20 Aerobic Exercises Examples To Try At Home Or At Gym

A perfect choice for doing aerobic exercise at home, Jumping Jacks don't need any equipment or space and are full-body workouts like squats and push-ups. They engage all the major muscles whilst improving your mobility, coordination, and hip strength. 

Unlike squats and pushups which can easily become anaerobic, jumping jacks are very easy to do and sustain for reaching an aerobic state. Furthermore, they can also act as a warm-up, unlike most other exercises on its list.

How To Do:

• Stand straight and keep your feet together. 
• Bend your knees slightly then jump while widening your legs and move your arms over your head from the sides.
• Land softly on your midsoles placed about a shoulder's length apart.
• If you struggle with landing softly, consider jumping with less force.

This is one of the fantastic aerobic exercise examples. They are very easy to sustain for long periods without getting tired but are also effective at increasing your heart rate and breathing. 

Furthermore, they are also a full-body workout which allows you to strengthen your lower body and improve your agility and coordination.

How To Do:

• Hold the jumping rope in your hands and stand straight in a neutral position with your feet together.
• Pull back your shoulders and elbows once you're ready to begin.
• Rotate the rope using your wrist.
• Once the rope is nearing your legs, jump with your midsoles. It may take you several tries as a beginner to avoid the rope successfully.
• Bend your knees, land softly, and repeat.

Another great lower body warm-up, this exercise is simple and easy to do for people of all ages and differing levels of fitness.

This exercise focuses on stretching and warming up your lower muscles while also allowing you to improve your stamina and burn fat.

How To Do:

• Stand on your right leg and lift your left leg heel as close as possible to your posterior.
• If you find it difficult to balance on one leg, you can also try propelling your right arm forward as a means of counterbalance.
• Then, bring your left foot and arm down to the previous position.
• Now, quickly shift to your left leg and raise both your right leg and left arm. 
• Bring them both back down and repeat for a given amount of reps in a set.

This may look daunting at the start, but it is a fantastic exercise that improves your body stability and posture while working out your calves, thighs, and glutes.

Jump squats are a great aerobic exercise if sustained properly but shouldn't be done recklessly without proper muscle warm-up.

How To Do:

• Start with your back straightened and feet placed close together.
• Jump up and land softly while spreading your legs into a squat position. Ensure that your thighs are parallel to the ground once you land.
• After the first jump to reach a squat pose, jump up again, but this time to reach the starting position.
• Remember to slightly bend your knees while landing and use your midsoles to ensure a smooth and safe landing. 
• Now that you are back in the starting position, repeat the previous steps.

Similar to butt kicks, this is a great warm-up and an aerobic exercise workout to help strengthen your core and lower-body muscles. Aside from warming up and getting your blood pumping, this aerobic workout will improve your agility and coordination.

How To Do:

• Stand with a good posture, i.e. with your backs straightened, face forward, and feet slightly kept apart.
• Start by slowly raising your right leg with knees 90 degrees to the floor or higher if comfortably possible.
• Don't try to rush even if it's a warm-up since it's still possible to pull your foot muscles
• Propel your left arm forward while raising the right knee to maintain your center of balance.
• Bring your knee downwards, land softly with the midsole of your foot, and switch to your other knee to repeat the action.
• Use your muscles to bring them down slowly, instead of gravity as it would weaken the exercise.

Jumping Lunge is an advanced version of normal lunges and is considered to be an excellent cardio activity. Going further and beyond traditional lunges, your lower body will be strengthened quicker than regular lunges. 

If you are a beginner, have bad knees, or aren't capable of sustaining regular lunges, then this exercise isn't for you.

How To Do:

• From a standing position, shift your right leg forward and your left leg back before you can proceed.
• Once ready, pull back your shoulders, bend the elbows at a right angle, and rest them on your waist.
• Make sure to engage your core and lean forward slightly as you lower your body further into a deep lunge. Do not touch the floor with your kneecaps.
• After reaching this position, apply force into both of your legs and jump up.
• Quickly switch the position of your legs while in mid-air and land softly with your left leg now forward and right leg back. 

