Introduction
Let us talk about cardio. I think everyone should be doing some form of Cardio, It’s good for you, keeps you active and functional. Lots of discussions about losing gains, you don’t need it to lose weight etc. However, as far as being active, functional and healthy, cardio is a must. The issue is, cardio workouts can be boring, Finding cardio ideas that are fun yet effective can be a challenge. Hopping on a treadmill for 30-60 minutes is not fun for anyone.
So we have composed a list of 8 cardio workout ideas that will make cardio a more enjoyable experience, some of which you don’t even need to leave your house for, some of them don’t take any time at all. What are your favourite cardio workouts and cardio ideas? Let us know over on our Instagram here. Let us start with the first of many cardio workout ideas.
Skipping
The first one is the simplest and in my mind the most effective. Giving you the biggest bang for buck. Skipping. Skipping will burn an average of 650-800kcals per hour. It is so effective at burning calories and also gets the heart rate up. The reason I love skipping so much is that you can do it at home, easily and cheaply. A skipping rope is not expensive at all, they last forever and come in all shapes and sizes.
It is so good for building up stamina and agility, you can start with the standard single under, then as you get better to go into the double under, boxer step, high knees and so much more. So many ways to keep the exercises fresh and challenging.
You do have to make sure that you are outside unless you have very high ceilings, and also have to make sure that you have enough room to perform the exercise. Don’t want your rope getting caught on a chair, door or another human!
Sledge Pushes
Sledge Pushes, this is a real, body burner? lung burner? Leg Burner? This exercise is just hard. Great workout when you are short on time. Very simple and again, very effective. You load up the sledge with the desired weight, push it a set distance, turn around, and push it back. Simple enough, but after a few sets, it gets harder and harder.
See, there are many ways to load up a Sledge, do you load it up with a lightweight and do sprints with the sledge, or do you load it up heavy do the opposite, slow but heavy. Few choices to choose from, both have their benefits.
However, Sadly, these do require you to have a sledge and several weighted plates to load on, luckily more and more gyms are getting the equipment, so see if your gym has one, if not ask about one and see if they have any plans to purchase one.
Battle Ropes
If you are looking to not only get your heart rate up but also get a cheeky little arm pump. Then look no further. Battle Ropes! These are great as an “end of workout” burner, 5-10 minutes is all you need, you will be exhausted, sweaty but also a little pumped!
Battle ropes not only make great cardio workouts but Also make a great partner and circuit workouts. Grab a mate and do 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off, however, when you are resting they are working and visa verse. Not only an effective cardio workout but also a very simple workout.
Again as we have said above, some gym will either not have battle ropes, or haven’t got the space for them. If not there isn’t a lot you can do. Those gyms that do have them, tend to have two types, two different weights of rope. One thinner lighter rope and then a thicker heavier rope. The second one will work your grip strength a lot more. Give them both a go and see how you get on. I think almost everyone will love battle ropes!
Sprints
Sprints. Why are they so Popular? Well, they are effective, they are simple and they are so versatile. You can either do them in a gym or outside. Anywhere where you have room to fully sprint is fine.
Where can you do sprints? Anywhere! If you are in the gym, Grab a treadmill (I know, at least one of these cardio ideas involves a treadmill, we do apologise), stand on the edge of the treadmill and set it to a fairly high speed, Set the clock going, and rest till the timer hits 1 minute, when it does jump on and sprint for 30 seconds, after 30 seconds jump off (leave the Treadmill running) and rest for 60 seconds, then repeat. This will give you a HIIT workout, get your heart rate up and start burning the fat, all good things.
Remember, this isn’t a leisurely jog around the block, when sprinting you have to go near your top speed, 100% effort every time. As you continue the sets you will find yourself slowing down due to fatigue, this is fine as long as you are still giving it 100%.
Boxing
Boxing is an amazing exercise, short time, high output. Various different ways to approach it. Now straight out the gate, the best way to get the most out of boxing is to take up a class or a 1-2-1 boxing coach, however, there are a few things you can do to use boxing as a cardio exercises.
Punch and move, the mistake people make when using a boxing bag is that they tend to be static, they will stand there and punch the bag. What they should be doing is throwing a few punches, then moving around the bag, throw a few more and move. This simulates moving around the ring during a fight. Will be a lot harder, thus, burn more calories and get you, fitter.
As far as timing goes, we would recommend 2-3 minutes on with 30-60 seconds rest (This, again, simulates a fight). Along with boxing, you also have jump rope (which we have covered) agility drills, footwork, defensive techniques etc, but these are something you can get into as you get more into it. We would highly recommend getting a coach to teach you proper technique, form and training. Check out google for boxing coaches in your local area.
Rowing
A gym favourite, most for warming up, and for good reason. The rowing machine utilises so many muscle groups and burns so many calories that it makes a great warm-up exercise. However, let us take it one step further. Using a similar format that we did to sprints, we could make the rower a fat burner monster. Let me explain.
Basically, Hop on a rower and get warmed up. After you are warm set up a timer for 30 seconds rest, 30 seconds work. And hit go! As with the sprints when you are working, you have to give it 110% of your effort. Then rest for 30 seconds and repeat. Do this for 8-15 times. That right there is a quick fat burner cardio workout.
Most gyms will have a rower, we advise just setting the resistance to 10 (or the highest it will go), Adjusting the feet holders and strap so they not only hold your feet but are also comfortable, and that is all the setup that you need.
Some gyms have fluid rowers, some gyms have concept rowers and some have other kinds. All similar devices with a similar goal.
Tabata Workouts
Tabata, as you all know from our blog post here, is our favourite short format workout. It is quick, simple and hugely effective. Most Tabata workouts last around 4 minutes (20 second on, 10-second rest, 8 rounds), but you can extend them is needed.
Tabata is based on four exercises, they can be any exercises but we would advise keeping it “simple”. By that, we mean making sure you can go from one exercise to another quickly. You only have 10 seconds rest so you don’t have a lot of time to prepare. So a push up into a burpee would be a good choice. Whereas a Pushup into weighted dips wouldn’t be.
Apart from that, you can choose any exercises to go into a Tabata workout. If you need some ideas you can check out our app here. Contains loads of Tabata workouts for you to try!
Kettlebell Swings
Not really a form of cardio, but if done right they are great Cardio workouts at home. Kettlebell swings require very little space, very little equipment and very little time but the pay off is huge! There is a reason so many CrossFit and Functional guys swear by these.
Kettlebell are great because they are not only good for cardio workouts but also good for weighted workouts. You can throw them into your normal workouts and get your cardio done between sets. Complete your diet of deadlifts, then superset with a set of kettlebell swings. They get the muscles working and get your heart rate up.
Make sure when you are performing Kettlebell swings, you go as high as you can, but stay in full control, if you can go very high, lower the weight. Also at the top make sure to bring your hips forward and squeeze your glues together. Great exercise, simple exercises. Highly recommend you start throwing it into your workouts.
Outro
As you can see there is a huge variety of cardio ideas. Hopefully, some of these ideas will make cardio more fun and enjoyable for you! Trying throwing some cardio into your workouts and see how you feel, you never know, you might start enjoying it. Some of these can be cardio workouts at home or even cardio workouts at home. No need for a gym to get your cardio fix.
Once again if you have any personal favourites that are not on this list, head over to our Instagram and let us know. We would love to hear from you all. Remember if you like the content you see here, check out our other blog posts on our blog (Click here) where we have dozens of free articles to help with your fitness journey.
Written by Kieran Blacker
Kieran is the CEO and Founder of Sets & Reps. He decided to make an application that helped people get a gym workout when not at the gym. He designed, Coded and built the application himself.