There are two different types of cardio that we want to be looking at: LISS and HIIT. LISS stands for low-intensity steady-state cardio and HIIT stands for high-intensity interval training, and both of these types of cardio are great for doing at home.
First, let’s look at the low-intensity steady-state cardio. This is basically a type of exercise that people used to call aerobics where you and I could actually be doing cardio together, but it’s not at such a high intensity that we couldn’t be talking to each other.
For example, we’re going through a jog or a walk, and we’re not gasping for breath, and not burning it to the max. We’re just kind of in this nice aerobic zone where we’re definitely working, getting a sweat going, and building some heat in the body, but it’s not so intense that we’re bursting out.
Now, HIIT, on the other hand, is a type of cardio where we do a burst interval for about 30 seconds to 1 minute as hard and fast as we can. We’re actually giving it our all, we’re gasping for air, and then we rest and recover for a period of time, and then we hit it again hard.
Let’s talk about LISS first, which is basically a standard kind of cardio. Both of these cardio types are incredibly beneficial, but you should pick the one that actually fits your personality in your time schedule.
With low intensity steady-state, the workouts typically take 30 minutes to 1 hour – you’re going for a longer pace at a lower intensity. If you have a treadmill at home, obviously use it. Walking on an incline on a treadmill at a fast walk like 3.5 miles/hour or more on an incline is one of the best types of low-intensity steady-state cardio.
It’s easy on your knees, it’s great for your glutes, your low back and it’s a favorite type of cardio for a lot of bodybuilders and fitness athletes because it’s really effective for burning fat.
Don’t have a treadmill at home, but you have some stairs you could be doing walking upstairs and walking back down continuously. We don’t know if you have mentally are willing to do that for 30 to 45 minutes, but it’s a great way if you are. Walking stairs is phenomenal – it’s a tried and true cardio method, that’s why a lot of these gyms have those continuous stair masters.
You can get a stationary bike, which is some of those bike machines at home, or if you actually have a real bicycle, they actually have these platforms where you can actually just ride your bike on the platform at home.
But when it comes to you know basically no equipment or very little, a good old jump rope something a lot of us just uses kids is one of the best types of cardio, because you can just jump in place.
It’s great on your shoulder strength, it’s actually good for your calves, and you can do a workout where you jump rope for like twenty to thirty minutes. You can take breaks when you need it, but overall it’s an amazing type of cardio for your whole body really great for less and you. It’s super portable, and if you get in the habit of jumping rope, you can do it anywhere. Pack a jump rope anywhere you travel, it’s really convenient.
You can do a brisk walk. If you have just access to outdoor one of the best types of cardio for weight loss, this is basically walking. Walking for 30 to 60 minutes per day is enough exercise, coupled with a healthy diet to lose weight consistently.
Just walk fast and breathe through your nose, and it’s going to be one of the best exercise forms. All you need is a sidewalk, and you’re outside, so that’s great.
If you are confined at home and can’t leave, doing a yoga flow in a little higher tempo is great, where you’re doing a lot of chaturanga, a lot of like flow between an upward dog, downward dog, and some squatting type of stuff.
But it should be an active yoga not like a more relaxing deep stretch yoga, but something that’s getting you moving is phenomenally for this low-intensity steady-state cardio.
It’s going to get your heart rate up, work on your strength and your balance, your coordination, and it’ll also help you relax so we could not recommend yoga more.
Finally, the military uses good old-fashioned jumping jacks for good reason because they’re simple and it’s great low-intensity stay state cardio.
Studies say that low-intensity training is great, but high-intensity interval training is also phenomenal. If you have less time, you want to get a 15-20 minute workout, and you want to hit it hard – HIIT is amazing.
The ways we can do HIIT is basically that 30-second bursts as hard as fast as you can, and then we recover for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Let’s say we do have a stationary bike. We can crank the intensity up, and we can sprint hard on that bike with higher resistance for like 30 seconds and then cruise for around 30 seconds to 1 minute and then repeat 30 seconds on a cruise for further.
You can repeat that cycle for 10-15-20 minutes. It’s an amazingly simple way to do HIIT. You can do stairs high-intensity stairs sprint, or you could go outside and run for 30-60 seconds and then walk for 30-60 seconds recovery. That’s really amazing.
If you don’t want to do any of those, we can do some of these strength training exercises and some bodyweight calisthenics stuff in a hit routine, which we absolutely love. A great flow is doing burpees, which is where you bend down – you jump, you get down – you do push-ups.
Burpees for 30 to 60 seconds, rest for 30 seconds. Then we’ll go into air squats for 30 to 60 seconds and rest. And then we’ll do mountain climbers for 30 to 60 seconds, and then we’ll rest. You can repeat that cycle.
What a simple workout! Three moves you can repeat in a circuit for like 10 to 15 minutes, it will totally boost your metabolism. It’s going to be great for your core grid for your strength, and then you can do it with no equipment, so it doesn’t really get any better than that.
So, these are the two types of cardio, you can do both of them at home depends on your equipment, your personality, and your time. What we suggest is you do something every single day as a baseline, so even if you’re just getting a 30-minute walk, that is phenomenal and then trying to get these cardio workouts in 2-3-4 times per week.
The most important thing is just to start doing something. Something is like a million times better than nothing, so find something that fits your personality and start getting after it.
