Purpose

This 17 minute At Home Cardio Workout uses high intensity interval training (HIIT) to blast calories and tone the body quickly. It is a great way to get maximum benefit from a routine in minimal time.

There are 6 exercises, each done for a full 60 seconds with a 20 second low intensity interval in between (during those rest intervals you will keep moving by marching in place).

If you can’t complete an entire minute of any of the exercises without stopping, that’s okay. Just jump right back into the motion as soon as you can. If you do this routine regularly, it wont take very long for your cardiovascular fitness and endurance to improve.

This is a no equipment cardio workout; it uses only bodyweight exercises.

Cardio is definitely a great example of how every little bit counts when it comes to getting in shape, particularly when it comes to a HIIT workout structure. Because of the short, intense bouts of exertion you can actually end up giving yourself a metabolic boost. Try doing this routine two different times throughout the day for the most dramatic benefit.

Exercises in this routine:

Jumping Jacks – A classic cardio move, these are a fantastic way to get your heart rate up without any equipment. Aside from using a great deal of energy (cals), these also tone the inside and outside thighs, deltoids, quads, and lats.

Lateral Jumps – Lateral jumps are a light plyometric exercise that builds strength within the ankles, hips, and knees. They target the outer thighs, inner thighs, glutes, quads, and calves, and also lightly engage the core muscles.

Jumping Oblique Twist – This is a great exercise for a slimmer waist for two reasons; it burns calories, and it calls heavily upon the muscles that wrap around the midsection. Aside from the obliques, it also engages the glutes, calves, lower back, deltoids and quads.


Burpees – Everyone loves to hate Burpees because they are challenging but they are also extremely effective at increasing your cardio threshold. This bodyweight exercise tones your pecs, glutes, abdominals, lower back, calves, hip flexors and delts.

Pendulum Swings – This at home cardio exercise tone the thighs and is an easy way to get the heart rate up when you don’t have any gym equipment available. It is also good for building basic coordination and agility in the lower body.

High Knees – A full 60 seconds of these is harder than it looks. These tone your thighs, hip flexors, and abdominal muscles.


Though there are a large number of variables that factor into an individuals calorie burn during any routine, a 140 pound woman will burn roughly 165 calories in this 17 minute workout, and a 180 pound man might expend somewhere in the region of 210 calories.

The thing to remember about this kind of workout is that with high intensity interval cardio, your body will burn calories at an elevated rate, even once you are finished with the routine (it takes a while for your body to regulate and go back to a normal rate).

Exercise Buzz

Thank you so much fitnessblender for this video. It is really a challenging video and I love it.

selmed

Thanks Selmed, glad you are enjoying it! Let us know if you think of a workout type that you would like to see that we haven't covered yet.

fitness blender

I did this cardio this morning and the upper body workout this morning and will repeat the cardio again in the evening.
It's challenging and very good, makes me feel good and excited.

selmed

More on the abs videos, I have seen only one video on abs

selmed

That's a good point & we are about to post some new ones, so watch for them. You have signed up for our newsletter, right? That's the easiest way to find out about our newest routines.

fitness blender

after my delivery i have restarted doing aerobics since 4 months. only yesterday i found ur website and its really WOW... i was searching for exactly this kind of exercise. i could complete only round 1 and get exhausted. it will take some time to complete all the rounds. if you can post the warm up and cool down it would be better to start and end with that session. or do you suggest to straight away start this workout?

preetha

Hello Preetha,
I am glad you have found our site helpful, and don't worry about doing only one round, it takes a while to get used to this type of routine. For your warm up try our Total Body Warm Up and for a cool down do one of our stretching routines. Use the search under Full Length Workout Videos to find them. Hope this helps.

fitness blender

This is great! I too delivered 4 months ago and miss getting to the gym, this is fuss and equipment free and quite tough -which is good. How many times a week should I try this? I am going to try and do two sessions a day back to back.

emmeline

Hello Emmeline,
If you have the time and/or stamina for two sessions back to back that is a great way to get some serious calorie burn and toning progress. I would suggest finding one other workout that you like so you can alternate between the two every other day. Do them 4 days a week or 6 days a week if you want to be more aggressive. It is always good to switch up your routines so try and swap out the workout you do every 4 to 6 week or less. Hope that helps.

