Aerobic Activity: What Counts?
Exercise!
By Fitness and Freebies
Aerobic activity or "cardio" exercise, gets you breathing harder and your makes your heart beat faster. Walking fast, running or jogging, bike riding, playing basketball, or swimming laps are all examples of aerobic activity.
You can do moderate or vigorous intensity aerobic activity, or a mix of the two each week. Intensity is how hard your body is working during aerobic activity. A general rule of thumb you can follow for sufficient aerobic activity is that one minute of vigorous intensity activity is about the same as two minutes of moderate intensity activity.
How do I know if I'm doing light, moderate, or vigorous aerobic activity?
For most people, light daily activities such as shopping, cooking, or doing the laundry doesn't count toward the guidelines. Why? Your body isn't working hard enough to get your heart rate up.
Moderate-intensity aerobic activity means you're working hard enough to raise your heart rate and break a sweat. One way to tell is that you'll be able to talk, but not sing the words to your favorite song. Here are some examples of activities that require moderate aerobic effort:
- Jogging or running
- Swimming laps
- Riding a bicycle or on hills
- Playing singles tennis
- Playing basketball
See also: General Physical Activities Defined by Level of Intensity (PDF Document)
