Living in the 21st Century, you’re always trying to find the fastest, most efficient and practical way to do pretty much everything. Not having time to work out because of your busy schedule has also become a very good excuse to get your way out of the gym. But with new workouts like interval training and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) you can get your workout done in less than 30 minutes. That’s better than nothing right?
So I gathered what I thought are the quickest cardio blasters that will boost your heart rate in no time! With a couple of stretches and active recovery positions, you’ll get an efficient, quick and sweaty workout, even in your bedroom.
Active Recovery: Post-exercise positions from cardio workouts that help you catch your breath as you activate muscles and tone your body.
Before and After Workout: don’t forget to warm up by light, in place jogging and jumping jacks with some neck and joint stretches! Cool down your workout by getting good downward and upward dog stretches, followed by forward bends, rolling up slowly.
1. Suicide Jumps: If you want to boost your heart rate, suicides are the way to do it. They are called suicides for a reason!
- Jump with your hands up high.
- Squat down all the way bringing your hands to the floor.
- Jump your legs back to a plank.
- Reverse motion: Bring legs back to squat position and jump up again.
Active Recovery: Hold plank for a minute.
Stretch: After plank, pike your butt back to downward dog (15 seconds), walk you hands back and slowly roll up in eight seconds.
2. Squat Jumps: These cardio boosters tone your leg and buttocks area.
- Bend your knees into a squat position, making sure your knees do not pass your toes and your back is straight, as if you are about to sit on a low chair.
- Jump into a straight position with your toes pointing downwards and hands up high.
- Make sure your jump is stretched and sharp to ensure maximum results.
Active recovery: Hold your squat for 30 seconds, with your arms stretched straight in front of you at shoulder level. Repeat three times.
Stretch: Stand up feet hip-width apart, forward bend, shift weight to your toes to get maximum hamstrings stretch.
3. High Knee Jumps
- Stand upright.
- Bend your knees to prepare for the jump.
- Jump and lift both knees up and come down back to take off position.
Notes: Keep your knees loose and bent to avoid back and leg injuries. When you land, do not land on your heels, land on your toes.
Active Recovery: Bring your knees together, bend them and activate your arms by putting the palm of your hands together and raising them above your head – also known as chair position (yoga pose).
4. Mountain Climb
- Start in plank position.
- Make sure your elbows are pointing outwards and activate your arm muscles (not joints), with your pelvis rotated inwards and chest pushed back to your shoulder blades (do not shrug or fall between your shoulders).
- From plank, alternate between your right and left knee, starting slow to get momentum then speeding up your movement.
Active Recovery: From plank position, bend your knees just two inches off the ground, maintaining the same upper body posture of a plank, and hold for 30 seconds. Repeat three times. You should feel the burn most in your lower abs.
Stretch: Upward facing dog – From plank position, slowly bend your elbows, leading you to go all the way down to the floor. Tuck your toes under you and lift you upper body stretching your arms giving you a back bend.
5. Jump Rope
We all did this at some point of our childhood. As it turns out, it burns more calories that we thought. Simply jumping the rope, with its many variations, increases your heart rate and gets a quick workout going. Prepare a small playlist and play around with your rope for a while and remember my trick to making your working out fun: When the music slows down, so could you; if it blasts into a fast beat, you should blast your body up to tempo as well!
Note: That doesn’t mean that you choose five of your slowest songs!
Active Recovery: Step your right leg out into a high lunge, and squeeze your body down. Make sure your knees do not pass your toes, your body weight is right in the center of both legs and your front knee is in a 90-degree angle, while the back leg is straight. Stretch for 30 seconds then alternate legs. With lunges, you get muscle work and stretch at the same time.
With these few exercises, you got yourself a quick, full body workout! Enjoy!
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