Cardio Exercise Cardio — which comes from cardiovascular — exercise is defined by the American College of Sports Medicine as any exercise that raises your heart rate and breaths per minute while repetitively and rhythmically using large muscle groups. That’s a fancy way of saying that cardio or aerobic exercise is anything that gets you moving fast and hard enough to break a sweat.
The benefits of aerobic exercise are many: weight loss, stronger bones and muscles, better sleep, lowered levels of depression and anxiety, and even reduced risk of many types of cancer, to name just a few.
The ACSM recommends that adults get at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, which can be broken down into multiple sessions as short as ten minutes.
Strength Training Strength training — also called resistance training — is the use of exercise against resistance to build and strengthen muscle. That resistance might come from your own body weight, a dumbbell or other hand-held weight, or a wide range of resistance machines.
Along with improved muscle strength and definition, resistance training helps develop bone density and helps with weight loss.
The ACSM recommends that healthy adults do strength training two or three times per week, engaging in eight to 10 different exercises focusing on varying muscle groups. Beginners should aim for eight to 12 repetitions of each exercise, using the amount of weight that leads to muscle fatigue within that set of reps.
Balance and Flexibility Training While improved balance and flexibility can be side benefits of various cardio and strength-training exercises, it’s important to incorporate some training that specifically improves these two functions. They make daily living much easier, and help improve your overall health and mental wellbeing. Aim for at least two balance/flexibility workouts each week.