Daniel S.

fitness blender

About a month ago I decided to change my life to become a fit person at before i turn 50(nov 2012). thank god i found this website. I did this workout this morning coupled with the 8 minute abs routine, and believe me when i tell you that i was really tired during the workout, but 8 hours later i feel really really good.
I would like to know what warmup and cooldown routines you suggest for this type of high impact routine. thanks for you amazing videos and for helping me transform my life. god bless!

figo49

Hey Figo I am glad that we have been able to help you start to make healthier decisions. I would recommend our "Total Body Warm Up Workout Routine" for a warm up and any of our stretching videos for a cool down. We are working on a more formal, complete cool down video currently, so watch for that as it will be coming out soon. Keep up the good work, you are just going to feel better and better!

fitness blender

I absolutley love your workouts thank you for doing this! Just one question. I just got back into exercising and I was wondering if this work out followed by another 20 minute toning workout (one of yours of course) everyday would be enough to see those extra 7kg drop? Or should I be doing something even more intense?

k.klaudy

Hi K.klaudy, so glad you like the workout videos and that you are getting back into the habit of working out. I think your plan of HIIT + an additional 20 minutes of toning is going to be great for helping you lose those 7kg. If you want even faster results, do a short, separate bout of cardio on the opposite end of the day that you are doing that 40 minute workout. It will burn more calories and give your metabolism a jumpstart. Keep up the good work & keep us updated on your progress!

fitness blender

I'm quite overweight at 266 lbs. I managed to do 10 minutes of this workout and found that was all I could manage - I could hardly speak!!! Should I just carry on? I was planning to work this into my day, everyday!

nimjacole

Nimjacole - You can stop whenever you need to during any workout. Sometimes all it takes is a quick breather, and then you can jump right back into the routine. There's a careful balance of pushing yourself & knowing when to stop. It takes practice to learn to listen to your body, and you will get the hang of that soon, if you keep up the regular exercise. We have a new Low Impact Cardio/Toning routine for beginners that is really quite challenging - I would recommend using a combo of that routine & this one, instead of doing the same one over & over. -Kelli

fitness blender

hi. thanx for sharing this =D
btw i dont know how to culculate with pounds.
but i have try, for my weight 49kg, with this exercise it can burn about 129 calories right?

sally

I followed this routine for approx 2 wks and feel great! I even managed to do 3 sets in some days when I am more energized. Is this too much? Tks.

b888f2004

Hello! I have a question regarding cellulite, although I exercise for 1 year, 5 times a week, 50 – 60 minutes per session; I HIIT workouts like in your videos and I stick some 0.5 kg weights at each ankle, I also due exercises like squats and lunges using sometimes weights of 4 kg .or I do step aerobics on the step up bench; the point is I always change my routine. The problem is I still have cellulite and a slack skin around my hips, thighs and under my butt. Also, my butt is still slack and looks soft I don't know how to lift it (I also do exercises like kneeling rear leg rises or bridges). It drives me crazy because I do stick on my workout routine and try to have healthy meals and my legs have really hardened but my skin still does not look nice. Could you please tell me how much it takes to get rid of cellulite and lift my butt and when I will see the results. I should also mention that I have a bad peripheral circulation; maybe this may have a connection with my problem. Thanks a lot!

boogy

Sally - Yes you are correct at your weight you will burn around 125 to 135 depending on how much muscle you have and how hard you push yourself.

b888f2004 - I am glad to hear that you are pushing yourself for that third set. This is HIIT routine so keep in mind that it is a bit harder on your body than other styles of exercise. You need to make sure you are giving yourself a few "break days" where you are not doing HIIT you can do other workouts like a low intensity cardio or toning routine but doing HIIT everyday will end up taking a toll on your joints in the long run.

fitness blender

Boogy - I am sorry to hear that you are having so much trouble with getting everything firmed up the way you want it. To get rid of cellulite it is just an overall reduction in body fat. Unfortunately exactly how much you have to lose to get the cellulite to go away is dependent on the individuals genetics. One person my not have to drop hardly at all where as another my not ever be able to get rid of it completely. The best advice I can give you is to focus on how you want your body to function and less on how it looks. What most people don't realize is that almost everyone has cellulite to a certain extent the only reason you don't see it in pictures and film is because it is digitally removed. (aka. fake) So don't compare yourself to something that is not real.

As for the loose skin. If you have lost weight recently your skin will take some time to tighten back up as long as you keep the weight off. If you fluctuate in fat weight then your skin will never tighten the way you want it too. If you have been the same weight for the last few years and your skin is still loose then you may need to focus on muscle building more muscle mass to fill in that extra skin. You need to do more intense strength building than you have been to build size. Don't worry about getting too big as it should not take much to fill in that extra skin. Hope that helps. - Daniel

fitness blender

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