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You all probably know how great aerobic activity is for your heart, body and mind. After all, regular cardio exercise has been shown to reduce body fat, decrease total cholesterol, boost mood, lower resting heart rate, and improve heart and lung function. It's almost like a magic "health" pill when you think about!

So why don't more people do cardio regularly? Well, some think it has to extremely hard or miserable, and others just don't set aside the time to make it a priority. Both camps are misguided, as aerobic exercise doesn't have to be back-breaking (it can actually be fun!) and being active is a cornerstone to living a long, healthy life. When you get right down to it, what do we have if we don't have our health?

The really fantastic news is that cardio doesn't have to take you forever and it doesn't have to be at the gym--nor does it have to include running or other high-impact exercises (although those are great forms of aerobic activity if you like them!). There are hundreds of cardio options out there. The trick is picking a few that you like and then doing them intensely enough to count as cardiovascular exercise.

How does one particular thing go from "activity" to "cardio?" It just has to meet two principles.
  1. The first is intensity: It only counts as cardio when you elevate your heart rate into an aerobic zone, which is 55% to 85% of your maximum heart rate. You can calculate your target heart rate here. Simply check your pulse during any activity to find out if your activity counts as exercise.
     
  2. Second is time: For any activity to count as cardio, it has to last at least 10 minutes per session. Shoot for a minimum of 10-20 minutes per session, building up to a full hour over time. And remember, time can be cumulative, so 10 minutes here and there throughout the day is a perfectly fine and convenient way to squeeze in your cardio!
Lastly, for best results, you need to do at least 3 days of cardio—with no more than 2 days off between sessions—per week. As you get stronger, you can work towards doing cardio 5 to 6 days a week.

Anything from the extensive list below that meets the intensity and time guidelines above can count as aerobic exercise!

    At The Gym

  1. Elliptical trainer
  2. Stair stepper (Stairmaster)
  3. Stationary or recumbent bike
  4. Jacob's ladder (the climbing "treadmill" often seen on "The Biggest Loser")
  5. Arm ergometer (arm cycle)
  6. Rowing machine
  7. Circuit training
  8. Treadmill walking or running
  9. Kettlebells
  10. Interval training
  11. Box jumps
  12. Step ups
  13. Plyometrics

    Household Chores
     
  14. Vacuuming
  15. Scrubbing floors
  16. Cleaning the bathtub
  17. Washing windows
  18. Mopping
  19. Changing sheets
  20. Painting
  21. Heavy renovations (pulling carpet, knocking down walls, etc.)
  22. Moving furniture
  23. Raking
  24. Gardening
  25. Cleaning the gutters
  26. Washing the car
  27. Mowing the lawn with a push mower
  28. Shoveling snow
  29. Sweeping the patio and walkways
  30. Cleaning out the garage
  31. Heavy landscaping such as planting trees, shrubs and bushes

    The Great Outdoors
     
  32. Cycling
  33. Hiking
  34. Snowshoeing
  35. Downhill skiing
  36. Cross-country skiing
  37. Water skiing
  38. Wakeboarding
  39. Rock climbing
  40. Jogging / Running
  41. Power walking (brisk walking)
  42. Rollerblading
  43. Paddling a canoe
  44. Nordic walking
  45. Surfing
  46. Paddle boarding
  47. Swimming
  48. Water jogging/running
  49. Skateboarding
  50. Bleacher running
  51. Ice skating

    Sports
     
  52. Tennis
  53. Flag football
  54. Hitting balls at the driving range
  55. Soccer
  56. Hockey
  57. Basketball
  58. Lacrosse
  59. Boxing
  60. Martial arts
  61. Kickboxing
  62. Kickball
  63. Karate
  64. Jiu-jitsu
  65. Racquetball

    Group Classes
     
  66. Spinning
  67. Step aerobics
  68. Jazzercise
  69. Zumba
  70. Bootcamp
  71. Power yoga (Ashtanga and/or Vinyasa)
  72. Salsa dancing
  73. Dance classes or lessons
  74. Cardio kickboxing
  75. Hi-lo floor aerobics
  76. Water aerobics
  77. BODYPUMP
  78. Silver Sneakers
  79. Gliding
  80. Hip hop dance
  81. Sports conditioning
  82. CrossFit
  83. Krav Maga
  84. StrollerStrides or StrollerFit classes
  85. Turbokick

