Cardiovascular exercise

Cardiovascular, or aerobic, exercise is any continuous activity that raises the heart rate and breathing for a sustained period. It strengthens the heart and lungs, lowers blood pressure, improves the body's handling of sugar and fat, and is the form of exercise most closely linked to a longer life.

How much

The guidelines for adults are at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, or a combination. During moderate activity it is possible to talk but not to sing; during vigorous activity only a few words can be spoken between breaths.

Choosing an activity

• Walking: the easiest to begin and to keep up; see walking for fitness.
• Running: quick results in little time, with more impact on the joints; see running for beginners.
• Cycling: easy on the joints and useful as transport; see cycling for fitness.
• