Don't Miss Out on the Benefits of Exercise If You Don't Have the Time or Budget to Fit in a Gym. Here are 10 Best Home Cardio Exercises to Maintain a Healthy Weight (2020)

Don't Miss Out on the Benefits of Exercise If You Don't Have the Time or Budget to Fit in a Gym. Here are 10 Best Home Cardio Exercises to Maintain a Healthy Weight (2020)

Staying at home can slow the spread of coronavirus, and extreme physical distances can prevent a person from becoming infected. However, slowing the spread of infection doesn't have to mean giving up the fitness routine. There are plenty of workouts people can do at home. Read on to find the 10 best home cardio exercise without any equipment to exercise at home while under quarantine or lockdown.

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Give Cardio Exercises a Shot to Live Well

Now that lockdown is a common phenomenon, stepping out of the house to hit the gym, or go jogging even in a garden nearby can seem a tricky option. All you are left with is an undying urge inside your head to stay healthy and fit. To do that, you need to try out home cardio exercises without equipment.

5 Precautionary Measures You Need to Take When You Indulge Into Cardio Workouts:

  • If you are suffering from major diseases like diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, arthritis, lung disease or any injuries to your body, then you need to consult your physician before you plan to get yourself in cardio workout attire.

  • Most of the home cardio exercise programs come with conditions like high impact and high intensity that require strong hearts and strong joints to perform.

  • If you use your staircase, you need to make sure there are no people, kids, dogs, toys, garbage bags, cats, and recently-washed floors.

  • Pay heed to your distracting neighbours, chatty friends, perturbing family members, and long-standing office hours that take you away from fitness on purpose.

  • Your first day of the workout may strain you a lot, and make you tired for the next day, but do not lose hope, keep on pushing, running, working out, because your heart needs to work out more than your mind.

Top 10 Cardio Exercises for You to Try at Home

Your heart is the one that keeps on beating and keeps your life going. But with all the sedentary habits taking a toll on our lives, your heart is getting lazy too.

To keep your heart active, you need to have a home cardio exercise routine. A routine that can help your heart get back on tracks and keep you healthy, fit, and fine.

If your heart is healthy, then your whole body will be healthy. The reason being, home cardio exercises for beginners gets your heart pumping and thereby generating more blood. Your heart then takes this more blood to transfer it to other parts of your body. The more your heart exercises, the more blood will pump to your organs. Eventually, keeping your body fit, fine, and healthy.

#1 Spot Jog in One Place

  • What All? Find a place in your home for one of the home cardio exercises without equipment like jogging at one place.

  • Brain-teaser: Takes no accessory. Gets your heart racing. Comes under warm-up sessions before beginning with any cardio workout.

  • How to Do it? Keep straight posture, and with alternate steps try to jog at one place.

  • Criteria? Good pair of shoes. Tight-fitting and light-weighting clothes.

  • Keep-in-Mind Markers: At some point, you will want to give up because of the toll it takes on your knees. But, don’t give up so easily. Go for it when you need breaks between working hours.

#2 Use Your Kid's Skipping Rope to Skip

  • What All? A skipping rope. Your terrace preferably, so that you get ample of space to play with the skipping rope.

  • Brain-teaser: The best way to keep your Body Mass Index under check. Within 10 minutes of skipping, you will end up burning at least 1000 calories.

  • How to Do it? Keep a straight posture. Move the rope from above your head backwards and from under your feet forwards. Jump when the rope is about to hit your feet.

  • Criteria? Probably the best home cardio exercise for weight loss. Get a good pair of shoes. Wear tight-fitting and light-weighting clothes. Sunscreen if you are on the terrace.

  • Keep-in-Mind Markers: Take breaks when you feel weak in the knees or hands.

#3 Try Your Luck at Squatting

  • What All? Squatting requires enough space in your house to bend your knees.

