Definition
The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) defines aerobic exercise as "any activity that uses large muscle groups, can be maintained continuously, and is rhythmic in nature." It is also defined as exercise that increases the need for oxygen.
Other Names
Cardiovascular exercise, cardio, cardio respiratory
Examples
Walking, jogging, running, dancing, skiing, rollerblading, bicycling, swimming, aerobics classes (both land and water), rowing, stair climbing, etc.
Benefits
Aerobic exercises use continuous, rhythmic activity to strengthen your heart and lungs (which make up the cardiovascular system). When you exercise, the muscles demand more oxygen-rich blood and give off more carbon dioxide and other waste. This makes your heart beat faster to keep up.
When you follow a program of regular aerobic exercise, over time your heart grows stronger so it can meet the muscles' demands without as much effort. Both men and women can benefit from cardiovascular fitness.
Regular aerobic exercise performed most days of the week reduces the risk of developing or prematurely dying from some of the leading causes of illness and death in the United States. Regular aerobic exercise improves health in the following ways:
- Reduced body fat and improved weight control
- Lower resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure
- Increased HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol)
- Decreased total cholesterol
- Improved glucose tolerance and reduced insulin resistance
- Decreased clinical symptoms of anxiety, tension and depression
- Increases maximal oxygen consumption (VO 2max)
- The more oxygen you are able to consume, the more you are able to exercise at higher intensities.
- Improvement in heart and lung function
- Increased blood supply to muscles and ability of them to use oxygen
- Lower heart rate and blood pressure (including resting heart rate)
- Increased threshold for muscle fatigue (lactic acid accumulation)
Source: “Physical Activity and Health: A Report of the Surgeon General”, CDC, 1999.
Guidelines
When considering the guidelines for aerobic exercise, keep in mind the F.I.T.T. principles (
Frequency,
Intensity,
Time and
Type):
Frequency: Number of Exercise Sessions Per Week
Aim for a
minimum of 3 days per week with no more than 2 days between sessions. Gradually work your way up to 5 or 6 days per week. Frequency is especially important when it comes to weight loss. The more you exercise, the more calories you will burn. Do not forget the importance of rest and recovery- give yourself at least 1 to 2 days off each week.
Intensity: Speed or exercise workload
The recommended range is 60-85% of your maximum heart rate. This range is called the target heart rate (THR) zone. You can use your THR, the "Talk Test" or Perceived Exertion to make sure you're working out in a good range (not too easy, not too hard). If you can comfortably answer a question during exercise, while still feeling like you’re exerting yourself, you’re in a good calorie-burning range. This range is ideal for the general health benefits that come with exercise, and for weight loss. See below for an explanation of how to monitor your intensity.
Time: How Long for Each Cardio Session
The recommended time for most people ranges from a minimum of 20 minutes (for simple general health benefits), up to about 60 minutes. Exercise duration should be built up slowly over time. The further you go over 20 minutes, the more calories you are burning, and the more weight you will lose. This 20 minutes does not include a warm up and cool down, which should be included in every exercise session. For example, you might warm up for about 5 minutes, do 20 minutes in your target zone, and cool down for another 5 minutes.
Of course, you might not start an exercise program with a lot of endurance, but you'll slowly build up. Aim for reaching this time 3-5 days a week.
Type: Activities That Count
Any activity can count as cardio/aerobic exercise as long as it meets the 3 requirements of frequency, intensity and time, you can sustain your target heart rate for at least 20-60 minutes, and do the activity several times a week.
Things to keep in mind:
1. Time can be cumulative: You don't have to do 60 minutes all at once. You can do several 10-15 minute mini-workouts each day and add them up.
2. If you can't reach your target heart rate with walking, then add intensity by increasing speed or incline.
Monitoring Aerobic Exercise Intensity
Tips To Get The Most Out Of Your Workout
- Choose an activity you enjoy. You are more likely to stick with it.
- Warm up for at least 5-10 minutes before starting your activity.
- Start slow and listen to your body. Go at a pace that feels good to you.
- Cool down at least 5-10 minutes at the end of your activity.
- Vary your exercise program to avoid boredom and plateaus.*
*Hitting plateaus is normal, especially if you have been doing the same routine for awhile. You should change your exercise routine at least every 6-8 weeks (if not all the time). Changing your routine is crucial to keeping your body/muscles surprised and constantly adapting. They'll have to work harder, you'll be challenged, and you'll burn more calories and build more lean muscle in the process.
How to change your cardio routine:
1. Change the type of exercise you usually do (for example, start running instead of swimming or divide your time between the two activities).
2. Change the duration of your exercise. Try to increase your minutes or occasionally have a shorter (but more intense) workout.
3. Change the intensity of your workouts. This is something you can adjust on a daily basis. This includes working at an incline or harder level, sprint work, distance work, maintaining intensity, or interval work (shifting between fast and easy/recovery intervals).
4. Change all three (or a combination of two) of the first examples for added variety.
Cautions
- Check with your doctor first if you have a chronic condition, are overweight, a smoker, or if you are middle aged or older and have never exercised.
- Instead of trying to exercise through an injury, give it time to heal.
- Reduce exercise intensity in response to very hot or humid environments or to altitudes above 5,000 ft.
- Especially when it’s hot or cold outside, drink water before, during and after exercise to stay hydrated.
- Avoid strenuous aerobic exercise during viral infections such as the flu or upper-respiratory tract infections.
- Avoid continuing exercise if you experience chest discomfort, lightheadedness or dizziness.
Training Methods
There are various types of training methods, depending on personal preference. Use each of the methods periodically to add variety to your workouts.
- Continuous Training: This is the most common method of sustained aerobic exercise for fitness improvement. There are two types:
- Intermediate Slow Distance-generally 20 to 60 minutes of exercise designed to improve cardio respiratory fitness and reduce body fat.
- Long Slow Distance- 60 or more minutes of continuous aerobic exercise, typically used to train for sports such as long-distance running.
- Interval Training: Repeated intervals of exercise (such as jogging or running) interspersed with intervals of relatively light exercise (such as walking). The idea is to add intensity in short bouts that you could not sustain throughout the entire session. This type of training provides a means of performing large amounts of high-intensity exercise in a short period of time. (If you consistently keep a moderate intensity during your cardiovascular conditioning, your body adapts over time, and you'll find yourself on a plateau.) When designing this type of workout consider:
1. length of the work interval
2. intensity of the effort
3. duration of the rest interval
These elements will vary depending on your current level of fitness. Through regular training, you can work up to longer work intervals with shorter rest intervals in between.
- Circuit Training: Takes the participant through a series of exercise stations (which could also include strength training), with relatively brief rest intervals between each station. The purpose is to keep the heart rate elevated near the aerobic level without dropping off. The benefit of circuit training is that it is a complete workout- both cardio and strength, which saves time. The number of stations may range from 4 to 10. Here is an example of a beginner circuit training workout (all of these exercises can be found in the Fitness Resource Center):
Warm-up / Stretch
Circuit 1x (10-12 repetitions)
1. Squats with Swiss ball
2. Elbow to knee crunch
3. Reverse flies w/ Swiss ball
4. Hamstring flexion w/ Swiss ball
5. Lower back lift w/ Swiss ball
6. Push-ups w/ Swiss ball
Cool down / Stretch
- Aerobic cross training: An individualized combination of all aerobic-training methods, characterized by a variety of intensities and modes. An example of this type of workout would be: In a 40 minute workout, warm up by jogging for 10 minutes, swim for 20 minutes, then cool down by jogging for another 10 minutes. Combining these kinds of activities into one workout at steady or various intensities is a great method of fighting boredom and plateaus.
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