How to Do Cardio At Home
Cardiovascular exercise is what most people do for weight loss, even though there is more to cardio than weight loss. It has many benefits and is considered safe if done right. You should embrace a safe and effective cardiovascular routine for maximum benefit.
Cardio exercise, sometimes called aerobic exercise, is any rhythmic activity that raises your heart rate into your target heart rate zone.
Some examples of cardio are swimming, running, jumping, and, cycling. Sometimes you do cardio unconsciously when doing household chores like mopping or vacuuming.
One of the things that make cardio stand out from other exercises is that it is designed for strength building. It relies on your body’s use of oxygen during the workout.
Studies show that people’s genes have about 20% to 40% influence on why they do cardio. For women, they have a 25% probability of engaging in cardio, compared to men.
This means that men are more likely to engage in cardio, especially bodybuilding. If you are considering taking part in cardio, you should continue reading this article.
We will cover everything you need to know about cardio before you begin.
Reasons to do Cardio at Home
People have different reasons for doing cardio. For men, it is a matter of bodybuilding or developing strong muscles. Women who engage in cardio may be trying to get a fit body.
However, whatever the reason behind your motivation, you should first pick the right workout routine that matches your goals.
You can do cardio at home without subscribing to a gym membership. In fact, many people get their treadmills, stationary bikes, and other gym equipment to set up a gym at home.
The purpose of cardio is to increase your heart rate. This can easily be done by engaging in activities like jumping, jogging, and others.
People who want to work out at home have access to cardio DVDs, fitness apps, online trainers, and other resources to do their workout.
If you are considering starting cardio for weight loss, bodybuilding, or other reasons, you should start today. There are many benefits of doing cardio; however, we will be discussing that in the next section.
We recommend you have a workout routine before you start. There are cardio exercises for beginners with very easy workouts that are comfortable.
As you continue, you can move to the advanced workout routines. Usually, cardio for beginners should be about 20 minutes, especially cycling or brisk walking.
Pros and Cons of Cardio
There are very few activities you can do for a short period if you want to engage in cardio. The physical and mental health benefits cardio exercise offers are many.
However, we will be mentioning a few of them.
Pros
- Improved Cognitive Functions: Aerobic exercise may aid increase neuroplasticity and neurogenesis, according to research. Cardio exercise, in essence, increases the function of your existing brain cells while also stimulating the formation of new ones.
- Sleep Better: Cardio exercise, as little as 10 minutes such as walking or cycling, can improve the quality of your sleep. Regular workouts will reduce your risk of sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, and other sleep problems.
- Lower Risk of Heart Disease: When you exercise regularly, you are putting a strain on your heart; however, with constant engagement, you develop endurance. This will strengthen your cardiovascular functions, improve blood pressure, and help you maintain good cholesterol.
Cardio also has other health benefits such as lowering the risk of diabetes heart attacks, improved blood flow, and prevention of coronary artery disease.
Cons
- Overtraining: Putting in many hours of cardio might leave you physically and psychologically drained. Put your heart into it, but exercise caution when implementing an aggressive cardio program. Remember, your body needs time to rest. If you engage in aggressive exercises for a long time, it can cause injuries.
- Muscle Loss: When the body is in a caloric deficit, it will look for the most readily available source of fuel which is your muscle. There is a high chance you will lose a good amount of muscle mass when you don’t give room for recovery after cardio
- Fat Retention: Contrary to what many people think about cardio as an effective way to lose weight, some may not get these results. Usually, the body adapts to stress, so you should expect it will adapt to your cardio workout.
However, not all of these drawbacks will happen if you adopt a safe workout routine. Remember to give your body time for recovery. It is not advisable to work out nonstop for a long.
HIIT vs. Steady-Paced Cardio for Home
HIIT is an abbreviation for high-intensity interval training. These days, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is popular. YouTube is riddled with HIIT-style workout videos.
Your heart rate must be at least 80% of its maximum capacity between 1 to 5 minutes, with recovery in between to be considered HIIT.
Your best exercise intensity level depends on several factors, including your fitness level and goals.
There are three different levels of intensity you can focus on during your workouts, and you can even incorporate all of these levels into the same exercise:
- High-Intensity Cardio: This falls between 70% and 85% of your maximum heart rate (MHR), or a 7 to 8 on the perceived exertion scale. It is a challenging level that leaves users trying to catch their breath. Try beginner interval training to work harder for shorter periods if you’re a beginner.
- Moderate-Intensity Cardio: Moderate intensity falls between 50% and 70% of your MHR (a level 5 to 6 on the perceived exertion scale). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services often recommends this level of intensity in its Physical Activity Guidelines. It is the level you typically want to shoot for during your workouts.
- Low-Intensity Cardio: This type of exercise is considered to be below 50% of your MHR, or about a level 3 to 4 on the perceived exertion scale. It is an excellent level to work at during your warm-ups or when you’re squeezing in other activities, like walking, throughout the day.
