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Bodyweight Cardio Workout - At Home Cardio with No Equipment

30 Min • Lower Body, Total Body
  • View on YouTube
    • Training Type Cardiovascular, Low Impact, Toning
    • Equipment No Equipment
    • Membership Free

    Overview

    A lot of times when people think of cardio, they picture a treadmill or elliptical, but the reality is that bodyweight cardio workouts are far superior to anything you can do on a piece of gym equipment. Instead of literally thousands of repetitions of the same movement on a large machine, no equipment cardio makes the most of your own bodyweight, providing a challenge that is much more varied, dynamic, and functional.



    The other great thing about bodyweight only workouts is that you can do them anywhere, anytime. These kinds of routines can travel with you - whether it be to your own backyard for a workout in the fresh air, or a hotel room while you’re traveling. 

    With this workout I wanted to build an easily scalable, solid cardiovascular challenge that wasn’t quite as intense as HIIT. There is a coordination component to a number of these exercises; this is to lessen the overall intensity at different points throughout the routine, and also to bring in elements of balance, bodily control, and mind body connection. With that said, there are a number of easy ways to make this a pure cardio or more strength oriented challenge. 

    Different ways to modify this routine for your own goals:

    • Deepen the squats & lunges to increase the challenge on the muscles & the difficulty of this routine.
    • Speed up the motions & keep the lunges/squats more shallow to use this as a purely cardio challenge. 
    • Wear a weighted vest, hold onto dumbbells or utilize resistance bands to drastically increase the difficulty & increase the strength challenge.

    Choose your focus & level of difficulty based on your fitness needs, and even where you’re at in your own workout schedule. For instance, if your legs are sore from a previous lower body workout, stick with the mods that make this more of a cardio challenge, instead of working those same sore muscles with deep ranges of motion before they’re ready.

    I’ve provided both high and low impact modifications all the way through; choose the level you need in order to push yourself in the smartest way, for what you need today.

    Workout Structure
    Warm Up
    Cardio Interval Workout
    Cool Down & Stretch

    Cardio Warm Up - 30 Second Intervals
    March in Place/Boxer Shuffle
    Side Stretch Steps
    2 Torso Twist + Knee
    Good Morning + Fly
    2 Butt Kickers + Front Kick
    Walkdown Plank Taps
    Fly Jacks
    Step Through + Lateral Step
    Bird Dog
    Push Ups
    Bridge
    Clamshell (both sides)
    Mountain Climbers

    Bodyweight Cardio Workout - 45 Seconds Active, 15 Seconds Rest
    Side Lunge + Knee to Elbow
    Plank to Crouch
    Squat + Step Back
    2 Side Jacks + 2 Runners
    Monster Walk + Jump
    3 Point Taps/Lunges; Curtsy, Side, & Front
    Split Jumps + Front Kick

    Water Break

    5 High Knees + Wide Drop Squat
    3 Side Steps + Reverse Tap or Lunge
    Reverse Lunges + Ventral Pull Downs
    Kneeling Plank Rocker (switch sides halfway through)
    Bridge Walks
    Bridge + Extension & Toe Touch Crunch
    Side Plank + Knee + Kick
    Plank Jack + Center Tap
    Supine Leg Lifts (Alternating)

    Cool Down & Stretch

    I hope you enjoyed this workout! Let me know what kinds of workouts you would like to see next and I will do my best to deliver. 

    Thank you for working out with me!

    Kelli