Health Articles

You don’t need a gym membership. You don’t need fancy, expensive equipment. You don’t even have to leave your bedroom if you don’t want to! Burst training ^[1] is a type of exercise that you can do anywhere, anytime.

It involves exercising at 90-100% of your maximum heart rate for 30-60 seconds, followed by 30-60 seconds of lower intensity exercise or resting.

And it’s the most effective way to burn fat and lose weight. Studies have shown that people who do this type of burst or interval training lose 6 TIMES MORE FAT than people who do long distance card exercise. And they exercise for HALF THE TIME!

Here are some ideas to get you started. You can roll right out of bed in the morning and try any combination of these exercises. Pick a handful and burst for 10-20 minutes 3-5x a week.

1. Run in place

Keep your knees high and the speed fast. Make it really count!

2. Jumping Jacks

This reminds me of my high school gym class days. But maybe they were onto something. See how many jumping jacks you can fit inside 30 seconds.

3. Squat pulses

With your feet shoulder distance apart, squat low and move up and down slightly. Make sure your knees don’t come past your toes.

4. Jump rope

Connect with your inner child and pick up a jump rope. Can you still double dutch?

5. Bike

You can exercise in bursts either on a spin bike indoors or a bicycle outside. This is also a great exercise that can involve the whole family.

6. Swim

Ok, so this one only works if you have a pool at your house. But if you don’t, you can swim in bursts anytime you’re at a lake, beach or community pool.

7. High jumps

You don’t have to be Michael Jordan to get benefits from high jumping. Simply stand in place, reach your arms above your head and jump as fast you can for 30-60 seconds.

I’m sure you have many more great ideas for burst training at home.