• Home
  • About Me
    • Press & Media
    • TV & Local Appearances
  • Blog
    • Baby
    • Beauty
    • Fit Family
    • Fit Travel
    • Free Sample Workouts
    • Lifestyle
    • Nutrition
    • Postpartum Workouts
    • Pregnancy
    • Running
    • Yoga
  • Shop My Looks
  • Nav Social Icons

  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About Me
    • Press & Media
    • TV & Local Appearances
  • Blog
    • Baby
    • Beauty
    • Fit Family
    • Fit Travel
    • Free Sample Workouts
    • Lifestyle
    • Nutrition
    • Postpartum Workouts
    • Pregnancy
    • Running
    • Yoga
  • Shop My Looks
  • Mobile Menu Widgets

    Connect

    Search

Cari Fit

Cari Fit

Fitness Advice, Workout Tips, and Inspiration

cardio

My “Cardio Quickie” Workout Featured in Weight Watchers Magazine

Weight Watchers Magazine has a new monthly workout called “Max-10 Workouts” that are designed to help you get in your daily workouts and eliminate those “I don’t have time” excuses! They asked me if I could come up with 4 quick cardio exercises that can be done in under 10 minutes to be featured in their Winter 2019 issue (on newsstands now!).

I came up with these 4 cardio focused exercises that can be done by anyone – even those with a lot of weight to lose or those with joint pain.

Fitting in just 10 minutes a day will strengthen your body and can help you lose weight! Give this a try and let me know what you think!

Thanks to Alyssa Shaffer for including me!

Five At-Home Cardio Options When You Can’t Go Outside

Many times it’s impossible to get outside for a run our outdoor workout (due to the weather, your schedule, or if you have a new baby like me) and you can’t get to the gym – but, that doesn’t mean you can’t get in a good cardio workout in your living room! Below are some of my favorite go-to options for cardio when I really want to sweat and I’m frustrated that I can’t leave my house! These are also great options if you are traveling and don’t have access to equipment or a gym. Some require equipment and others just require your body weight. Most of these are great for HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) or Tabata (20 seconds “on” then 10 seconds rest).

Equipment: Kettlebell

Exercise: Kettlebell Swings

Ketllebell swings are one of my favorites (if done correctly). It works your entire body with emphasis on core and glutes. If you aren’t sure how to use a kettlebell – check out some videos online or ask a trainer at your gym. Start with a KB that is a lower weight (around 10-15lb depending on your fitness level) and work up to a heavier one.

The Workout: KB swings will get your heart rate up fast – so use them as part of a HIIT (high intensity interval training) workout. I would do timed swings (vs. reps) and then mix in strength training. Do 30-60 seconds of KB swings and then 30-60 seconds of strength training like pushups, squats or shoulder presses with the KB.

Equipment: Jumprope

Exercise: Jump Rope

I love the jumprope because I feel like it’s equivalent to going for a hard run or even doing sprints if you jump really fast or do “double unders”. You can start by just doing a basic jump with 2 feet or you can try new moves like skipping (alternate feet), jumping side to side, doing high knees, etc.

The Workout: You can do jumprope intervals alone for just cardio or you can mix in some strength training in between sets. Vary the pace of your jumping depending on how long your interval is. For instance, if you want to jump for 1 minute you may want to do a medium pace but if you just want to do 20-30 seconds at at time go for fast intervals or sprints.

Equipment: Mat

Exercise: Burpees

Burpees are a full body exercise that gets your heart rate up fast and is considered more of a high intensity interval (vs. say jumping rope for a steady 2 minutes).

The Workout: These are best done as intervals since you probably won’t be able to do more than 30-60 seconds at a time, especially if you are going fast! You can add your own twist to them (like adding a pushup or even a tuck jump at the end) but I like basic burpees where you place your hands on the ground, jump back to a high plank, jump your feet back in to your hands and then jump up in the air. Think: Down (place hands down while you are in a squat), Out (jump feet out), In (jump feet back in) and Up.

Equipment: None

Exercise: Plyometric Jumps (Jump squats, jump lunges, high knees, etc)

The best part about plyometrics (or “plyos”) is that you don’t need any equipment! My favorites are basic jump squats, jump lunges and high knees.