  • Brain-teaser: This home cardio exercise program is intended to concentrate on your lower body workout. If you can jump with a squat, you can burn more calories is all.

  • How to Do it? Spread your legs at a considerable distance to not cause your knees to hurt or feel pressured. Then hold your hands in a prayer pose and lock your fingers. Then, bend your knees and bend downwards and upwards.

  • Criteria? Comfortable lower body wear that can keep your knees free to bend.

  • Keep-in-Mind Markers: Stop when your knees feel hurt and sore and start to ache. Do not push yourself.

#4 Kick-Box Your Worries Away

  • What All? You need an airbag that would serve as your opponent for all the punching and kicking and boxing and hitting.

  • Brain-teaser: Within 10 minutes, you would have at least lost 100 calories. This makes it one of the home cardio exercises to lose weight.

  • How to Do it? The heavy punching bag must help improve your hand and eye coordination. Help your heart pump faster and better. At first, start punching with your elbow. Then go about kicking the punching bag with your one leg. Then, the other leg. Go on till you get tired. This is the best to remove your pent-up-office-related frustration.

  • Criteria? Boxing gloves and proper leg protectors, so you don’t hurt your knuckles. A place in the house where nobody perturbed by the noise boxing and punching and hitting creates.

  • Keep-in-Mind Markers: Stop when you are tired! Avoid pushing yourself.

#5 Make Use of The Staircase

  • What All? The best cardio exercise is to get on the staircase. Climb it up, and go down.

  • Brain-teaser: Staircase climbing or running gets your heart rate pumping along with building strength, tone, power, and shape in your lower body.

  • How to Do it? All you need to do is climb up the staircase of your building.

  • Criteria? Grab on your best shoes, jogging or walking comfortable attire, and think as if you are climbing up a mountain.

  • Keep-in-Mind Markers: Watch out for kids, pets like cats and dogs, elderly people who usually walk or climb slow, and children who on the other hand, would love to surprise you with all the running. If your building has handrails, then all the more good.

#6 Make an Effort to Crab-Walk

  • What All? You can trust this home cardio exercise for weight loss. All you need to do is become a kid again. Remember the frog racing?

  • Brain-teaser: This exercise is meant to strengthen your shoulders, arms, back (especially lower back), legs and hips.

  • How to Do it? At first, sit on the floor. Pull your legs up. Keep your palms behind your back on the floor facing you. Lift your body and go walking on all fours. You represent a crab here.

  • Criteria? Wear light wear clothing so you can carry your weight. You will need shoes too.

  • Keep-in-Mind Markers: Make the floor you are crab-walking on, is not slippery or having mud or anything else like toys to obstruct your crab-walk.

#7 Take Your Chances at Planks

  • What All? Concentrate on your elbows and toes to keep a balance, that’s all. Keep a timer, if you want!

  • Brain-teaser: This home cardio exercise helps to strengthen your shoulders, trunk, and glutes.

  • How to Do it? Lie on all fours, then with the help of your elbows, place your forearms flat onto the ground. Keep your toes on the ground and lift your lower body. Try to make your body lie in a straight line parallel to the floor.

  • Criteria? Lighter your attire, the better you will be able to bear the weight of your body. Try not to wear full-sleeves, as your elbows might sweat and make you slip while you try to balance it well. Also, wear your shoes so you don’t hurt your toes.

  • Keep-in-Mind Markers: Do not overdo to achieve a certain number. If you can hold your position or plank even for 10 seconds, then it is well and good.

#8 Have a Great Morning with Surya Namaskar

  • What All? The ultimate home cardio exercise is coupled with yoga and meditation.

  • Brain-teaser: It consists of 12 yoga asanas to help you stay fit not just physically but also mentally. Each pose comes intending to strengthen your mind, body, and soul.

