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Exercises

Cardio exercises for weight loss, and the lifting that goes with them

Published October 29, 2026

The best cardio exercises for weight loss are brisk and incline walking, the stationary bike, elliptical, rowing machine and stair climber, and, if your joints are happy with it, running, jump rope and air bike intervals. Choose the one you will do most often: 150 to 300 minutes a week of cardio, mostly at a pace you could talk through with one or two harder interval sessions, burns the most over a month. Add two or three strength sessions with squats, hinges, push-ups and rows so more of the weight you lose comes from fat and less from muscle.

  1. Brisk Walk Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Calves
  2. Treadmill Walk Quads, Glutes, Calves
  3. Stationary Bike Quads, Hamstrings
  4. Rowing Machine Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Lats
  5. Stair Climber Quads, Glutes, Calves
  6. Jump Rope Calves, Quads
  7. Goblet Squat Quads, Glutes

Walking: the base of the week

Walking burns fewer calories per minute than running, but you can do far more of it, every day, with almost no recovery cost. For most people losing weight it supplies more total calories burned than any other kind of cardio.

Legs, walking

Brisk Walk

Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Calves

A brisk walk is the cardio you can do every day without it eating into anything else. Pick up the pace until talking takes a little effort, and 30 to 45 minutes a day becomes the largest single source of exercise calories in your week.

How to do it

  1. Walk at a pace a little faster than your normal stride.
  2. Let your arms swing from the shoulders and stand tall.
  3. Keep going until you feel warm and your breathing has picked up a little.

Cues

  • Tall posture
  • Arms swing freely

Common mistakes

  • Slouching over a phone while you walk: the arm swing is what loosens your upper back.

Swap for: Treadmill Walk, Stationary Bike, Elliptical

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Legs and glutes, incline walking

Treadmill Walk

Quads, Glutes, Calves

Raising the incline turns a walk into a hard workout without running: at 8 to 12 percent, a 3 mile per hour walk leaves most people breathing hard. It is the best step up from flat walking.

How to do it

  1. Start the belt at an easy walking pace.
  2. Raise speed or incline every minute until you are walking briskly.
  3. Walk with a normal arm swing.

Cues

  • Let go of the rails.
  • Short, quick steps as speed rises.

Common mistakes

  • Holding the rails and leaning back.

Swap for: Brisk Walk, Elliptical

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Gym cardio machines

Machines let you control the effort exactly and spare your joints the landings. Rotate two or three of them so no single movement gets old, and use the display to match or beat last week's distance in the same time.

Quads and hamstrings, cycling

Stationary Bike

Quads, Hamstrings

The seat carries your body weight, so the bike suits long sessions and larger bodies alike. Raising the resistance, not just pedaling faster, is what makes it count.

How to do it

  1. Adjust the seat to hip height when you stand beside the bike.
  2. Pedal at a light resistance with a steady, smooth cadence.
  3. Add a little resistance in the last minute so you finish slightly out of breath.

Cues

  • Smooth circles
  • Slightly warm, not tired

Common mistakes

  • Cranking heavy resistance: this is to get warm, not to train your legs before chest day.

Swap for: Air Bike, Rowing Machine, Elliptical

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Legs and arms, gliding stride

Elliptical

Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes

The elliptical gives you a running motion with your feet never leaving the pedals, and the moving handles bring your arms in. It is the easiest machine to stay on for 30 minutes or more.

How to do it

  1. Step on, hold the moving handles and start striding at a relaxed pace.
  2. Push the pedals through your whole foot and let your hips swing naturally.
  3. Add a little resistance for the last minute.

Cues

  • Tall chest
  • Long, even strides

Common mistakes

  • Leaning your weight onto the handles: stand up over your feet.

Swap for: Stationary Bike, Brisk Walk

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Legs, back and arms, rowing

Rowing Machine

Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Lats

Rowing uses the legs, hips, back and arms in every stroke, so you work a lot of muscle while sitting down. It suits both steady 20-minute rows and short hard intervals.