The Workout: These are also pretty high intensity so do them as part of an interval workout or you can do them Tabata style by doing a 4 minute workout at a time (for the entire 4 minutes do 20 seconds “on” and 10 seconds “off” or rest).

Equipment: Stairs

Exercise: Run stairs, lunge stairs or do hops up the stairs (either squat hops or bunny hops with legs straight)

If you have access to stairs – you can use them for a great cardio workout! Even if you just have a small flight in your house – you can still jog or walk fast and just do a bunch of laps. Instead of counting steps – do it based on time.

The Workout: You can use stairs as intervals if you are sprinting or going fast or you can jog at a steady pace for 5-10minutes at a time. You can mix things up by doing squat hops (like “plyo” hops) traveling up the stairs (not on the way down!) or even bunny hops with your legs straight. You can always hold on to the railing or wall for balance.

 

How To Workout When You Have No Time

IMG_0717I prefer to do my workouts at the gym and I still go as much as I can. However, now that I’m a new mom I don’t get to go as often as I’d like – so that means I have to squeeze in many of my workouts at home. I always thought babies slept a lot and took many naps – so I figured there would be plenty of time for me to fit in workouts as a new mom. Right? Not quite. My baby takes 2-3 naps a day….but they are never longer than 30 minutes! 30 minutes?! That’s barely enough time for me to warmup, much less melt off this body fat! So, what is a new mom to do? Well, I’ve been working out 30 minutes at a time 2-3 times a day! It kinda sucks getting into the groove and then having to stop and wait another few hours before I can finish, so what I’ve found that works is to break up my workouts into 2 or 3 parts so that I get to finish each section and get a sense of completion and accomplishment. I do lower body, upper body and then core and cardio.

This concept can work great for others that just don’t have enough time to fit in workouts either due to family, your job, travel schedule, etc. You can do these workouts all together too – if you have time. In about 25min (after warming up) you should be able to get in about 3-4 sets of each exercise in the circuit. Here is a sample of my 3 x 30 minute daily workout:

Start each of these with a short warmup (ie. a few jumping jacks, step-touches, jog in place, short brisk walk around the house, etc).

wpid-comment-gc3a9rer-efficacement-ses-emails-en-30-minutes-maximum-jpg1

30 Minutes Lower Body (weights optional)

  • 30 squats
  • 20 elevated lunges on each leg (prop up your back leg on a sturdy chair, step, etc. that is about knee high)
  • 20 hamstring bridges on each leg + 30 crunches
  • 30 sumo squats (squats with toes pointing outward)
  • 1-minute wall sit (keep back up against a flat wall and your legs at 90 degrees with knees over ankles)

*Repeat this circuit as many times as you can in 30 minutes.

wpid-comment-gc3a9rer-efficacement-ses-emails-en-30-minutes-maximum-jpg1

30 Minutes Upper Body (2 dumbbells or or a resistance band)

  • 20 pushups (or how ever many you can do with good form)
  • 20 shoulder presses
  • 20 bicep curls
  • 20 bent over rows
  • 20 overhead triceps extensions with both weights (or you can do kickbacks)

*Repeat this circuit as many times as you can in 30 minutes.

wpid-comment-gc3a9rer-efficacement-ses-emails-en-30-minutes-maximum-jpg1

30 Minutes Core & Cardio (no equipment)

  • 20 jump squats (land soft with knees bent)
  • 20 reverse crunches (legs in the air – lift hips up)
  • 20 burpees
  • 20 side plank dips on each side
  • 30 seconds high knees

*Repeat this circuit as many times as you can in 30 minutes.

If you only have 30 minutes TOTAL – try this workout instead.

 

Primary Sidebar

Connect

Featured Posts

Celebrity Workout Secrets!

5 Fun Workouts To Do On A Cruise Ship

Part II: Get Your Legs and Glutes Bikini-Ready!

Featured Posts

Old-School Bodybuilding Chest Workout – Featured in Oxygen Magazine

Family Travel Review – Margaritaville Lake Conroe

Weighted HIIT Workout Featured in Oxygen Magazine

Categories

  • Free Sample Workouts
  • Nutrition
  • Fit Travel
  • Yoga
  • Beauty
  • Lifestyle

 

Loading Comments...