Standing Beginner Cardio Workout | Low Impact, No Equipment (All Standing, No Jumping!)

Hey everybody, I'm Amy from BodyFit by Amy, Amy, and this is your standing beginner cardio workout. This is an all bodyweight, all standing workout where we will go through 2 circuits of some basic cardio moves where I'm going to give you lots of different options. We're going to keep it all low impact and all with options to work to your fitness level, whether you are brand new to exercise or getting back into it or just need something low impact today. I'll have options for you. Are you ready? Let's do it. All right, let's start just by getting a gentle march. You're just moving your arms and legs. And today what we're working with is we are just going to be getting our hearts pumping without doing anything down on the mat, only using our own body weight and without doing anything high impact. So no jumping, no running, nothing high impact or even super high intensity. I want you to be able to feel your heart rate getting up, and I'm going to give you some levels and some ways to take it up or take it down as needed, but you don't have to do anything that is not right for where you are today. So roll those shoulders to the back. If you need to make this march a little slower, that's fine too. So something I always say in my workouts is I want you to be where you are today. So that is where you are in your fitness journey. And if you're doing this workout, maybe you are brand new to fitness, or what I like to call begin-againers, as in you're getting back into working out. So that That's also where are you in your journey today. So step out side to side. We're just going to move side to side nice and slow. Just get those arms up and back. You can start slow and then pick it up. So we're just getting our bodies warm before we go into those cardio moves. So be where you are today is also where are you today? How are you feeling today? Are you extra tired? Are you extra stressed? Maybe you didn't have a good night's sleep. Maybe something is stressing you out at work. Whatever it is, listen to your body and move in a way that feels good for you. We're just going to do some little rotations here. I want you to reach across your body, and nothing we're going to do today is going to be too strenuous, and we're not adding weight, so we can keep this warm-up just to get about getting our body's core temperature up. Can you move and take it over your head right here? And then let's take it right across our chest. So the way we're working today, we have one set of moves. We've only got 8 of them, and I'm going to talk you through them, and we're going to do them each for 40 seconds of work followed by 20 seconds of rest. And during that rest period, you can return to this little march, or you can grab some water. And then once we're done with those 8 moves, we'll get a longer break to get some water, and we'll do everything again. So the name, uh, the, the goal of this workout is just to keep moving, get our muscles working, get our heart rates up. I don't want you to worry too much about, oh, am I in the right heart rate zone, or am I pushing myself hard enough? I just want you to be present here today. Move your body, challenge yourself, but challenge yourself in a way that is good for you. All right, we're going to start with just this march, but if you can, I want you to bring those knees up a little bit more. It's just sort of a walking march. Let's do it right here. So we're just picking up our pace, and again, you pick your pacing. You don't have to be the same speed as me. If you need to be a little smaller or you need to keep your feet on the ground, that works too. Now can we add to this a little walk up and walk back? Watch me. Up, 2, 3, 4, and back. Don't worry about the beats. So you can stay right here or you can really pick up the pace of it just like that. If that doesn't feel good for you, I want you just to keep it with a march in place. But if you want, walk it up. Let's get one more right here and breathe. So again, when we come to these 20-second rest periods, you can stop completely if you need to, or you can just— I say tap it out, keep your feet moving. Next move, watch me. We're going to take it with some knees, just bringing them up right and left. Here we go. So pulling the knees up, you can start slow, and if you need to, you can make it more of a tap. Watch what I'm doing right here. Toes here if you we're gonna bring it up here, just like that, right? So we're here, and again, you decide if you need to keep it a little lower or a little slower, that works. If you want to get a little more intensity with it, you can pick up the pace or maybe take those arms a little higher. You do you, this is your workout. Maybe you're feeling that heart rate get up a little more. I know I am. 3, 2, and 1, and back to just tap it out. All right, next move is going to be a hamstring curl. I'm going to turn to the side just so you can see me. Our goal is to bring those heels up just like this. Same idea as with that knees— if you want to just tap it back like this, that works. And then I'll give you the option to add some arms. Here we go. So hamstring curls to the back, one comes up and the other. Again, if you want to keep it grounded, just tap it back. And then we can cross those arms in front. So pick the option that's good for you. Maybe it's here, maybe it's here, but you're taking it a little slower. Maybe it's here, but you're picking up that pace. You want to keep it grounded, you want to keep it low impact, but you know you can go a little faster. And again, maybe it's here, just a little tap. If you want even a little higher, you can take those hands here. We'll get the shoulders working. We're adding in upper and lower body with this move. But not in your traditional strength training format. And breathe. There we go. Catch your breath. I hope you're feeling good. If at any point you need to take a breather, take a longer break, go for it. Hit pause, come back to it. Do what's best for you. This is just a little step touch. Step touch, step touch. We're going to start with that. I'll give you some options to take it up. Here we go. Step right and step left. So you're moving laterally. You can pump those arms forward and back. If you need to go a little slower, you can. If you need to keep it grounded, you can just tap here. And if you want to up that intensity, pick up your pace. Soften those knees throughout. But if you want to even get a little lower, you'll feel a little bit more in those leg muscles, right? And that's also going to get our heart rates up a little more. Finding the level that's good for you. 10 seconds. 