stretches your muscles before the main workout
• Always finish your workout with a simple cool-down routine. Just slowly release any tension in your muscles and get your heart rate back to normal
• For a healthy and fit body, aim to get at least 120 minutes of cardio activity in a week. This can be spread to 30-minute sessions on weekdays or a longer session every alternate day based on your schedule
• If you’re new to exercise, always consult your doctor before starting a program. If you have an existing condition like diabetes or heart disease, or any physical injuries you may have to modify your program accordingly
• Progress your regimen on a gradual basis. Increase the speed and intensity slowly to avoid injuring yourself
• Focus on your breathing. Do not hold your breath while doing your workout and breathe normally without changing pace

Cardio exercises at home keep both your body and mind healthy. The best part about it is that you neither have to leave your house nor need any equipment. Cardio boosts your metabolism while shedding the last few pounds of weight. Start doing these exercises at home right away and see the difference in your body. Stay healthy, stay fit!

FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Which exercise is the best for burning fat?

A. There is no single ‘best exercise’ for burning fat. You must perform a variety of movements consistently and eat a healthy diet to lose weight to get the desired results.

Q. Which is the best for burning fat – high-intensity or low-intensity cardio work?

A. Performing cardio at a higher intensity will allow one to burn more calories in less time. Also, high-intensity cardio exercise has been shown to increase metabolic rate for a longer period post-exercise.

Q. Will doing cardio burn muscle?

A. While this depends on a person’s individual body and the intensity and duration of her cardio at home it does not have a negative effect on the muscles. Always monitor your body for biofeedback to understand the best-suited exercises for your body type.

Q. If I want to lose fat quickly, should I do as much cardio as possible?

A. Definitely not! Excess cardio work will cause your body to become overstressed, increasing the production of the stress hormone and can actually cause you to gain fat. But if you are looking to reduce belly fat, these yoga asanas for belly fat reduction can be effective.

Q. How much cardiovascular training should I be doing and how often?

A. It really depends on your level of fitness and your training goals. If you are a beginner, you could start by doing 10-20 minutes of cardio and gradually build up the duration of your sessions to 30 minutes and above. 

Q. What are the common cardio training mistakes people make and how can I avoid these?

A. One of the most common mistakes women tend to make when doing cardio is sticking to the treadmill at an easy pace. This results in the body adapting to it and no progress is made. Instead, one must try a different variety of cardio exercises or even try interval training for better results.