How to do it

  1. Strap your feet in and hold the handle with straight arms.
  2. Push with your legs first, then lean back slightly and bring the handle to your lower ribs.
  3. Reverse the order on the way back: arms forward, body tips forward, knees bend.
  4. Keep the pace conversational, around 20 strokes a minute.

Cues

  • Legs, body, arms; arms, body, legs
  • Easy enough to talk

Common mistakes

  • Racing the first minute: this is a warm-up, so finish feeling fresher than you started.

Swap for: Stationary Bike, Air Bike, Jump Rope

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Quads, glutes and calves, stair climbing

Stair Climber

Quads, Glutes, Calves

Climbing a moving staircase lifts your whole body weight every step, which makes it one of the hardest machines in the gym at a slow, controlled pace. Hold the rails only lightly.

How to do it

  1. Step on the machine, hold the rails lightly for balance only, and start at an easy speed.
  2. Stand tall and place your whole foot on each step.
  3. Raise the speed until you breathe hard but can still say a short sentence.
  4. Keep that pace for the planned time, then slow down for a couple of minutes before stepping off.

Cues

  • Whole foot on each step
  • Hands just for balance
  • Steady breathing

Common mistakes

  • Leaning on the rails with locked arms: that takes the work away from your legs.
  • Climbing on your toes only: let the heel land on each step.

Swap for: Step-Up, Treadmill Walk, Stationary Bike

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Full body, fan-bike intervals

Air Bike

Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes

Arms and legs drive the fan together and resistance rises the harder you go, so 15 to 30 second sprints are as hard as you make them. Save it for one or two short interval sessions a week.

How to do it

  1. Set the seat so your knee is slightly bent at the bottom.
  2. Let your arms drive the handles in time with your legs.
  3. Start easy for 2 minutes and 30 seconds, then build to moderate for the last 30 seconds.

Cues

  • Arms push and pull
  • Breathe through your nose at first

Common mistakes

  • Sprinting in the first minute: save it for the WOD.
  • Gripping the handles so tight your shoulders shrug.

Swap for: Rowing Machine, Stationary Bike, Ski Erg

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Running and jump rope

The highest burn per minute of anything here, and the highest impact. Build up to them over a few weeks if you are not already running, and keep them to two or three sessions a week.

Legs, running

Running

Quads, Hamstrings, Calves

Running burns more per minute than nearly any other cardio and needs only shoes. If you are new to it, start with walk-run intervals so your calves, shins and knees adapt along with your lungs.

How to do it

  1. Jog easily around the field, court or a lap of the area you have.
  2. Mix in some backward jogging and side shuffles if you have room.
  3. Keep the arms swinging forward and back, not across your body.
  4. Finish the block a little faster than you started.

Cues

  • Easy and loose
  • Arms forward and back
  • Build gradually

Common mistakes

  • Turning the jog into a race with teammates: save speed for the primers.
  • Running with your chin up and shoulders tight: let the shoulders drop.

Swap for: High Knees, Jump Rope, Stationary Bike

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Calves and legs, rope skipping

Jump Rope

Calves, Quads

Ten minutes of steady skipping is a hard session, and the rope goes anywhere. Learn the basic bounce at an easy pace before you try to go fast.

How to do it

  1. Hold the handles at hip height with the rope behind you.
  2. Turn the rope with your wrists and hop just high enough to clear it.
  3. Keep a steady, easy rhythm.

Cues

  • Small hops on the balls of your feet.
  • Elbows close to your sides.

Common mistakes

  • Jumping high and swinging from the shoulders.

Swap for: Skipping in Place, Jumping Jack

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Strength to pair with your cardio

Cardio burns calories; lifting decides what the lost weight is made of. These four cover the legs, hips, chest and back with one pair of dumbbells, which is all you need two or three times a week.

Quads and glutes, squat

Goblet Squat

Quads, Glutes

Holding one dumbbell at your chest makes the squat easy to learn and easy to load. It keeps your leg muscle while you eat less, which helps you keep doing all that walking and cycling.

How to do it

  1. Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell vertically against your chest.
  2. Sit down between your knees, elbows inside them at the bottom.
  3. Stand up tall.