  • How to Do it? Make sure you are breathing in first and then breathing out later. For the first step, breathe in, then for the second step, breathe out. At first, stand straight and fold your hands into a namaskar. Raise your hands and bend backwards. Then, bend forwards and try to touch the floor. Then, place your palms on the ground. Keep your right leg straight behind. Look forward. Then, take the left leg straight behind. Lift your glutes upwards. Then, fall flat on the ground with your glutes still up. Straighten your arms and take the support of your shoulders to look up. Then go back to the same pose wherein with the support of your legs and palms you have raised your glutes. Get the left leg forward whilst you keep your arms straight on the ground. Then, the right leg forward. Get up from the seat whilst you are still bending forwards. Then, bend backwards. And, come back to the namaskar pose.

  • Criteria? Comfortable clothing. Enough sun to help you get all the vitamin D.

  • Keep-in-Mind Markers: Make sure you synchronize breathing with the asanas. Do not overdo. Relax for 2-3 minute after completing 1 round of 12 asanas.

#9 Dance and Shake Your Anxieties Out

  • What All? Be it Zumba, Aerobics, Contemporary, Visarjan Dance, or any form of dance you like or love. This is the most enjoyable home cardio exercise to lose weight.

  • Brain-teaser: One-hour session of dance is enough to make you lose 1000 calories, believe it or not!

  • How to Do it? Play your favourite music. Get your family on the dance floor. Just dance to music. If you love Zumba, follow trainers on YouTube channels.

  • Criteria? Wear the right shoes. Make sure the floor is not slippery. Just dance it out.

  • Keep-in-Mind Markers: At times, you might encounter sprains you might have a hard time to recover from. Just respect your body’s signals and give up before you feel too tired.

#10 Ever Attempted Burpees?

  • What All? This home cardio exercise without equipment is the best there could be for losing weight and staying fit.

  • Brain-teaser: It is the fastest calorie-reducing cardio exercise. It gets your heart pumping faster than any exercise.

  • How to Do it? It is a mixture of two things. Firstly, normal jumping. And, secondly, planking. At first, you need to be in the standing position, then jump and bend downwards to take on the plank position. Then, do a push-up. And, then get up. Jump again to do a second burpee.

  • Criteria? Light wear. Good shoes. Good floor.

  • Keep-in-Mind Markers: 5-10 for beginners is more than enough. Do not overdo. Do not over-push yourself.

5 Activities That Keep Your Heart Healthy and Happy

#1 Knit a Scarf for Your Loved One

Getting yourself busy is the best way to keep your mind stress-free. And, to do something as basic as knitting a scarf is relaxing for the heart.

#2 Shriek with Laughter

Laughing can reduce the inflammation in your arteries. It increases the secretion of happy hormones in your body. Thereby reducing the stress on your heart.

#3 Chop-Chop Every Chance You Get

Most of the heart diseases are derived from stress. To get over stress, you need a beautiful distraction. Distraction in the form of chopping your hair can not only turn your life upside down but also make your heart happy.

#4 Have a Nice Chat with a 5-Year-Old

Kids have an abundance of only one thing and that is happiness or cheerfulness. Having to spend a few minutes with your kid can turn your gloomy day into a happy one.

#5 Indulge in Play-Time

As we grow up, we give up on playing sports. Thanks to the constant aches and sprains. But if we played every day, we would have a schedule to keep our heart pumping better and getting better.

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From our editorial team

Keep your health fit to fight against coronavirus!

It can be difficult to stay motivated to exercise in the best of times. The added disruption and stress from the coronavirus pandemic only makes it harder. That said, there is some cardio exercise you can do to support yourself.

You already know that cardio exercise is good for you. Research has long shown that revving your heart rate regularly can keep your cells and blood sugar healthy, strengthen your ticker, boost your mood, and so much more. Luckily, reaping the benefits is super simple; like, "don't even have to leave the house". Even without any equipment, you can score a killer cardio workout at home with just a few moves. Just follow our step by step home cardio exercise guide that can help you to stay active and fit even if quarantine lasts for several months.