These Are the Best Cardio Workouts

Cardio is incredibly important for all of us. This is the basis of physical activity recommendations for health , and if you’re already doing strength training, adding cardio will make you healthier overall and better at the gym exercises that matter to you. (And no, it won’t destroy your progress .)

So where should you start if you’re starting (or restarting) a cardio habit? The simple answer is that you can do whatever you like, so if your favorite exercise isn’t on my list below but it meets the definition of cardio, you don’t need my approval – just do it. But if you want more information about the best options, read on.

What counts as cardio?

Cardio training usually refers to exercises that:

• Uses most of your body , or at least a few large muscle groups (cycling “only” uses your legs, but that’s absolutely important).

• Rhythmic and repetitive – think of the steps when running or the swing of your arms when swimming.

• May last 10 minutes or more . Doing short bursts of cardio is fine, but we want to differentiate between things like jogging (which people often do for 30 minutes or more) and strength exercises like squats (which can be done in sets of 8 or 12 repetitions). and then you need to rest before doing more).

• Intense enough that you feel like you’re working . A leisurely walk is not cardio, but a brisk walk can be .

Cardio machines you might see in a typical gym include a treadmill, elliptical, stationary bike (all types), rowing machine, and stair climber. All of this is considered cardio. Strength training doesn’t count – it’s still beneficial, but it’s a separate thing.

How much cardio should I do?

The American Heart Association, World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and many other organizations have adopted recommendations that your baseline should be 150 minutes or more of moderate cardio exercise per week. (They often say “exercise,” but if you read the fine print, they’re talking about cardio. Strength training is a different topic.) Specifically, they tell you what you should do:

• 150 minutes of moderate cardio per week or

• 75 minutes of vigorous cardio per week or

• Any combination of the above (for a total of 150, with each minute of vigorous cardio counting double), or

• If you already reach this baseline easily, you should aim for 300 minutes of moderate exercise and 150 minutes of vigorous exercise.

What does 150 minutes a week look like? Here are some examples:

• 30-minute jog every weekday during lunch or

• 50-minute spin bike session three times a week or

• 22 minutes of brisk walking every morning (even on weekends)

How hard should a cardio workout be?

If you’re out of breath, feel like you’re dying, and can’t wait until it’s time to stop, you’re running harder than you need to. Moderate cardio is essentially the same as zone 2 cardio . It should feel like work, not torture. You will breathe a little more heavily than at rest, but you will still be able to speak in complete sentences easily. These workouts are easy to recover from (you don’t need rest days in between) and you’ll usually end up feeling better at the end than when you started.

Vigorous cardio includes everything from sprints, where you’ll screw up in five seconds, to tempo runs, where you pick up the pace but can keep going throughout the workout. You may feel tired at the end. You may not be able to do this type of workout every day. Vigorous cardio is beneficial, but is often best in small doses. Endurance athletes (such as runners) often aim to reduce these loads to 20% or less of their weekly training.

While heart rate tracking is popular, I don’t recommend using it to tell the difference between moderate and intense workouts. The heart rate zones built into your watch vary between devices and use a formula that is often incorrect . Notice the difference in your breathing and perceived effort. Moderate cardio rates around a 3, maybe a 4 on a scale of 1 to 10.

Does it matter what kind of cardio I do?

To be honest: not that much. Sometimes people look for cardio that uses the whole body or targets specific parts of the body, but this is actually not very important when it comes to health and fitness benefits. A rowing machine uses your arms more than a stationary bike, but both can provide a great cardio workout. If you want to build muscle in your arms, you’re better off doing some arm strength exercises rather than worrying about whether your cardio is affecting your arms.

The best cardio workout is whatever you do, so the most important factors are how accessible the workout is to you (does your gym have a rower?) and your preferences (do you like to row?).

With that huge disclaimer, I’ll give you guys my favorite cardio workouts and some tips for incorporating each into your daily routine.

Cheapest Cardio Exercise: Running (or Running/Walking)

Let’s start with what, for many, is the most accessible cardio workout of all: walking out the front door and putting one foot in front of the other. (Of course, nothing is perfect for everyone, so if outdoor exercise doesn’t fit your life, skip to the next section.)

You’ll need a pair of shoes that feel comfortable enough to run in (they don’t have to be expensive running shoes), and many of us will need a sports bra. Then just add some sportswear and you’ve got everything you need. In any case, for most of the other exercises you will need the same basic equipment.

You don’t need a running watch or heart rate monitor. You don’t need to track distance or pace at all, although it can be helpful to know roughly how long your workouts take and track how often you do them. This could be a note on your phone (“30 minute run on Monday”) rather than purchasing an ecosystem of apps or devices.

Here’s a sample workout if you don’t know where to start:

• Walk for the first 5 minutes as a warm-up. Start slowly and try to go at a fast pace towards the end.

• Speed ​​up a little; try jogging or brisk walking.

• If you start to feel tired, slow down a little . Don’t go back to slow walking unless you really need to.

• When you feel ready, speed up again and repeat.

Over time, try to maintain a steady pace. Slow, steady jogging is better (for most workouts) than sprinting and walking intervals. However, interval training is a fun thing. If you’re worried that running is boring, try these tips to make it fun .

Easiest on Your Body: Indoor Cycling

If I had to name the best cardio workout for all-around, I’d probably say spinning. There’s a smoother transition between speeds rather than separate “walk” and “run” categories, making it easier to find the right intensity for a specific workout. There’s not a lot of bouncing or bumping here, so you may not need a sports bra and it will be easier on your knees and shins in the beginning. And you can do this with a water bottle and a fan on hand , which makes the logistics a little easier—you don’t have to carry everything with you.

(By the way, riding outdoors is great. But it requires a helmet, a little mechanical knowledge, and street smarts to safely cross or avoid the road. As a recommendation, I stick to indoor cycling, but if you like to ride a bike through the streets, be sure to enjoy!)

There are also plenty of indoor cycling training options. You can aim for a direct, consistent workout, such as by watching your favorite show on TV at the gym or even on your phone. Or you can follow a video or audio workout that takes you through intervals while distracting you with music and chatter. Use an app like Peloton or Aaptiv, or find a video on YouTube. Here’s one to get you started:

Best at home without equipment: turn on some music and dance.

I actually discussed this issue. There’s a lot to be said for jumping rope (even though it’s technically an “equipment”), but the pros and cons are similar to jogging. There’s a lot of bouncing and hitting and it can be quite tiring at first until you learn to control your pace.

We also have basic bodyweight “HIIT” video elements such as air squats and jumping jacks. This is fine! But they’re better for interval training, and when we’re doing cardio, it’s good to have options that keep us moving continuously. However, I’m going to quickly add the most underrated cardio exercise without equipment: the old-school four-count burpee. ( I describe it in more detail here .) No jumping and no push-ups. Please.

But ultimately, if you want to get a good cardio workout in your home without having to buy equipment or clear out a large space, just turn on some music and dance. And don’t tell me you “can’t dance” because you don’t need to impress the crowd here. Wear something that makes you feel good and shift your body weight from one leg to the other. Shake your arms a little. Look! You are dancing! It may not look stylish, but you’ll get a workout in and probably have a lot more fun doing it than burpees or squat jumps.

Obviously, there are so many directions that can go from here. You can simply sing along to whatever’s playing on the radio or shuffle your Spotify . You can work on developing your skills as a dancer by learning new moves and putting them together – don’t these idiots look like they’re having fun dancing the Charleston? You can watch dance cardio workout videos where an instructor will walk you through the workout. Or you can just choose any style you like and have fun with it.

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