Cues

  • Elbows nudge the knees out at the bottom.
  • Chest stays up behind the weight.

Common mistakes

  • Letting the weight pull you forward.

Swap for: Bodyweight Squat, Barbell Back Squat

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Hamstrings and glutes, hip hinge

Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

Hamstrings, Glutes

The Romanian deadlift trains the back of the legs and hips, the muscles cardio barely loads. Two or three sets of 8 to 12 twice a week is enough.

How to do it

  1. Stand hip-width apart with a dumbbell in each hand resting against the front of your thighs, palms facing you.
  2. Push your hips straight back and let your torso fold forward, knees softly bent, the dumbbells brushing your legs.
  3. Lower until the dumbbells pass your knees and you feel a strong stretch in your hamstrings, with your back still flat.
  4. Drive your hips forward to stand back up, squeezing your glutes at the top, and repeat.

Cues

  • Hips back, not down
  • Dumbbells slide down your legs
  • Flat back, chin tucked

Common mistakes

  • Bending the knees into a squat so the dumbbells go lower: the depth comes from the hips, and most people stop just past the knees.
  • Rounding the lower back at the bottom: end the rep where your back stays flat, and lighten the load if that is high.

Swap for: Single-Leg RDL, Dumbbell Good Morning, Kettlebell Deadlift

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Chest and triceps, press

Push-Up

Chest

Cardio leaves your upper body almost untouched. Push-ups cover the chest, shoulders and arms with no equipment, from the floor or with your hands on a bench.

How to do it

  1. Set your hands slightly wider than your shoulders with your body straight from head to heels.
  2. Lower until your chest nearly touches the floor, elbows at about 45 degrees.
  3. Press back up to straight arms.

Cues

  • One straight line
  • Elbows angled back

Common mistakes

  • Flaring the elbows straight out: tuck them toward your ribs.

Swap for: Kneeling Push-Up, Incline Push-Up, Push-Up Plus

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Back and biceps, row

One-Arm Dumbbell Row

Lats, Upper Back

The row balances the push-up and trains the upper back, so the strength you keep while dieting is spread evenly instead of all in your legs.

How to do it

  1. Put one hand and the same-side knee on a bench, or your hand on a chair seat with both feet on the floor, so your back is flat.
  2. Hold a dumbbell in the other hand with your arm hanging straight.
  3. Pull your elbow back toward your hip until the dumbbell reaches your ribs.
  4. Lower it until your arm is straight again, finish all reps, then switch sides.

Cues

  • Elbow to your hip
  • Back flat as a table
  • Full stretch at the bottom

Common mistakes

  • Twisting your chest open to lift the dumbbell higher: keep both shoulders level.
  • Shrugging the shoulder up toward your ear: pull the elbow back, not the shoulder up.

Swap for: Band Bent-Over Row, Dumbbell Bent-Over Row, Seated Cable Row

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Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in.

Session 1

Starting from walking, four days a week

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts4× a week
  • Working sets28 a week
  • Per workout~15 min
  • EquipmentTreadmill

You are not exercising yet, or not much, and want the simplest cardio routine that burns calories without wrecking your legs.

Two walking sessions are logged as intervals so you have a number to beat each week: 8 faster minutes on one day, 6 steep minutes on the other. Easy walking on the other days does the rest, and the total lands near the 150 minutes a week most guidelines start with.

Interval walk
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Brisk WalkSeconds fast. Walk easy between. 8 × 60 3 90 s

Open Interval walk in the session builder

Incline walk
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Treadmill WalkSeconds at 6 to 10 percent incline. Flat between. 6 × 60 3 2 min

Open Incline walk in the session builder

How to run it
Do the interval walk on Monday and Thursday and the incline walk on Tuesday and Saturday, each with 5 minutes of easy walking before and after. On two other days, walk 20 to 30 minutes at a comfortable pace.
How to progress
Each week, either walk the fast minutes a little faster or add one more. On the treadmill, add 1 percent incline once all six intervals feel steady. When you reach 10 fast minutes and 10 percent incline, add 5 minutes to your easy walks.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

Gym member, cardio machines four days a week

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts4× a week
  • Working sets48 a week
  • Per workout~20 min
  • EquipmentRowing Machine, Exercise Bike, Stair Climber, Elliptical

You go to a gym, like the machines, and want a varied, low-impact cardio week that does not get boring.