3, 2, and 1. All right, so we're gonna do a modified version of a jumping jack, or another version of a jumping jack. Sometimes we think modified and we think that means a whole lot easier, but you can make these tough for you and where you are in your journey. We're going to tap out to the side, one arm goes up one arm goes down. Let's take it right here. Right arm, right leg. Left arm, left leg. You're here, strong arms. And if you want, take them together. So instead of that traditional jumping jack where we're jumping the whole time, we're taking it here. You can keep it just one arm at a time or two, right through here. And really think about being strong in those arms, tightening out your arm muscles. You're not just letting those arms flail all over the place. We've got intentional movement, which again is going to strengthen our upper body and also give us that good mobility. Good, relax. Most of us are pretty tight in our shoulders and our back because of sitting at our computers, looking at our phones, so it's going to help open that up. All right, we're going to also going to get a different version of a speed skater. We're going to step, cross behind, arms up, cross behind. You can take it nice and slow to start. Here we go. Hands up, tap behind, step, cross behind. Now don't overthink this. Every now and then I'm teaching this in a class and somebody is like, wait, am I going in front? Am I going behind? If that's you, you can just take it to that step touch that we did a few moves ago. If you can tap behind, what's happening is we're getting a little rotational movement, right? Rotation in our torso and our hips. Really good for mobility, good for our body. If you want to get a little lower and get a little more of the legs working, you can do that too. If you want to keep it just a tap behind, that works too. Arms up, arms down, and relax. All right, speaking of those legs, we're going to do a little Step out squat. So I'm stepping out to the side, little squat, however low you want to go, whatever is right for you. Step it back in. Step out squat and in. Let's get it done, 40 seconds. Out and in. So maybe you're here because squats are not super comfortable for your body or for your knees. You can take it small, you can just tap out Tap in, tap out. Notice again I'm moving those arms. For me, a lot of this arm movement, not only does it help us get the rest of our body moving, but it also helps me with a rhythm, right? So maybe you're going a little slower, but you're taking it down, bring it up if you can. If you're able to get low, it's really going to strengthen around those knees, strengthen the leg muscles, and get the heart rate up even more. But if that's not right for you, keep it a little higher. Last one, and breathe. All right, we're on to that very last move, then we'll get a longer breather, we'll do it all again. All right, we're gonna do a tap and punch. So in the beginning we did that little tap out like this. I want you to take it with a little punch, punch. You don't have to punch super hard, you can take it in a way that's good for you. If you want to just reach, pull back, reach, pull back, I want you to start with just this, and then if you want to add taking the foot out, you can. All right, got a little longer breather that time, but that's okay. Let's take it here, core engage. Start with just the punches. Here we go, punch right, punch left. You're here, and then if you want to add stepping out, kind of like that step out jumping jack that we did without the jumping, you're tapping that leg out to the side. Again, if you want to up that intensity, pick up that pace right here. If you need to keep it a little slower and lower, be where you are today. This is the last move, then we're gonna grab some water. We're gonna do it a second time. It'll feel easier in the sense that you'll know what to do. And breathe. So march it out, roll those shoulders. Grab some water with me. So grab that water. Pay attention to how your heart rate is feeling. Is it getting up there? Don't worry if you don't have a watch to tell you, just go by how you're feeling. Are you feeling a little out of breath? Are you feeling like you can still talk? That's good, you're in those lower zones. Cheers! Are you feeling like you're way out of breath? If that's the case, give yourself a few extra seconds also let that heart rate come down. It's going to be dependent on where you are in your journey and your body type, all of your specifics. So don't worry, you should not be breathing the same as me or anybody else. Your workout— let's take it back to here. Excuse me. We have all of those moves again, starting with either just that little march or walking it up for 4, walking it back for 4. So decide where you want to be. Hopefully that heart rate has settled. Let's go, 40 seconds, second time through. Walk it up, walk it back. If you want to keep it just a little march, you can. I like to bring my knee up at the end right here, but you don't have to do that. It kind of takes me back to my step aerobics days. Yes, I used to teach it right here, but you don't have to be there. You can just take it here, or again, just a gentle march in the center. Remember to pay attention to that posture. A lot of us, again, because of our sitting at our desk, driving our cars, we get pulled forward. Really think open with those shoulders, eyes up. 3, 2, 1. All right, breathe. Tap it out. Now we got those knees, right? So we're coming up and up. Remember, if you need to keep it a little tap in front, that works too. If you want to add something to make it a little different, you can add a little cross, right? Watch, I'm getting my torso involved, working that core. Here we go, right here, just like that. Or again, even if you have those taps instead of the knees, you can still get that little chopping motion to work that core, right? Especially if you're someone who gets tight in your lower back, which is many of us, right? You feel that? It's really opening up through there. If you want to bring those hands higher, you'll feel that heart rate a little bit more, but it's up to you. 3, 2, And one. Good, back to center. Now we're back to those hamstring curls. So again, if you need to stop completely in between, that's