Whether you’re looking to lose weight, build muscle, or just get in shape, cardiovascular exercise (or “cardio” for short) should be part of your weekly workout routine.

Why Do Cardio?

Cardiovascular exercise is important for a number of reasons. It can:

Improve your workout performance

Cardiovascular exercise makes your heart and lungs stronger so they can more effectively supply oxygen and energy to muscles during your workouts. It does this by increasing your lung capacity—allowing you to take up more oxygen when you breath. It also makes your heart stronger so it doesn’t have to work as hard to pump blood and oxygen to your muscles.

Increase weight loss capacity

Cardiovascular exercise is by defined by constant movement and activity for a sustained amount of time (at least 5 minutes). During this activity, your body is burning calories—which can help with fat loss. You can make your cardiovascular exercise even more effective for fat loss if you also include Strength Training in your weekly workout routine. Building more muscle will require more energy, allowing you to burn even more calories whenever you do cardiovascular exercise.

Improve overall health

Studies have also shown that regular cardiovascular exerciser reduces the risk of many diseases and illnesses—including heart disease and heart attack, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, and some forms of cancer.

How Much Cardio Should You Do?

Experts recommend that you perform cardiovascular exercise often—the American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week for adults (or 75 minutes of vigorous or a combination of intensity leveled cardiovascular exercise).

You can split those 150 minutes up however you like! For people who are severely deconditioned or sedentary, I recommend several 10 minute bouts of activity each day as a start. Many different activities can count as “cardio.” For example—going on a walk, tidying up the house or office, doing yard or garden work, and of course using a cardio machine at the gym such as a treadmill, elliptical, or stationary bike—all of these activities can get your heart pumping!

Other people prefer to do their cardio in three to five concentrated time periods of between 20-60 minutes each week. That is also fine!

No matter how you choose to get your cardio in, just remember that you want to elevate your heart rate and keep it in one of your target heart rate zones. You can learn how to calculate your target heart rate in my article Using Target Heart Rate to Monitor Exercise. As a summary, check out the chart below:

Cardiovascular Intensity Zones:

50-60% HRR + RHR = Low to Low-Moderate Intensity
60-70% HRR + RHR = Moderate Intensity
70-85% HRR + RHR = Moderate High to High intensity

Types of Cardiovascular Exercise

There are many styles of cardiovascular exercise. As I said above—anything that gets your heart pumping in one of your target heart rate zones counts! However there are 3 main types of cardiovascular exercise that I generally prescribe for my clients:

Low-Intensity Steady State (LISS)

Intensity Level: Low, Low-Moderate

Low Intensity Steady State (LISS) cardio is any activity that keeps your heart in a low to low-moderate intensity zone for at least 5 minutes.

What I love best about LISS is that nearly anything can count as your workout with this cardio type!

The most common ways to get in some LISS cardio include going for a brisk walk, jog, hike, or using a cardio machine at the gym for between 20 and 60 minutes each time.

However you can be more creative in getting that heart rate up—clean your house, do yard work, play with your pets or kids—as long as you get your heart rate into at least a low to low-moderate intensity zone, you’re getting your cardio in! LISS is a key feature in all of my online training programs (learn more about training programs on the Purchase page of this website or on my Trainerize page).

Multi-Level Cardio Circuits

Intensity level: Low, Moderate, and High

One of the reasons I love this kind of cardio exercise is that it is adaptable—you can scale the movements up or down according to the desired intensity level. In this workout format, you perform several different exercises in a set pattern. For example, you might perform 25 jumping jacks followed by 10 push ups and 15 squats, then repeat for several rounds. This training style is great for people who find LISS to be too boring and want to get moving while also keeping their mind engaged as the exercises switch up. You can always substitute more challenging exercises in a circuit to make it more difficult, or more easy exercises to bring down the intensity. I use this style of training a lot in my Metabolic Strength Training programs.

3. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

High Intensity Interval Training is a style of cardiovascular exercise marked by periods of intense activity followed by periods of rest or lower intensity activity. For example, a runner might perform a 20-second sprint, followed by 2 minutes of lower intensity jogging and continue to repeat that as a cycle for as many as 12 or 15 rounds.

One of the most popular styles of HIIT is called a Tabata, which includes performing a single exercise for 20 seconds, followed by 10 seconds of rest for 8 rounds. At the end of the 8 rounds, you perform a different exercise in the same format.

This style of training is great for developing anaerobic endurance for athletes. This allows the athlete to continue to perform past their aerobic threshold—the point at which the heart and lungs can no longer “keep up” with the activity and supply oxygen to working muscles. This style of training is generally not recommended for beginners or deconditioned individuals—although once you reach this level of fitness it can be a lot of fun!

Regardless of the type of cardiovascular exercise you choose to do, make sure that you are incorporating cardiovascular training into your workout plans every week to achieve the best results in your fitness journey.

If you would like some help in creating a effective training plan, send me a message from the Contact Page and I will help you get squared away.

About the Author

Jayd Harrison is a personal trainer and content creator. She helps people to build muscle, burn fat, and clean up their diets with her online coaching programs and social media content. Check out some of Jayd’s coaching videos on Youtube, or join Jayd live on Twitch and follow on social media.

3 Types of Cardiovascular Exercise