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Top Aerobic Exercise
No one cardiovascular activity is better than another! Manipulating how hard
(intensity), how often (duration), and how long (frequency) you participate in a
particular aerobic activity determines its effectiveness or lack thereof. And of
course, you have to like what you’re doing. Choose the type of aerobic activity that
is right for you by identifying one or more types of cardio exercise that you can see
yourself sticking to, and enjoying, for the rest of your life. Often, the best aerobic
exercise will be not one, but several activities that are fun and feel good to your
body. Excellent cardiovascular activities include, but are not limited to, walking,
swimming, water fitness, jogging, running, cross-country skiing, in-line skating,
lateral movement training (slide), cycling, mountain biking, and step training.
Cardio Workout Tracking Sheet
Use this chart to keep track of your progress over time. Before writing on it, make
as many copies as you think you’ll need. We suggest you keep these in a notebook.
You will find it both informative and motivational to look back at what you’ve done.
This data will help you chart future fitness goals as you continue to improve.
activity
date
how long
(minutes)
heart rate
how hard
(RPE)*
*RPE = rating of perceived exertion; this means you match up a numerical rating (RPE) of 1-10, with how you
feel (RPE descriptive rating in chart above). A rating of 2-3 is equal to a warm-up or recovery level of effort;
4-5 equates to moderate to somewhat challenging; 6 -10 represents effort that is somewhat hard, to very hard
.
