Fitness Guide: A Complete Guide to Bodyweight Cardio Exercises

From burning calories to building muscle, some heart pumping and bodyweight cardio exercises go a long way. These exercises are enough for a full body workout. Bodyweight cardio exercise routines include burpees, mountain climbers and jumping jacks.

If you're looking to add a twist to your everyday workout, here's some guidance for bodyweight cardio exercises that you can do at home or at the gym.

What is bodyweight cardio exercise? (What does bodyweight cardio exercise mean?)

Bodyweight cardio exercises are exercises that help increase the heart rate as well as improve cardiovascular fitness. It is performed with own body weight without any external equipment and weights.

The best bodyweight cardio exercises

Bodyweight cardio exercises include jumping jacks, burpees, high knees, mountain climbers and squat jumps. All these exercises are also included in the cardio workout routine to reduce fat and maintain fitness.

Here's a complete list of the best bodyweight cardio exercises that will get your heart rate up and help you build strength.

1. Jumping Jacks

2. High Knees

3. Butt Kicks

4. Burpees

5. Mountain Climbers

6. Jump Squats

7. Skater Jumps

8. Box Jumps

9. Jumping Lunges

10. Polymetric Pushups

Guide to Bodyweight Cardio Exercises

1. Mountain Climbers

Mountain climbers are a type of bodyweight exercise that can target multiple muscle groups at the same time. Which includes the core, arms, shoulders and legs.

This is a full body exercise that requires you to be in a high plank position and then move both the knees alternately towards the chest in one motion.

Here Are Every Step to Do Mountain Climbers Correctly

How to do mountain climbers exercise? (How to do mountain climber exercise?)

1. Starting in a high plank position, place your hands on the floor wider than your shoulders and your feet together behind you. After this, engage your core and make a straight line with the body.

2. Keep your opposite leg straight and stretch from behind by bringing your straight knee towards the chest. Keep in mind that your straight leg should be resting on the ground near the straight hand.

3. Quickly switch legs by bringing your opposite knee toward your chest and returning your straight leg to the original position. Keep in mind that while doing this, your opposite leg should be near the opposite hand.

4. Switch legs as quickly as possible, making sure to keep hips level stable and core engaged.

5. While exercising, whenever you bring your knees towards your chest, try to pass them from the chest or as close as possible.

Benefits of mountain climbers

Along with reducing weight, mountain climbers have many benefits which are mentioned below:

Cardiovascular fitness: Mountain climbers are a high-intensity exercise that elevates the heart rate to maintain cardiovascular fitness.

Fat loss. Mountain climbers are a full-body exercise that requires high energy and multiple muscle groups. This exercise burns calories and also reduces fat.

Strengthens core and tones lower body with lower body tone: In this exercise, keeping the core stable, moves the legs, which further strengthens the abdominal muscles and lower back tone.

Improves coordination and balance: Alternating movements of the legs improves coordination and balance, and also helps in increasing physical performance.

It can be done anywhere: It can be done anywhere without any gym equipment, even if you do not have access to gym or cardio equipment, you can easily do it.

Increases metabolism: This exercise increases metabolism and reduces fat, even after exercise is completed.

2. Burpees

Burpee is a full-body exercise that includes a variety of movements such as squats, planks, pugs-ups, and jumps. This is quite a challenging workout in which the full body has to be exercised. Legs, core, chest, arms and shoulders are all involved in this exercise. It is used in High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) circuits and has been shown to increase cardiovascular fitness, promote fat loss, and increase overall body energy.

Here's a step-by-step guide to perfect burpees

How to do burpees? (How to do burpees?)

1. Stand on your feet and while doing so, keep the shoulders broad and the arms in a relaxed mode.

2. Squat down and place your hands on the ground in front of you, just outside your feet.

3. Jumping and stepping your feet back then come into plank position, now extend the arms straight and keep the body in a straight line from your head to heels.

4. Keep the chest low, just keep in mind that it should not touch the floor. After this do pushups and return to the plank position.

5. Returning to the original squat position, step the feet back towards the hands.

6. From a squat position, jump with arms extended overhead.

7. Now coming down to the ground, repeat the same sequence again, it depends on your wish.

Benefits of burpees

Full-body workout: This is a full-body workout that involves exercising multiple muscle groups. This is a great way to work every part of the body together.

Promotes fat loss. Burpees are a high intensity exercise that takes a lot of energy. Calories are burnt due to energy and as a result there is fat loss.

Improves cardiovascular fitness: Burpees increase the heart rate rapidly and are an effective exercise for cardio vascular fitness.

Improves coordination: The movements in burpees require coordination, which can help improve any sport or physical activity.

Requires no equipment: Burpees require no equipment and can be done anywhere.

3. Jumping jacksJumping jacks are a type of calisthenic exercise that involves jumping while lifting the arms and keeping the legs extended. This is a warm-up exercise done before any workout.

This is also a better way to speed up the heart rate and blood flow. It also exercises multiple muscle groups, including the legs, core, and shoulders.

How to do Jumping Jacks? (How to do jumping jacks?)

1. Stand with your feet together and arms at your sides.

2. After this do a high jump and while doing so spread the legs, lift the arms above the head then clap.

3. Bring the soles of the feet by bringing your arms back down.

4. Now jump again and bring your feet together again. Now raise your arms above your head.

5. Repeat the same sequence again.

Benefits of jumping jacks

Increases blood flow: Jumping jacks help in increasing the blood flow which in turn increases the blood circulation level in the body. The body also gets nutrition and oxygen from this exercise.

Requires no equipment: It does not require any gym equipment and can be done comfortably anywhere.

Engages multiple muscle groups: Exercises work with multiple muscle groups, including the legs, core, and shoulders. It's great for getting a full body workout with multiple muscle groups in a short amount of time.

Good for cardiovascular fitness: Jumping jacks are very effective exercise for maintaining heart health as it comes under the category of high impact exercise.

Burns calories. Jumping jacks exercise involves the full body and requires a lot of energy to perform. Calories are also burnt due to high expenditure of energy.