30 Min CARDIO WORKOUT at Home [LOW IMPACT STEADY STATE] LISS

30 Min LISS [Low Impact Steady State] Cardio Workout is another low impact cardio workout from Caroline Girvan. It is similar to her 30 Min Constant Cardio Workout but less intense. I really enjoyed both workouts. This workout is more of a recovery level workout and Caroline says that in her intro. It is structured the same as Constant Cardio. Each exercise is done for 45 seconds with no rest/recoveries between exercises. The only rest you get is when changing position for the next exercise. There is a lot of plank and core work in this workout which is one of the reasons I think it is less cardiovascularly intense than Constant Cardio. For comparisons sake, when I did Constant Cardio, my FitBit tracked that workout only. I burned 338 calories in 32 minutes. For this workout I warmed up with Caroline’s 9 minute EPIC Heat warm up (which is actually 9:41 minutes). In 47 minutes my FitBit said I burned 297 calories. In Constant Cardio my heart rate graph showed that my heart rate stayed elevated the entire workout but during this workout there were some dips in the graph. I assume that was during the mat work (planks and core work). But I still got a great cardio workout and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Like Constant Cardio it is a no repeat workout. The only time you repeat an exercise is if it is done on one side of the body (then you repeat it on the other side). There are some moves that require balance in this workout. During one of the moves even Caroline was losing her balance! I had a chair handy to hold onto when I needed stabilization. You can definitely tell Caroline considers this a recovery workout because she includes a 5:30 minute stretch at the end! That is a very long stretch for a Caroline Girvan workout. She creates brutal workouts and ends them with 2 minutes of stretching. WTF? Constant Cardio included a one minute stretch! I frequently add on additional stretching to her workouts. Since I used this as my recovery day (my recovery day is usually Sunday but I had to do some shuffling of next week’s workout calendar), I also did 20 minutes of gentle yoga afterward. But if you are doing this workout alone then the stretch at the end is perfect. Nothing more is needed.

30 Min LISS Cardio Workout is 37:23 minutes; 1 minute intro, no warm up and 5:30 minute stretch. Equipment: fitness mat. I also used a chair for balance for a few of the moves. There is a timer in the upper left hand corner of the screen, counting down your intervals. When there is about 15 seconds left in the interval, a small video appears in the upper right hand corner of the screen, previewing your next exercise. There is also a little bar at the bottom of the screen that counts down the entire workout time as a percentage.

1. No jumping jacks (low impact jacks)
2. Alternating reverse lunges
3. Lateral lunge to foot tap (alternating stationary side lunges, tap opposite hand to foot when in lunge)
4. Lunge to knee drive (reverse lunge into a front knee raise)
5. Repeat #4 on other leg
6. Plank walk out to push up (start standing, hinge forward and walk hands out to plank, do one push up, walk hands back to feet and stand)
7. Plank lean to crunch (these are also called plank squats, start in straight arm plank, push glutes back to heels then return to plank–knees never touch the mat)
8. Squat walk to squat (lateral squat walk 3 steps to one side, stand then repeat in opposite direction)
9. Quiet push up burpee to toes (start standing, hinge forward, place hands on ground, walk feet out to plank, do one push up, walk feet back into hands, stand up and raise onto toes)
10. Plank hover step in (start in straight arm plank, walk feet in under body so that you are in beast pose (on hands and toes with knees bent and hovering a few inches of the floor), then walk feet back out to plank)
11. X1 leg dog to knee tuck (start in 3 leg down dog (one leg raised to ceiling) then bring raised knee in under body to chest)
12. Repeat #11 on other leg
13. Squat to alt rear foot tap (squat + hamstring curl, alternate legs, when doing the hamstring curl, reach opposite hand behind you to tap foot as it raises)
14. Alternating straight leg front kick (tap opposite hand to toe as leg raises)
15. Pivot punches (alternating side punches)
16. Knee cross body crunch (single leg knee pulls, pull knee across body when it raises, chop arms across body toward hip as knee raises)
17. Repeat #16 on other leg
18. Lateral lunge to kick (side lunge into front kick but on a diagonal, kicking across body, touch foot with opposite hand as you kick) (I loved this move)
19. Repeat #18 on other side of body
20. Windmills (stand with legs wide and straight, reach same side hand down to foot while other hand reaches for ceiling, alternate sides)
21. Crouch on toes to stand (lower into a deep squat, glutes to heels, hands to floor, heels raising, then stand, reaching arms overhead)
22. Curtsy hand touch to kick (rear curtsy lunge/cross-back lunge so deep you tap one hand to floor, stand and do a straight leg side kick, reaching same side arm to toe at top of kick) (Caroline was having balance issues on this one!)
23. Repeat #22 on other side of body
24. Skier to toes (squat, swinging arms down by side and when you stand, swing arms up overhead while also raising onto toes)
25. Push up to alternating side plank (one push up between each side plank)
26. Alternating leg extension (lay back on mat, resting on elbows and bicycle legs)
27. Bicycle maneuver
28. Sit ups (full sit ups with knees bent and feet on mat, genie arms are crossed in front you)
29. Reverse crunch (lay on back, extend legs straight a few inches off ground, bend knees bringing them into chest then push legs overhead, raising hips)
30. Mountain climbers
31. Sumo squat with pulse (pulse once at bottom of sumo squat)
32. Squat to alternating side leg lift (leg is straight when it raises)
33. Sprinter knee drive to toes (front knee raise with tap back, raise onto toe of other foot when knee raises)
34. Repeat #33 on other leg
35. Static/stationary lunges
36. Repeat #35 on other side of body
37. Sumo squat to hand tap (alternate one sumo squat with one straight leg deadlift, tapping fingers to floor)
38. Alternating side elbow planks (while in side plank, top arm is bent and you pull elbow back behind you)
39. Plank shoulder taps (in straight arm plank, alternate tapping hand to opposite shoulder)
40. Plank up/down to feet in/out (start in straight arm plank, lower to forearm plank, raise back to straight arm plank and do one plank jack)

For more info on Caroline Girvan’s workouts and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.