    Popular Workout Videos
     
  86. P90X
  87. Insanity
  88. Chalean Extreme
  89. Cardio Blast with Coach Nicole
  90. Hip Hop Hustle
  91. Jillian Michael's 30-Day Shred
  92. The Biggest Loser workouts
  93. Tae Bo
  94. Walk Away the Pounds
  95. Sweatin' to the Oldies
  96. Turbo Jam / Turbo Fire
  97. Hip Hop Abs
  98. Gilad's Bodies in Motion
  99. Dancing with the Stars workouts
  100. 10 Minute Solution cardio titles
  101. Coach Nicole's 10-Minute Jump Rope Cardio video
  102. Coach Nicole's 10-Minute Jump Start Cardio video
  103. Coach Nicole's 10-Minute Cardio Kickboxing video

    Play Time
     
  104. Walking the dog
  105. Playing with your children
  106. Dodge ball
  107. Tag
  108. Hooping (hula hooping)
  109. Obstacle courses
  110. Jump rope
  111. Water games in a pool
  112. Playing with your dog
  113. Skipping
  114. Hop scotch
  115. Taking the stairs
  116. Jumping jacks
  117. Trampoline jumping (rebounding)
See? There's no shortage of options! Have fun finding some new favorite cardio exercises from the list above. With this many choices, there's never an excuse to get bored or dread cardio ever again!

This article has been reviewed and approved by certified personal trainers Jen Mueller and Nicole Nichols.
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About The Author

Jennipher Walters Jennipher Walters
Jennipher is a certified personal trainer, group exercise instructor, and lifestyle and weight management consultant. She blogs regularly about her own fitness adventures at www.fitbottomedgirls.com.

See all of Jenn's articles.

Member Comments

  • It amazes me that there are always people that think they are too good for housework to count for cardio. Great for them! If their vacuum is light and moves easily, or their house is small or stays relatively clean, then perhaps, for them, it's not going to count as cardio. But the article lays out the guidelines. Reach the heartrate and last 10 minutes. Whatever meets the guidelines counts. So check your heart rate and you know if it counts. It doesn't matter if someone else thinks that housework isn't good enough-ignore them. This is something that I use to motivate myself to do all my housework at once. I use a bodymedia fit and before that I used a basic heart rate monitor. I know when I'm doing cardio and when I'm not. If that means climbing the counters in my boys' bathroom and scrubbing down the mirrors, scrubbing their counter, toilet, and tub, then so be it. And if I do all that and my heart rate didn't reach the desired number for the right time? Then it didn't count. Oh well. - 4/17/2013 9:41:35 AM
  • JILLOGREN
    Even if you aren't getting your heart rate to that "target" cardio rate while cleaning house, at least you are doing something other than sitting on the couch. You burn more calories cleaning than just sitting. That has to count for something. - 2/22/2013 12:39:48 PM
  • I have never figured out why people will buy every labor-saving device known to man (riding mowers, snow blowers, leaf blowers, robot vacuums, etc, etc...) and then pay more money to join a gym and then pay yet more money for gas to DRIVE to a gym...in order to work out! Goodness, most of us have plenty of opportunities to engage in useful activites (housework, yard work, child care, pet care) and fun activities (walking, hiking, skating, biking, playing games/sports) and get all the cardio & strength training we need. Grab a pair of shoes, a shovel, a rake, a bicycle, a football, or whatever and just get out there and DO something! - 12/29/2012 2:06:21 PM
  • I just added Fencing and Sculling to my Cardio list for spring and summer ! Woo Hoo ! - 12/29/2012 10:59:48 AM
  • You can also DANCE while doing chores. Some of us are addicted to dancing.... - 11/4/2012 9:15:41 PM
  • To all of you that are dismissing housecleaning and chores as aerobic activity, you are missing the point of the article! ANY activity that elevates your heart rate into your target aerobic range AND lasts at least 10 minutes can be considered aerobic!

    Obviously, it will depend on a person's fitness, the size of their house, the chore/task that they are doing, etc., but, YES, if they do it for at least a solid 10-minutes, at an intensity that gets their heart rate up to their target aerobic range, it most certainly DOES count as aerobic activity! If you are already relatively fit, or have a small enough house, or whatever, that house cleaning activities do NOT meet those 2 requirements, then that is something you need to account for in your own workout plans. But, someone who has been extremely sedentary, or who is morbidly obese, or who has a large house and cleans with a fervor? Yes, they absolutely could meet the 2 requirements to call something an aerobic activity!