After mentioning jumping lunges, how could we not mention lateral lunges?  This lunge variant is carried out laterally and puts a higher emphasis on your adductors instead of glutes and hamstrings. 

Furthermore, they are also easier to do than jumping lunges, so beginners will be able to incorporate this into their workout easily.

How To Do:

• Starting from a neutral posture with a straightened back and feet hips-width apart, clasp your fists in front of you for balance.
• Lean forward slightly with your core engaged to avoid back problems.
• Once ready to proceed further, slide one of your legs to your side in a big step.
• Lean down lower on the moved leg until the knee forms at a right angle to the floor.
• Once this is completed, return to the starting neutral position.

This aerobics exercise is aptly named as it looks like a skater in a park skating on roller wheels. This workout, while looking deceptively simple, can easily make you lose your balance. So make sure to take it slow and easy in the beginning.

This workout will help tone and strengthen your legs while also making your knees stronger.

How To Do:

• Begin by standing with your feet slightly more apart than usual, meaning wider than shoulder length.
• Place your arms down by your sides and look forward. 
• Then bend your right knee while moving your left foot behind your right.
• To maintain your balance, swing your left arm in front of you while moving your right arm to the back.
• Reverse this back to the starting position to repeat for the other leg.

Aerobic exercise doesn't just solely consist of leg workouts. Performing an Inchworm allows you to simultaneously strengthen your upper body, core, and lower back while remaining low-impact.

How To Do:

• Bend your waist and back to touch the ground with your arms.
• Shuffle both of your hands forward as if walking with your arms and reach a plank position.
• After a moment, walk slowly with your feet to your hands until you can raise your waist and back upright comfortably.

It is another cardio activity that can engage both the upper and the lower muscle groups in your body. Despite looking unimpressive, this aerobic exercise will help you burn the lower belly fat and tone the shape of your thighs and buttocks.

How To Do:

• Enter a push-up position. 
• Make sure to have your hands and feet both shoulder-width apart for proper form with your core engaged.
• Then swiftly raise your right knee as high as you can. Go towards the center of your torso and hold this position for a few seconds. 
• Lower your leg and switch to your other leg.

If you find the original regular planks boring and too repetitive as a means of strengthening your upper body and core, then consider trying out the plank jacks.

Plank jacks are not only core-strengthening but you can also improve your cardio routine and effectively demolish fat across a wider section.

How To Do:

• Get into a plank position. If you don't know what a plank position looks like, rest on the mat with your elbows and toes. 
• Clasp your fists in the middle, forming a triangle with your arms for stability.
• Make sure to keep your back straight and engage the core to avoid back problems.
• Now, jump with your feet and space them wide apart as much as you can before landing back on the mat softly. 
• Repeat the jump but this time, land with your feet close to each other to reach the starting position.

It's the inverse of mountain climbers, where instead of raising your knee forward in your torso, you are raising your leg backward as high as you can. While mountain climbers work out your quadriceps, this primarily works your glutes, core, and shoulder muscles.

How To Do:

• Keep your hands in line with your shoulders and your knees with your hips.
• Make sure to engage your core and keep the back straight.
• Once you are ready to begin, raise your right leg while keeping it steady at a 90-degree angle and kick it as high as you can comfortably go.
• After reaching the apex of your kick, bring down the leg slowly instead of allowing it to fall to continue working the muscles. 
• Repeat these steps for 20 reps to complete the set.

This workout involves rotating your waists and thighs in a circular motion, making it resemble a corkscrew. Aside from how it looks, it will strengthen and tone your cores, thighs, abs, and back.

How To Do:

• Place your legs together and make sure to place your palms on the ground for extra stability.
• Pull in your stomach, breathe in, push on your midsection to engage the core, and use your ab muscles to lift your legs.
• While keeping your legs together and straight, use your ab muscles to slowly move your leg in a circular motion.
• If you still find it difficult to keep your balance, consider tucking your hand below your sitting area.
• Make sure to move your legs slowly but steadily. Keep completing circles with your legs for as long as it takes to complete a set.
• Make sure to move your legs in an anti-clockwise direction to ensure both sides of the cores and glutes get worked out equally.

