4 Running Alternative To Do At Home
Dhruv is a huge fitness freak. He loves going out for a run or doing a cardio workout. Sadly, he hasn’t been able to do any of that for quite some time now. He is looking for good cardio alternatives that he can do at home with ease.
Dhruv’s main concern is that the new workout should be as effective as running. The workout should help him build strength, tone muscles, and burn calories. We have some suggestions for Dhruv.
4 Excellent Running Alternatives for You to Try
The four most effective cardio exercises that Dhruv can do at home are:
- Skipping
Skipping might seem like an easy task until the day you try it. This exercise takes a toll on beginners. It is an effective way of building strength and stamina. As a beginner, if you want to maximize the benefits of the exercise, you should follow the given steps:
- Hold the ends of the rope with your palms only and keep your arms free
- Turn the rope with only your wrists and avoid using the whole arm
- Jump high enough to clear the rope. This will help in preventing you from getting tired quickly
- Squat Jumps
Squat jumps are somewhat easy exercises for you to do if you have good stamina. And even if you don’t, then you can do squat jumps to build your stamina and tone your muscles at the same time.
To perform a squat jump, you need to follow the steps that are mentioned below.
- Start by keeping your feet apart at shoulder length
- Keep your hands on your side
- Try to get into a sitting position as you squat
- Bend your knees and stretch them as far as possible. Ideally, your knees should be parallel to your toes
- Keep your back straight but relaxed and your chest should be facing forward
- Get up from the bend
- Burpees
Burpees are a good exercise if you want to work your entire body. In this manner, this exercise is similar to running. Some experts also suggest doing burpees as an alternative for running by pairing them with squat jumps and skipping ropes to have a full routine.
You can perform this exercise by following the steps given below.
- Start in a squat position while keeping your knees and hips parallel to the floor
- Place your hands on the floor and kick your legs back. The aim here is to get into a push-up position
- Keep your body straight and pull in your gut to do a push-up
- Bring your feet to the front right behind your hands and go back to the squat position
- Jump with both your hands up in the air and repeat the entire cycle
- Dancing
If you enjoy dancing, then we have good news for you. Any form of dancing can act as a good cardio exercise which is fun as well as healthy for your body. To keep things interesting you can try different forms of exercise like Zumba to help you burn some extra calories.
Dhruv personally loves freestyle or anything that can get his blood moving. He likes pairing a dance routine with burpees, skipping, and squat jumps to engage his entire body. This helps him feel as if he has just gone on a long run!
More Cardio Alternatives
Dhruv has been doing all of these exercises for weeks now. And things are starting to feel like the exact same routine. He wants to change things up a bit. But what more options does he have?
Let’s look at those options for Dhruv in the list below.
- Rowing
Not everybody is a huge fan of rowing. You might not even have the necessary equipment for rowing. However, if you do, then rowing is an amazing exercise that targets your back, core, quads, glutes, shoulders, arms, and hamstrings!
With the right training form, rowing can also help you target your chest, abs, biceps, and triceps in one continuous motion. There are also rowing machines that you can invest in. This exercise is better than traditional strength training and will hit almost all your major muscle groups.
- The Stairs
According to some Canadian research, walking up 200 steps twice a day, five times a week for two months can increase your health by a total of 17%! Further, this exercise will engage your leg muscles on the stairs as you move your body upwards.
Climbing stairs is a fantastic way of boosting your overall body strength. Stairs are also easier on the joints than the classic sprints. Hence, if your home or office has access to stairs, then think about this before rushing towards the elevator the next time.
- Cycling
Cycling is Dhruv’s favorite cardio cross-training exercise. He loves cycling because it works the lungs and the entire cardiovascular system in a manner similar to running without the high impact.
Cycling also helps in shedding a lot of calories while building power and muscles in the glutes, core, thighs, and legs. Cycling is low on impact which makes it easier on the body and the perfect exercise for anybody who might be nursing an injury. Dhruv likes to cycle in his backyard to keep things interesting.
- Swimming
If you are an excellent runner like Dhruv, then you would come across days where you are suffering from joint pain or injury. During those days, swimming might be an excellent exercise for you.
Swimming helps in pushing your body and cardiovascular system to the max without impacting your joints. This ideal cardio fitness exercise targets every muscle in the upper body. This feature makes it an excellent resistance training option. However, you can do this exercise at home if you have access to a pool and good weather.
- Bodyweight Training
Not everybody owns a pool. So, what if you don’t have a pool? In that case, a good option for you is bodyweight training. This training will not require you to reach for a rope, hop on a rowing machine, hit the pool, or purchase an expensive bike.
This training is scalable, convenient, and quite low on impact. The best thing about this exercise is that you only need a bit of space and your body. Ideally, you should perform bodyweight exercises in a high-intensity interval manner to increase the total strength of your body.
Start Exercising!
Dhruv is really excited to start all these new exercises at home. He cannot wait to start on his journey to becoming more healthier and physically fitter. He wishes that you will travel the same journey with him. Will you follow these running alternatives to have a healthier lifestyle?
