Forget burpees – this no-jump cardio workout torches calories and boosts heart health

Burpees may be a staple for ramping up your heart rate and burning lots of calories, but they’re not for everyone, especially if you’re looking for something that’s easier on your joints. The good news is you don’t need explosive movements to build your cardiovascular health, as this low-impact workout proves.

It comes from Sweat app Trainer, Britany Williams, who uses a mixture of compound exercises – which naturally raise your heart rate as they recruit lots of muscles – but she’s also incorporated a light pair of dumbbells. By adding this extra resistance to your exercises, you make them more challenging, thereby ramping up your heart rate and burning more calories, without the need for jumping or throwing yourself on the floor – sounds pretty good, right?

This workout is split into three supersets – this is where you perform two exercises back to back with no rest, or very little rest (in this case). Perform the first exercise in the superset for 30 seconds, rest for 15 seconds, then do the next exercise for another 30 seconds – you’ll do three rounds of one superset. Once you’ve performed three rounds, rest for a minute, then move onto the next superset and repeat the same format. Here’s what exercises you’ve got:

Superset 1

• Knee to elbow march
• Weighted squat punch

Superset 2

• Skull crusher scissor switch
• Lateral lunge pick ups

Superset 3

• Squat press knee drive
• Kettlebell (or dumbbell) swing

If you enjoyed this low-intensity cardio workout, then we’ve got plenty more for you to try – like this workout. It’ll only take you 20 minutes and you won’t need any equipment either as it’s bodyweight-only. Alternatively, if you enjoyed using the dumbbells, then check out this other weighted cardio workout.