Feel the burn as you rake up leaves from your yard. If you have a lot of trees in your yard, chances are you have a lot of leaves laying in your yard. Grab a rake instead of a leaf blower and opt to rake them up on a windy day as that requires more manual action from you. While raking leaves seems simple, it uses the muscles in your arms and shoulders giving your upper body a really good work out and it builds the core by stabilizing your body while you move. Bagging the racked leaves forces you to do squats which are beneficial to your lower body and legs.

Another good workout is by trimming the hedges. As with the rake example above, kick the gas-powered hedge trimmers to the side and grab a pair of manual cutters to work your forearm muscles and shoulders.
If raking and trimming hedges are not your cup of tea and you have a fire place, you may want to reach for the axe and get to chopping up some firewood. This works two ways actually – you save money by not buying prepared wood and your core and shoulders get an intense workout in addition to all the calories you burn while wielding an axe.

A common factor with all the yard work mentioned above is an emphasis on always going the manual route as opposed to using electric equipment and the same theory holds true when it comes to squeezing in a cardio workout via mowing the lawn. While it’s more convenient to use the riding mower and it will definitely get the job done faster, opt for a traditional push mower that will condition your upper body and calf muscles.

According to research, gardening for just 30 minutes daily will increase flexibility, slow osteoporosis and strengthen joints among other things. Planting flowers and bushes will provide a very good workout for your lower back while watering your flowers and plants will encourage walking which will trim your waistline. Weeding your garden will help you burn about 156 calories while planting will burn about 177 calories and digging holes will burn 150 calories.

All in all, yard work is perfect as a workout because it utilizes all the major muscle groups and just like with most exercises, it is recommended that you try some light stretching before diving into your yard work. Also take a few breaks throughout the day, and be sure to drink plenty of water to keep dehydration at bay.

If you prefer to be at home when you are exercising it is important to find a way to get a good home cardio workout. This is easy to do when you have the exercise equipment like a treadmill or a stationary bike, but not everyone can afford that. Of course, if you are creative, you can find other ways to get a home cardio workout that will get your heart working and have similar benefits to working out outside of the home.

One of the most obvious ways to get a good cardio workout at home is walking or jogging. If you have a large amount of space you can elevate your heart rate simply be walking or jogging from room to room. Aim for a minimum of 20 minutes of continuous walking or jogging. Not every home is going to have room to walk or jog around the house though. If this is the case, walking or jogging in place can do the same job. When you walk or jog in place focus on performing a full range of movements that simulate the real act of walking or jogging. Raise your knees high and pump your arms for increased benefits.

There are other forms of cardio that you can do at home, too. You could do the invisible jump rope. Simulate jumping rope by moving your arms in small circles and jumping in one spot. For variety you can “skip” rope by alternating feet. You can also simulate cross country skiing. Stand with one leg about 3 feet in front of the other. If your left leg is at the front, then your right arm should be at the back. Now move your legs back and forth and pump your arms as if you were cross country skiing.

Don’t forget that controlled movements are more valuable and you will receive more benefit from your home cardio workout if you use a full range of motion. Monitor your heartbeat and increase the amount of time you workout slowly.

photo by otakuchick

One of the things that you can do as you look for the home cardio workout would be mowing your lawn. You are pushing and walking at a nice rate which works the heart. Before you know it, you have a nice looking lawn and you have done some wonders for your heart. Things don’t get much better than that. Now, do they?

Another thing that you might find would be that you have some who do laundry. This is good. Again you are doing heavy lifting of the laundry basket. The thing though is that many have their washer and dryer on another floor, so this gives you exercise as well.

There are other ways to get a home cardio in the workout. You will find that you can get a home workout in any season. The reason that we say this is because during winter, there are many that have to shovel their sidewalks. There are those who have to rake the leaves in the fall. Those are all good ways to get a home cardio workout.

Even vacuuming is a way to get a home cardio workout. If it is raining and you can’t get out side in order to do this, you don’t have to worry about that. You can go about to get the workout which you need by going about and giving those carpets a good clean. This is what we think we are going to do after this article.

Others will find that cleaning the bathroom can give you the home cardio workout which is needed as you might mop the floor. You might also go about to clean the tub which depending how much elbow power you put into this could make it the cardio workout that many of us long to get but don’t know that we are doing when we clean our home. So, when you go to put off the chores around your home, start thinking about doing them and the amount of good they can do for you.

When it comes to getting a cardio workout, there really is no one best exercise. The most important thing is that you learn to enjoy the process of working out and how it feels to have a healthy body. If the gym isn’t your style, you should get your heart going to the
groove of music!

Dancing can actually burn up to 472 calories an hour which is about the same as jogging. This is a good reason to hit the club and break a sweat. Of course, you want to make sure that you are staying hydrated during your dancing cardio workout. All those shots of tequila are not the best choice for exercising.

