Get 30 Minutes of Cardio in Your Living Room

If the increasingly cold weather is keeping you from the gym or your runs, there are some simple moves you can do from the comfort of your living room to get your hear rate elevated. Some of my favorite cardio only takes up as much space as you have between the couch and your television, here are some great moves to get you sweating.

• Jumping jacks. An old calisthenic move, but a highly effective one. Make it tougher by adding weights but only lifting your arms to shoulder height. Or try a Squat Jack, which is a jumping jack modified to be done in a squat position.
• Step-ups. Use any chair you have in your home, the higher the better for elevating heart rate. Switch which leg you elevate each time you step and bring your knee to your chest for a bit of balance incorporated with the cardio.
• Burpees. Definitely not for the faint of heart, start in an upright position, jump down into a plank, jump your feet back to your hands and as you come up hop into the air. The move can be done without the last hop for people who want something with a little less impact. This move is great because it also incorporates a bit of strength while you're in a plank pose.
• Jump Rope. You don't even need a real jumprope to perform this move, just revolve your arms and pretend like it is there, you'll still raise your heart rate significantly.
• Boxing. Try incorporating some basic punches into your cardio to give your legs a bit of a break. Uppercuts, hooks, and jabs all make for a great cardio burn. And again, if you want to step it up a little, do the moves with light weights.
• Jump Squat. A simple enough move, from a squat position you jump up and land softly again in your squat. Repeated this move will leave you gasping for air. Doing fast squats instead can also provide great cardio with less impact.
• Lunges. Repeating lunges on opposite legs can be surprisingly difficult in terms of cardio. Adding a jumping lunge instead of just regular alternating lunges makes it much more difficult.

Adding these moves together for one-minute intervals should make for a challenging, cardio workout that leaves you breathless! If you have any additional cardio moves to add to a circuit, let me know below!