10 Easy At-Home Cardio Workouts, No Equipment Required

Beau Burgau, C.S.C.S. and founder of Grit Training, recommended combining the moves listed below into a HIIT (high-intensity interval training) circuit to give them true value.

Calder said that HIIT is more time efficient than steady state cardio. “It allows you to burn more calories in a shorter period of time,” she said. “This is helpful for individuals who either don’t have the time for longer workouts or just don’t enjoy them. High-intensity interval training is also great for increasing your aerobic capacity, which is the maximum amount of oxygen your body can take in at any given time. Essentially, it’s a measure of how efficient your body is at utilizing oxygen.”

But you have to make sure you’re putting in the right amount of effort to reap the benefits of these movements. That can be tricky, however, and Burgau recommended using a metric called Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) to calculate how hard you’re actually working. Your RPE is measured on a scale of one to 10 — one meaning minimal effort and 10 meaning an all-out max effort, Burgau said.

“Not only is this one of the most effective ways to measure the intensity of your exercise, but it also doesn’t require any equipment and simply involves listening to your body,” he said, adding that the “talk test” can be a great way to indicate where you fall on the scale.

“If you can easily carry a conversation, you’re likely between one and three,” Burgau said. “If you can still talk, but need to pause to catch your breath, you’re likely between a three and a five. If you’re completely breathless, and can no longer speak, you’re likely between seven and 10.”

Based on your fitness level, Burgau recommended selecting five to eight of the movements below and completing them back-to-back for 30 to 60 seconds each. Once you’ve finished all of the movements, rest for 30 to 60 seconds and repeat two more times for a total of three rounds.

Now, here are the 10 cardio exercises Burgau says you can combine into one workout.