What cardio exercises can I do?

Step off the treadmill and do these instead!

The following exercises combine cardio (so get ready to get your heart rate up) with strength and resistance training to get into great shape!

Kettlebell swing

This is a great and explosive cardio exercise as it targets powerful and large muscle groups – focusing on your quads and glutes while also pumping up your heart rate. It is important that you get your form right for this exercise in order to avoid injury.

How it’s done:

1 – Hold the kettlebell with both hands, palms facing towards you. With your knees slightly bent and your feet shoulder-width apart, shoulders down, with a slight arch in your back, look forward with your chest up. The kettlebell should be between your legs. Choose a weight that is challenging to swing but still allows you to keep a good form.

2 – Grip the kettlebell, you are going to swing it now. Keep your arms loose and long and you retract your shoulder blades and engage your core. Soften your knees and shift your weight onto your heels, as you bend your hips, squeezing your glutes as you now swing the weight up in front of you. Try to stop the swing when your arms are straight in front of you, at a 90-degree angle to your body.

3 – Once the weight has swung up in front of you, let it swing back down between your legs as you bend your hips. Reverse the momentum to complete the next rep.

Burpees

An all-time military favourite (and yes, we can hear the groan as you read this), these are a great way to engage your muscles and burn calories. If you can do about seven a minute, you will get a great workout in!

How it’s done:

1 – Begin by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart. Your arms should be at your sides and your weight on your heels.

2 – Lower your body into a squat as you push your hips back and bend your knees.

3 – You will now place both hands directly on the floor in front of you. They should be placed just inside your feet. Shift your body weight onto them as your feet jump back into a high plank position. Do not let your back droop or your butt stick up, keep your body straight.

4 – Then jump back into position number two, being in a squat position with your hands between your feet.

5 – You will now reach your hands up into the air and jump up.

6 – From this jump, you will then land back into position number two. That is one rep.

Jumping rope

This is an awesome way to engage your legs and core whilst torching those calories and getting fit at the same time. A lot of people haven’t jumped rope since grade school, if this is the case, start without a rope and simply mimic the movement in order to get the hang of it.

How it’s done:

1 – Holding the rope in both hands, you will swing it over your head and create a rhythm.

2 – As the rope swings around, jump over it – landing on the balls of your feet with each jump. Engage your core on each jump.

3 – Try to land gently on your feet, jumping continuously for about a minute at a time.

4 - Shake things up a bit by jumping with one leg at a time and focusing on how high you can lift your legs and not how fast you can go.

Inchworm

The previous exercises are by-the-book. So, we thought we would change things up and bring in an interesting exercise called the inchworm. Your core and arms are predominately used in this one.

How it’s done:

1 – Start with your feet shoulder-width apart and your core engaged throughout the exercise.

2 – Bend from your waist and place your hands on the floor in front of you.

3 – You are now going to begin to walk with your hands forward, as you keep your legs straight behind you into a high plank position. Engage your inner inchworm on this one and squeeze those abs!

4 – Keep your back straight, from the high plank position, walk back with your hands and return to a standing position. That is one rep.

Mountain climbers with a twist

Mountain climbers are said to greatly improve your core strength whilst engaging your upper and lower body at the same time. They are easy to get right and result in a fantastic cardio workout.

How it’s done:

1 – Begin in a high plank position. With only the balls of your feet and hands holding your body weight. Having your arms straight in front of you, hands pushing on the ground as your core is engaged and your back is straight.

2 – Bring your right knee in towards your left elbow, getting it as close to touching as you can. Ensuring you do not bounce your hips too much. Continue to alternate between legs.

3 – It will look like you are running in the high plank position.

4 – Try to do this for one minute at a time with a 30 second rest period between.