    Also, dismissing the efforts, and energy required, of someone morbidly obese and sedentary, especially if they are just starting out and 10 minutes of intense house cleaning can leave them sweating and short of breath, is not helpful, and can be, in fact, very discouraging! - 10/30/2012 1:51:45 PM
  • An excellent list of things to do. But I wish they had not listed house keeping., unless you do the whole large house everyday. or work as a professional housekeeper.
    Making a bed, vacuum a floor is part of our daily life and is already figured into the calories a normal person uses. It's misguided to let people think those chores will give them the cardio they need. This is my opinion.
    When I was 335 lbs, yes it was strenuous to do certain household chores, but not a cardio workout. - 10/29/2012 12:45:36 PM
  • Vacuuming would not count as cardio if you are doing a 700 square foot apartment, but might if you are doing 3000 square foot house! The same with other household chores. - 10/29/2012 7:33:07 AM
  • maybe vacuuming or make other activity in the house isnot cardio trainig but i think if you clean your house and put all your effort in the activity, you siege a lot of benefits, because your maintain your body in movement.. - 9/12/2012 1:18:17 PM
  • I am encouraged to see that household chores are cardio. I am 300+ lbs, and vacuuming floors always puts me in a sweat. I cleaned my windows last weekend, and believe me when I say I was soaked. Of course, to break a sweat at my weight as opposed to a hundred lbs lighter depends on intensity and duration, right?
    Thank you so much for this segment. It's very useful to me. - 9/6/2012 3:34:10 PM
  • Housecleaning should not be considered a cardio choice unless the person has never moved in their entire life. I am a professional housekeeper and I know it doesn't give me the benefits that walking, biking, or dancing can do. I work 4-10 hour days and know it's not enough to count as cardio. - 8/13/2012 4:15:26 PM
  • Does marching in place count as a cardio exercise? I do not see that listed except for marching (band). - 4/26/2012 8:59:40 AM
  • i like to belly dance for my cardio. it's awesome for the hips & makes me feel so sexy.

    and i hate hate hate to clean house.
    - 2/7/2012 7:57:39 AM
  • Nice article, but I feel like the author is "dissing" rebounding as being a light activity or a "play time" activity....it can be just as heart pounding as a Zumba class, and there ARE gyms that offer Rebounding Class Workouts. There are serious benefits, research articles about benefits to rebounding - http://www.urbanr
    eboundinggym.
    com/research.html

    Other articles about gyms that use rebounding http://www.reboun
    d-aerobics.co
    m/afaa.htm

    I'm glad EVITA7 is in good cardio health, but for me, vacuuming is very cardio intensive, especially as I have to do a lot of picking up and moving things in order to vacuum underneath, and up the stairs and a big two story house to boot. So I'm glad to see they count it as cardio...
    - 9/26/2011 10:34:39 PM
  • I think some household chores are aerobic based on my heartbeat, breathing and the sweat dripping off me like melting ice on a hot summer day.
    However, I will have to clarify. When I was working there were times when a construction contract would be delayed or not available for a month or two.
    One of the temp jobs I took was maid work at various hotels and casinos. They have high standards and time limits. You have 15 minutes to clean a room with double beds. That includes scrubbing bathrooms, even using sticky tape to make sure no unwanted hairs were on floors or fixtures, changing beds, mirrors, dusting, vacuuming, windows, setting everything straight and then they were checked.
    I was good enough for the VIP suites, 2 to 3 baths, 2 to 3 bedrooms, fold out couch, kitchen, bar, conference room all cleaned in 30 minutes. Trust me there is no good enough in four or five star hotels.
    I still clean like this. I hate housework and can scrub down a kitchen with all the knick knacks washed, 2 bathrooms and sweep, scrub then vacuum the floors in 30 minutes or less. It takes me 30 minutes to vacuum a 20 by 15 Dining room, 20 x 20 Living room, 30 x 4 hall, 1 master, 2 reg. 15 x 20 bedrooms, 1 kitchen, 1 laundry, the 2 baths and this includes fans,walls and moving the furniture to get behind it except for the master bed. Yes this is exercise. Not only aerobics but when you move Steel and glass furniture around it is strenght also. - 4/29/2011 5:17:17 PM
Popular Calories Burned Searches: Operating Heavy Machinery  |  Marching (band)  |  Massage Work