8 Fat-Blasting Cardio Moves You Can Do When The Treadmill Is Taken
If you step into the gym with a certain cardio machine in mind, discovering there isn’t a single open treadmill, stair climber, or elliptical can seriously throw off your game plan. You know the feeling: What now?
Rather than standing around waiting for a machine (or just taking it as a sign from the universe that your workout wasn’t meant to be), find an open space and let a handful of creative, no-equipment cardio moves be your plan B (or even your plan A).
“There are tons of ways you can get in a good cardio sweat sesh without spending boring hours on a machine,” says certified personal trainer Katie Dunlop, creator of the Love Sweat Fitness community and daily workouts. “In fact, you don’t need any equipment to burn serious calories and get a killer workout in.” (Just try The Slim, Sexy, Strong Workout DVD—the fast, flexible workout you’ve been waiting for!)
Plus, not only will no-equipment cardio moves give your heart rate a boost, but many of them will also work your muscles to add in some resistance training, too. Win-win.
Dunlop demo’d her eight favorite no-equipment exercises for us, and they might make you sweat just looking at them. She suggests doing all of these exercises in order and repeating the entire circuit twice, or choosing four of your favorites and repeating three or four times.
Move through each exercise quickly and rest for 60 to 80 seconds in between circuits. “Either workout you choose will get your heart pumping so you can burn fat and increase cardiovascular endurance,” says Dunlop. Treadmill, meet your match.