Two machine days with intervals build fitness, and two steady days on the others add the bulk of your weekly minutes. Rotating the rower, bike, stair climber and elliptical spreads the work across different muscles. Each interval day is 12 hard efforts in about 30 minutes.

Day A: Row and bike
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Rowing MachineSeconds hard. Row easy between. 6 × 45–60 2 75 s
Stationary BikeSeconds at high resistance. Spin easy between. 6 × 30–45 2 1 min

Open Day A: Row and bike in the session builder

Day B: Stairs and elliptical
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Stair ClimberSeconds at a fast step. Slow steps between. 6 × 60 2 1 min
EllipticalSeconds at high resistance. Easy stride between. 6 × 45–60 2 1 min

Open Day B: Stairs and elliptical in the session builder

How to run it
Do Day A on Monday and Day B on Thursday. On Tuesday and Saturday, spend 30 to 40 minutes on the elliptical or bike at a pace you can talk through. Warm up 5 minutes before each interval session.
How to progress
Write down distance or calories for each interval and try to beat the total by a little each week at the same effort. When you cannot, add one interval to each block before trying again.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Three days of strength with a cardio finisher

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets45 a week
  • Per workout~30 min
  • EquipmentDumbbells, Air Bike, Jump Rope

You want to lose fat while keeping your muscle, and you have time for three 45-minute sessions a week plus walking.

Lifting three times a week is what holds on to muscle while you eat less, and a short interval finisher adds calories burned at the end. Each day has 9 strength sets and 6 intervals. With a daily walk, this is the most complete plan on the page.

Day A: Squat, push, air bike
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Goblet Squat1 warm-up set first 3 × 8–12 2 90 s
Push-Up 3 × 6–15 2 90 s
One-Arm Dumbbell RowPer arm. 3 × 8–12 2 1 min
Air BikeSeconds hard. Pedal easy between. 6 × 15–20 1 1 min

Open Day A: Squat, push, air bike in the session builder

Day B: Hinge, row, rope
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift1 warm-up set first 3 × 8–12 2 90 s
One-Arm Dumbbell RowPer arm. 3 × 10–15 2 1 min
Goblet Squat 3 × 12–15 2 75 s
Jump RopeSeconds of skipping. 6 × 40–60 2 40 s

Open Day B: Hinge, row, rope in the session builder

How to run it
Alternate A and B on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so you do A twice one week and B twice the next. Walk 30 minutes on most other days.
How to progress
Use double progression: when all three sets reach the top of the rep range with 2 reps in reserve, move to the next dumbbell and start back at the bottom. Add one interval to the finisher every two weeks up to 10.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

Which cardio burns the most fat?

Over a month, the one you do most often. Running, jump rope and intervals burn the most per minute, but walking and cycling can be done for longer and more often, so they often burn more per week. All of them only reduce fat in a calorie deficit.

Can I lose weight with 30 minutes of cardio?

Yes, if you do it most days and eat a little less than you burn. Thirty minutes five days a week is 150 minutes, the usual starting target. Add two strength sessions and daily walking for better results.

What is the best cardio to lose weight fast?

Hard intervals on an air bike, rower or treadmill burn the most in the least time, but losing weight fast is mostly about eating. Two interval sessions plus walking on other days is a sustainable mix.

What are the best exercises to lose weight?

Walking, cycling, rowing and running for calories, plus squats, deadlifts, push-ups and rows to keep muscle. The best plan uses both, three or four days of cardio and two or three of lifting a week.

How much cardio should I do a week to lose weight?

Start around 150 minutes a week and build toward 300 minutes over a few months, mostly at a conversational pace with one or two harder sessions.