HIIT falls under the category of high-intensity cardio and will involve an aggressive exercise routine.
What is Steady-Paced Cardio?
Steady-state Cardio means keeping a constant effort when exercising. It should not be extremely low-intensity but relatively moderate.
You’re probably keeping up a level where you can talk, even though it will not be extremely easy.
It is usually prolonged cardio that you do for an extended period. The length of this depends on whether you are a beginner or experienced, considering your workout level.
Sample steady-paced cardio can be jogging for at least 30 minutes, 45 minutes or more.
Which is better?
When selecting which exercise method is ideal for you, you should consider HIIT.
Why you may ask?
HIIT usually produces the best results and, surprisingly, is the safest. It gives enough time for recovery, and you won’t suffer the negative effects of injuries caused by prolonged exercising.
It is also the perfect exercise technique to get your heart rate up within a short time without causing any health issues.
Best Cardio Workouts to do at Home
There are many types of cardio exercises you can do today, and not all of them require a gym membership.
Cardio can be as simple as walking, dancing, swimming, and other everyday routines.
However, if you have a goal set, you may want to adopt a more defined cardio program. Here are some beginner exercises you can do easily:
Burpees
They are a terrific cardio workout at home because they do not require any equipment or a lot of room. Performing a burpee involves alternating between a plank stance and a forward jump in the air.
Make sure your hands are flat on the ground, and your back is straight. The best part is you can burn over 100 calories in just 10 minutes doing Burpees.
We recommend starting slowly and gradually increasing to 10 minutes or more to minimize injury.
Jumping Jacks
Jumping jacks are another cardio activity to do and one that can take you down childhood memories. Engaging in this activity for at least 10 minutes can burn roughly 100 calories, similar to burpees.
This activity is simple to incorporate into a cardio training routine that includes some of the other exercises on this page, such as burpees, jumping rope, and squat jumps.
Jumping jacks can be done anywhere, at any time, with no equipment required.
Jump Rope
Do you remember jumping rope when you were a kid? You may include this in your training by jumping rope at home.
Jumping rope is frequently regarded as the best cardio workout many athletes utilize.
It is a terrific cardio workout at home because you can do it practically in any place with just a simple jump rope. The jump rope can be found in any store so that you won’t need to search hard.
Why is it effective you may ask?
You can burn approximately 220 calories by jumping rope for 20 minutes. Although you may recall leaping for extended amounts of time as a child, you should work your way up to the whole 20 minutes.
Squat Jumps
Squat jumps are another terrific cardio workout that you can do alone or in a cardio circuit.
As the name says, you begin in a squat and then jump up, attempting to get as high as possible before landing back in the squat.
It has a heavy impact, especially on your knees; therefore, exercise caution if you are a beginner or have a knee problem.
Kickboxing
Kickboxing is a karate and boxing hybrid that is great for cardio and strength conditioning. It is a more structured cardio session and one that you always do at home.
You can utilize equipment like a punching bag and a workout video, or you can perform it on your own if you already have some skills.
You can get rid of your stress and aggression while also burning roughly 100 calories each 10 minutes of exercise.
Dancing
Cardio can be as simple as dancing. All you need is to turn up some music and start dancing. Anything that gets your pulse rate up works your cardiovascular system, and some dance moves can help.
If you prefer more structured instruction, there are many dance fitness videos online like belly dancing, Latin Dance, Ballet Body Sculpting, and Hip Hop.
Climbing the Stairs
Stair running is another aerobic activity you can do at home if you have some stairs handy. Stair workouts help you boost lower-body strength and power while increasing your heart rate.
To burn extra calories even after your workout, try mini intervals by alternating between a standard stair run and a sideways stair run.
Make sure you have the best workout shoes for men so you can do some stair workouts if you have a single stair somewhere or if you get a specific stepping stool for training,
Jogging in Place
You don’t have to go outside or use a treadmill to reap the benefits of running; merely jogging in place at home gives the same results.
However, if you run in one place for an extended period, you will easily get tired.
That is why, for a thorough workout, most people combine jogging in place with other activities such as burpees, jump ropes, or weight training.
Conclusion
Before you start this or any other exercise program, talk to your doctor to ensure the exercise is safe. Also, listen to your body.
If it tells you that you are doing too much, it might be time to reduce your exercise sessions’ intensity, frequency, or duration.
Whatever you do, remember to keep your cardio workouts simple. Combine your workout routine, so it doesn’t get boring.
You can do several rounds of some of the activities listed above for a 20 – 30-minute session to burn fat and build muscle.
Many of these exercises may be found in online videos for cardio routines, which makes it easy to create your cardio workout at home more accessible.
Don’t forget that exercise is an essential part of your overall health and wellness.
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