Cardio Ideas for Beginners

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“Start running a few days per week. You’ll lose the weight in no time.”

Pretty common advice when someone is wanting to lose a little weight. Makes sense doesn’t it? Burn the calories, tone up the body. The problem inevitably arises after the first effort or two, where legs, knees and shins feel so sore that walking is a challenge, much less running.

So the age-old story is at that point, our motivation hits rock bottom, we eat instead of move, and compound the problem that we first set out to try and overcome.

The truth is, the impact of running on our legs and joints can be up to 4 x our body weight pounding through our system. So for every kilogram overweight, you might be, you’re asking your body to absorb an extra 4kg of load with every step. It’s not that running is a complete no go zone when you’re a little or a lot overweight, but doing it the right way, and finding other alternatives is critical. It needs to be something you can enjoy, and that will not cause more harm than good.

1. Walking

Walking is one of the best ways to get more active when you’re first getting into weight loss. It’s easy to do, it’s not demanding on the body, you can make it fit your everyday life easier, and it burns a good number of calories.

Aim to do 10,000-15,000 steps per day. That, in combination with some caloric restriction, will help you shed the excess weight. Finding hills and varied terrain can also up the ante when required.

2. Cycling

Whether you cycle in the gym, on a stationary bike or take it outside, you can’t go wrong. Cycling is a great way to do cardio and burn a lot of calories without beating your joints up.

Cycling also strengthens your leg muscles. As a beginner, aim for cycles of 5-7 minutes at moderate intensity. Take a small break after each cycle, get off, stretch a bit, and hop back on.

3. Swimming

Swimming is yet another great way to burn a lot of calories, train your entire body and avoid stress on your joints. You can also do it at your own pace and duration. 

If you’re not much of a swimmer, it’s never too late to work on your swimming skills. Who knows, you might need them someday.

4. Elliptical Trainer

The Elliptical is one of the most used pieces of cardio equipment in any gym, and for a good reason: It’s fun, challenging, low impact, and it helps you burn a lot of calories.

To use it correctly, however, there are some things to keep in mind:

• Maintain a good posture. Don’t slouch forward.
• Work the handles actively. Engage your pulling and pushing muscles on each cycle.
• Use a moderate speed and avoid taking advantage of the momentum.

5. Rowing Machine

Last, but not least, we have the rowing machine. This is an excellent option for beginners to do cardio and give their back, arms, and shoulders an amazing workout. It’s very fun to use, it’s challenging, and it helps you burn a lot of calories without putting much stress on your joints.

You can also customize the speed: intensity ratio to fit your main goal. As a beginner, you’d be best off going for a lower speed: intensity for longer periods of time. You can always switch it up and do some timed laps as quickly as you can.