okay. If you want to keep it moving to keep the rhythm going, that's okay too. So hamstring curls, remember we're bringing those heels up. If you need to keep it a little tap, you can. Optional arms, here we go. So hamstring curls, you want to bring those arms right here. Just like that. If you want to take those hands up higher, I love this because again, we all need that opener from our posture. But also, when we get those hands higher, we tend to one, work our arm muscles, get that good stretch, and then also get the heart pumping a little bit more. If you're just a tap, you can do that too. Right here, we got 5 seconds to go. 3, 2, 1, and breathe. Coming back. Now we're going to that side step. So we go step touch, step touch. What I'm going to add is, if you want, you can do 2 steps to the right, 2 steps to the left. Totally optional. Keep it small if you want. Here we go. Step, touch, step, touch. Arms high to low if you want, or if you need to just keep it here or here. And then if you want to add on, 2 steps, 2 steps, and back. Remember, if you want to sit a little lower into that athletic stance, that'll get the heart rate up. Arms up strong and down strong, right? We're not just Flailing them around. Strong, strong. Yes you can. Sometimes this is about the point in the workout where we're really starting to feel it, but you're doing it. You're here. Keep it going and relax. Now we're on to that modified or tap out jack, right? Tap out jack. Remember, you can go right arm, right leg. Left arm, left leg, or you can do those arms together if you want to get a little lower. Get those legs working. We got it, here we go. Again with the arms, think that you're making a big circle. And if you need to keep it just upper body, that's always an option too. Right here, starting to feel that a little bit too much? That's comfortable for you, take it one arm, one leg. Slow it down right here. Yes, yes, there we go. 5 seconds to go. 3, 2, 1, and roll those shoulders. Catch your breath. We are getting there, we're so close. Remember that little tap behind, so it's a modified version of a skater. Step, cross behind, through the center, arms up, sweep them back. I want to encourage you to get a little lower and bring those arms a little higher. Let's do it. Step and sweep, tap behind. So our regular speed skater usually looks something like this. This is a modified version, we're adding more arms, high to low. But you can still, if you want to get low— again, we're getting in that transverse plane, getting that rotational movement that our body needs for mobility, because we rotate all the time in life, right? Getting something out of the car, unloading the dishwasher, we need that movement right here. If you want to pick up the pace, you can. 5 seconds to go. 3, 2, and breathe right here. Ah, all right team, so let's take it. We got 2 more moves. Remember that little step out squat? You decide if you want to get low with it. We're going to step out, get low, bring it up. Step out and up. Let's do it! We are so close to the end of this workout. So hang with me. And up. Now if you want to up that intensity, you can go a little quicker, or you can come up on those toes. Step out, come up. Don't do it to a point where you feel off balance, but it's just going to give you a little bit of that calf raise. But if that doesn't feel right for you, keep it right here. Again, arms can move with the rhythm, your range of motion. 3, 2, 1, and breathe. All right, last move everybody. Now we've got those punches, right? So remember, we're just starting here, and if you want to step out with it, you can. If you want a different option, you can take it to a little uppercut. Maybe you've done kickbox boxing before. Try that if you want. Otherwise, let's take it here. Up, up, tap out, tap out. Maybe the uppercut feels weird for you, just take it across, take it across. This is it, team! This is your last move. You've made it this far, you're doing it. I hope you're feeling that energy even if you're feeling a little tired. Feel that energy. Pick up your pace if you want, or stay strong. We've got 15 seconds to go right here. Yes! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and breathe. So just step a little side to side. We're going to take that foot forward Open it up right here. Feel that breath, feel that oxygen flowing through your body. Even if you're feeling really out of breath, or maybe you're not feeling out of breath at all, all that matters is that you showed up to move your body today. I want you to open up those arms wide as we get that little tap. We don't need too much of a cool down, but we'll get a couple little stretches as we let that system downregulate. Let's take those arms up nice and strong. Take it to the side. How are you feeling? Check in with yourself. No matter what that felt like— maybe it felt challenging, maybe it felt super easy— either way, that's going to inform your next workout, right? You're going to come back because you know that the reason it's hard is because you were working hard. If it felt like it was challenging, it's because you were challenging yourself. If it didn't feel tough enough, now you have somewhere to go. You can up the intensity in different ways, or you can explore some of my other cardio workouts or strength workouts. Reach those arms to the back right here, and then let's take those legs out wide if you can. Just gently on the inside, roll those shoulders as we're gently pushing out on the inside of the legs. No matter what you felt or what you're feeling I hope that you're proud of yourself for showing up today, for getting through this workout. We all start somewhere. Let's get a little hamstring stretch. Sit back right here. If you need to grab onto the wall or a chair, give yourself a little balance. Just lean into that, feel that back and hamstring. So if this is your starting point today, I'm so glad that you're here, and come back for more. Again, the only thing that matters is that you show up and move your body. Yes, I want you to have good form. I want you to be doing things safely and effectively. But at the end of the day, we don't have to get too into the specifics of what we're doing and how. We just want consistency. We want to show up for ourselves, show up for others, show up for our bodies. Thank you so much for being here today. Let's get one big deep breath in and out. You did it! That was Standing beginner cardio workout. Great job, everybody!