Getting in efficient cardio workouts at home with no equipment can be a bit challenging due to lack of focus, boredom, the vicinity of the couch and tv, and the limitations that one encounters when trying to get the heart rate up in the space of a living room.

The good news is that cardiovascular exercise can be broken up into smaller increments to make for even more effective home cardio workouts that boost metabolism and burn extra calories. Case in point; 15 minutes of anything that gets the heart rate up four times a day for a total of an hour long workout actually burns more calories than doing a full hour in one fell swoop. It’s a great example of a time when the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

How to do this routine
Do each of these exercises for 60 seconds. Here’s the important bit of info about this workout; it’s hard. You will likely need to stop before completing a the indicated time period of reps for some of these exercises. That’s just fine, but start right back into the exercise as soon as you possibly can in order to finish out the full 60 seconds.

Warm up: Jog in place for 2 minutes
1 Minute of Each:

Jumping Jacks
Mt Climbers

Crisscross Crunch
Squat Jacks

Agility Dots
Flutter Kicks

High Knees
Windshield Wipers

Jumping Lunge
Jackknife Crunch

Lateral Jumps
Plank Jacks

Cool down and Stretch

Depending on your fitness level, you may want to break this home cardio workout into intervals smaller than one minute long. For example, it might be easier for someone relatively new to fitness to do repetitions for 30 seconds at a time and go through the entire routine twice, rather than trying to complete a full minute of the same exercise.

However you break down your time intervals, remember that it’s important to do the exercises to exhaustion, giving yourself a (very) quick rest before jumping right back into the exercise to complete the predetermined time period of reps. Do push yourself, but also listen to your body and be careful not to overdo it.

Do this at routine 2-4 times a day intermittently and you will notice an increase in your energy levels and likely start to notice your waistline shrinking. Combined with a healthy diet, something as simple as this short cardiovascular workout (done several times a day) is a near foolproof way to start dropping weight and getting into shape.

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