cardio alternatives with no equipment?

[tim_mcf]

I'm staying home for a couple weeks taking care of my baby son and 2-year-old, and I need ideas for cardio I can do at home while they're napping. I don't have a treadmill or anything, and I can't go for a jog because I have to stay here in case one of them wakes up and needs something. I have thought of doing my wife's exercise videos, but I feel so damn goofy doing that...

Any ideas?

[Firehawk]

If you got a weight plate, put it on the floor and get on your knees. Keep it out in front of you and push it across the floor (carpeted floor). Amazing hwo this gets you sweating.

[luke.w]

this may not be a "cardio" workout, but I'm sure it'll keep you busy.

You'll have to experiment and be creative here, but I can think of one house hold object you could do something with and thats a "chair" or a pair of chairs, hold it in front of you gripping the legs and do squats or anything else you can think of!!!

if you got a few weeks like you say, maybe you could get good at something differant with this.

[pierini]

A superset of push-ups, then full-range bodyweight squats, then sit-ups. Repeat continuously for, say, 30 minutes. Pick your reps at a number that will allow you to not take any rests. This may be as few as 5 push-ups, 10 bodyweight squats, and 15 sit-ups. You can figure it out. I've done 25/25/25 for 8 supersets in around 35 minutes and sure got my heart rate up.

Alternatively, perform burpees, then shadow box or perform jumping jacks/skip rope for your active recovery. If you haven't done burpees in a while, be prepared to be humbled. Maybe perform 5-10 burpees, then shadow box or perform jumping jacks for 30 seconds of active recovery. Again, plan for a 30 minute workout.

These workouts can be tougher than the treadmill. If you want other ideas, just say so and I'll post others.

[KittyKat]

Skip rope! Combine what others have mentioned about burpees, jumping jacks, mountain climbers, anything you can think of.. go back to what they tought you in grade 4?? .....

[Klinger]

To piggyback on pierini's superset idea, pick any bumber of these calisthenic exercises and perform circuits:

Jumping jacks
Power squats
Sit-ups
8-count pushups (squat thrust + pushup)
Bicycle maneuver (abs)
Pushups
Leg raises
Mountain climber
Pull-ups
Bench dips
Chin-ups

For example: Do 20 jumping jacks, 20 situps, 20 pushups and 20 power squats in succession. Rest for 30 seconds, then repeat until exhausted. You WILL get your heart rate up with this.

[gymrat]

I'm a chick and I feel silly doing exercise videos. But, the Tae Bo videos aren't bad and they're considerably less "girly" than a lot of exercise videos on the market.

I also do my cardio at home and doing boxing drills really gets my heart rate up. I'll do front kicks, side kicks, roundhouses, and various punching drills. Usually twice during my half hour, I'll do a "cardio blast" where I'll jump rope and do jumping jacks for an entire song. (I listen to the rock station we get with our cable.)

I have several aerobics videos and I have been doing the above routine in favor of aerobics videos. It's more interesting and I can't stand when the instructor in a video leans into the camera and says "That's it! You're doing great." Yeah... how do you know I'm not sitting here with a box of twinkies....

[tim_mcf]

Thanks for all the great ideas.

[maverick]

My fiance loves all the kicking and punching type cardio. She can't stand the monotony of running or biking.

[tim_mcf]

Well, they're napping now, so here's what I did:

Supersets of 5 burpees / 10 bw squats / 10 situps / 10 pushups, 30 seconds rest. I did 10 sets in 30 minutes, and the last three I was so beat I had to do "girl pushups". Now I'm easily as sweaty and tired as I ever got on a treadmill. This was freaking hard! Thanks for the advice, everybody.

[Xhale]

Alternatively, perform burpees, then shadow box or perform jumping jacks/skip rope for your active recovery. If you haven't done burpees in a while, be prepared to be humbled. Maybe perform 5-10 burpees, then shadow box or perform jumping jacks for 30 seconds of active recovery. Again, plan for a 30 minute workout

See you've finished UGTWF.

And I second this routine it's one of the most effective ones you can do.

[tim_mcf]

What's an UGWTF?

[pierini]

Underground Guide to Warrior Fitness, an outstanding book written by Ross Enamait. Here is his website: www.rossboxing.com.

[chibimanju]

You can do some shadow-boxing/kicking.