Burpees is a famous name when it comes to the best aerobic workouts. On top of being amazing cardio, this aerobic exercise also improves your heart health and blood circulation while strengthening the muscles of your arms and legs.

How To Do:

• Start with being in a squat position.
• Place your hands in front of you on the ground and jump with your feet to enter a push-up position.
• Make sure that your back is straightened with the cores to avoid any back issues.
• Do a singular push-up and once you are done, jump with your feet back into the starting position of the second step.
• Raise your body into a squat position, jump, and land with your mid-soles.
• Repeat the previous steps to continue the reps.

Great for shredding fat and toning your body around the waist and thigh areas, flutter kicks allow you to get rid of love handles and muffin tops. We all know that despite their adorable names, they're no fun to have.

How To Do:

• Keep your legs together and tuck the palms underneath your buttocks for support.
• Using your cores and abdominal muscles, slowly lift your legs.
• Once you have gone as high as you can, kick your feet up and down.
• Keep doing this until you get tired and then, take a break.

Unlike the regular plank, this version isn't limited to just your cores and is a full-body workout. It will help shape your inner tights, buttocks, and midsection. If you find it too difficult, consider doing some arm and wrist strength training for good plank stability. 

How To Do:

• To start this exercise, begin with a push-up stance. 
• Engage the core to avoid any back issues and look forward with your head.
• Beginning with your right hand and foot, move them to the right together while tightly contracting on your thighs and glutes.
• After both your right hand and foot find their ground, move the other hand and leg.
• You can change directions after every 4 reps.

Bicycle crunches are extremely useful even for long-time aerobic activity veterans. They focus and help tone fat in your midsection, making it a fantastic choice for those wanting to achieve their ideal body shape.

How To Do:

• Place down a carpet mat and lie down on your back.
• Keep your soles flat against the ground but with your knees raised and bent.
• For this exercise to focus on the muscles of your midsection properly, place your hands behind your head.
• Engage your cores and bring your right knee to your chest while also lifting your back and shoulders to the ground.
• Slowly bring your back and legs to rest on the ground.
• Do not come crashing down as it makes the workout less effective.

Triceps dips, aka chair dips, is a workout that solely targets your upper body. It is handy when it comes to strengthening your upper arms, pectorals, and shoulders. 

How To Do:

• Sit down on the ground with a supporting chair or table behind you.
• Position the palm of your hands beside your hips and grip the chair/table tightly.
• Bend your knees and breathe in slowly as you dip and lower your torso until your elbow makes a 90-degree angle with the object.
• Raise yourself slowly while breathing out and your arm is fully extended.
• Keep repeating the dipping motions while breathing in and out with proper forms.

This is best described as a low-effort but high-impact aerobic activity. Simplistic and easy to sustain, it can help beginners develop their leg strength and endurance while also conditioning their cardiovascular system. 

Make sure to properly adjust the seat and pedal resistances of the bike so you have minimal risk of falling off or getting yourself injured.

How To Do:

• Adjust the seat to get a 5-10 maximum-degree knee bend instead of fully extending the leg at the bottom end to prevent knee compression injuries.
• Aim for a pace of 75 to 80 cycle rotations per minute and 20-30 minutes of cycling per set. 
• Place both of your feet in the cage of your pedals and push with your dominant foot. 
• Adjust the resistance and make sure that you are the one pushing the pedals instead of the pedals pushing your feet.

Last but not least, Elliptical machines are another way of doing aerobic exercises at home or the gym. Less stress on the knees, hips, and back makes this exercise very friendly for both beginners and old folks.

How To Do:

• Always look forward to reduce the neck strain and prevent throwing off your balance. 
• Always keep your posture upright and engage the core as you use your feet to pedal the machine while making an elliptical shape with your feet.
• Adjust the resistance on the machine accordingly.
• Continue doing this activity for a good 20 to 30 minutes.