A great thing about dancing as a workout is that you don’t even feel like you are working out and the energy of everyone else becomes contagious. If you aren’t the type to hit the clubs, you can always join a dance class. Just keep in mind that slow dancing isn’t going to burn calories or get your heart going but dances such as the Samba and Capoeira are great choices.

Here are some tips for jumping rope safely and effectively:

-A jump rope should come up to your armpits when you are standing on the rope and holding the handles.

-Never jump on hard surfaces like concrete because they will cause strain on your joints. Soft surfaces like carpet are also no-no’s because they increase the risk of ankle injury. You should jump rope on a wood floor or impact exercise mat.

-You shouldn’t jump more than an inch off the ground.

-Start off slowly and work your way up to longer times. Be careful that you aren’t exceeding your target heart rate.

-Use jumping rope as part of a combined aerobic workout. You probably will never want to jump rope longer than 10 minutes. Instead, work in intervals of 50-200 repetitions and do other exercises in between.

Cardio boxing exercises have been gaining a lot of popularity over the past few years. Even though every new exercise fad claims to give a full-body workout, boxing is one of the few that actually does. There are several types of classes and workouts, some which focus on building strength while others are true aerobic workouts that take your body through a series of quick kicks and punches. Either way, your heart will get pumping as it works to provide oxygen to the muscles being put to use.

Aside from the cardio benefits of boxing, there are many benefits to these exercises. First of all, many people find boxing a great way to relieve stress. You might be surprised at how good it feels to slam your heel into a bag after a long day of work or nagging kids. Learning how to deliver kicks and punches will strengthen your body while teaching you precision control. Cardio boxing also works out your abdominal muscles which will help your balance. When you combine all of these benefits together, it will make your everyday life much easier whether it is being patient during a trying time or getting a heavy box up on the top closet shelf.

There are countless games that you can play with kids of all ages that will get your heart going to your target rate. For very young children, you can play games like Simon Says and even Duck Duck Goose can be invigorating. With older children, play a game of tag or sports like flag football, basketball or soccer.

If you have one of those kids who just wants to play video games all day, don’t worry. There are cool video games like Dance Dance Revolution and other fitness type games which will give you an intense cardio workout while you have a lot of fun. Currently the Wii system is great for getting on your feet and getting involved with your game. September of 2010 has the Playstation 3 getting on board with getting fit and XBox 360 will have the technology around November/December. There is no reason why you can’t get your kids involved in exercise under the disguise of a game. Not only is this good for you, but you will set a good example and put your kids on track for a healthy life.

If you live in a small space in the city, it can be hard to fit exercise into your daily routine. The smaller the space, the less room you have for anything “extra” like an elliptical machine, weights, or even a balance ball. With a small enough space, it can even be hard to integrate something simple like a TV and DVD player! That’s one of the reasons that dancing by yourself for an hour can be a great home cardio workout. You don’t need to buy special equipment that will go into storage after a few months, and you don’t have to hide the potentially embarrassing exercise videos at the back of your DVD collection.

As long as you have music playing, and a timer so you know when an hour has passed, you’ll get a great workout just moving and bopping to the beat. Adding ankle or wrist weights can up the calories burned, but might also increase fatigue enough to make you cut it short. To slim down, as opposed to gain muscle, it’s really more important to do something low impact for a longer period of time, so you work the slow twitch muscles to improve the lean endurance rather than improving the capacity for strength.

Finding a good podcast of music that lasts about an hour and is under 140 beats per minute (BPM) is a great way to get started with this type of workout. Or, if you get bored listening to music, having an hour-long audio book or television program playing could be helpful, as long as you remember not to sit down and to keep moving through the interesting plot points. Occasionally mixing it up by throwing in a few five-minute sessions of sit-ups or push-ups can help keep things interesting, and remind you to clean your floor more often, too.

A way to make running interesting is to find a partner. Having a friend to run with not only fights off the boredom but also helps you push yourself further. You will be more motivated to keep going and stick to a steady, intense pace while running alongside a friend. If you don’t have a friend who runs at your level, then borrow the neighbor’s dog. A few other tricks to make running more interesting are to change your course. Try to run in different places even if it means driving to a park to start your run. You can also incorporate running into your daily life by running to the store or home from work instead of driving. Just remember to set clear goals for yourself and to invest in a good pair of running shoes.

An in house alternative is a treadmill. These days you can find treadmills or elliptical trainers that fold up, are smaller in size, etc. to make them a feasible and inexpensive alternative for your home. The benefits of equipment vs. running outside is you’re in the comfort of your home and if you bore easily like I do, set up in front of your television or laptop and watch your favorite show or surf the net while you workout!