What Counts as Aerobic Exercise? Here’s Everything You Need to Know About How to Get the Cardio You Need

Whether you call it aerobic, cardiovascular, or endurance exercise, you’re probably talking about the same thing: getting your heart pumping faster and oxygenated blood flowing, with the goal of improving your cardiorespiratory fitness. But it benefits more than just your heart.

The technical definition of aerobic exercise is “any form of exercise or activity that uses the aerobic metabolism — meaning oxygen is heavily involved in the cellular reactions that provide the body with the energy necessary to perform activity,” explains Michael Jonesco, DO, an associate professor of internal and sports medicine at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. “You’re making yourself more efficient at delivering oxygen to the rest of the body.”

Another way to think about aerobic exercise, or cardio, is as a type of workout that increases your heart rate and breathing, but not so much that you feel like you need to stop and rest after a short period of time. Think of activities like running, speed walking, stair-climbing, cycling, and swimming.

Aerobic Exercise Boosts Your Entire Cardiovascular System

Other Aerobic Exercise Health Benefits

The many health benefits of aerobic exercise, however, don’t stop with your heart. Here’s what the evidence shows:

• Mental Health Benefits Aerobic exercise has been shown to reduce the risk of anxiety and depression in adults. It also helps people manage stress via sleep and mood-regulating benefits.

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• Weight Loss Benefits Aerobic exercise burns calories, which in combination with a healthy diet, can help you burn fat and shed excess weight, Jonesco says. Cardiovascular exercise can be part of an effective weight management strategy for those who have obesity. Aerobic exercise also tones your muscles and improves posture.

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• Fitness Benefits Over time aerobic exercise can give you more energy to work out, which can set the stage for an overall healthier lifestyle. By improving your body’s ability to take in and use oxygen for fuel, aerobic exercise can increase your stamina, giving you more energy for both work and play, Jonesco adds.
• Bone and Joint Benefits Moderate or vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise like running or jumping rope can help increase bone density in older individuals and for those with osteoarthritis or other rheumatic conditions.

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• Brain Health Benefits Physical activity has been linked to a lower risk of dementia and may improve cognition as you age.

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How Often to Get Aerobic Exercise

• Intensity How hard a person works to do the activity, such as moderate (the equivalent of brisk walking) and vigorous (the equivalent of running or jogging) pace
• Frequency How often a person does aerobic activity
• Duration How long a person does an activity in any one session

According to the HHS, to maintain fitness, adults should aim to get 150 minutes to 300 minutes of moderate-level physical activity or 75 minutes to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity per week. The HHS notes that it’s preferable to spread this activity throughout several days of the week.

In addition to this recommendation for aerobic exercise, the HHS recommends performing balance and stretching activities to enhance flexibility, as well as muscle-strengthening workouts that target large muscle groups (such as body weight or weight lifting) two or more times a week. All of these components are part of a well-rounded fitness routine.

Types of Aerobic Exercise and How to Get Started

Before beginning any exercise program, especially if you have heart or other health issues, talk to your doctor.

If you’re not currently doing much aerobic exercise, start small. This can include walking around the block or incorporating a few jumping jacks into your routine throughout the day. As you gain aerobic fitness, you can increase your exercise intensity.

As the names would imply, the difference between moderate-intensity exercise and high-intensity exercise is the intensity of the workout, or the degree to which you’re pushing yourself.

How to Do Moderate-Intensity Aerobic Exercise

You’re exercising at a moderate intensity if you can keep up a conversation during the activity. To determine if you’re there, you should be able to get out three or four sentences in a row without gasping for air. It’s a sign that you’re maintaining an intensity that is truly aerobic, meaning aerobic metabolism is supplying the vast majority of your body’s energy, Jonesco says.

Your heart rate should be roughly 60 percent of your maximum heart rate. To find your max heart rate, subtract your age from 220. Multiply that number by 0.6 to get your target heart rate for moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, Jonesco says.

How to Do High-Intensity Aerobic Exercise

If you’re active and healthy, and have already built up a base level of aerobic fitness, you can shoot for a higher target heart rate, up to 80 or even 90 percent of your maximum heart rate, Jonesco says.

At this intensity, you will likely be able to say a couple of words before becoming out of breath and needing to gasp for air. You may not be able to talk at all. Keep in mind, however, that intensity predicts duration, so you won’t be able to keep up this intensity for as long as when you’re exercising at lower intensities.

High-intensity interval training — alternating between bouts of all-out effort and low-intensity recovery — is a great way to improve cardiovascular fitness when you’re short on time, Jonesco adds.

Examples of Aerobic Exercises

Additional reporting by K. Aleisha Fetters, Nicol Natale, and Jessica Migala.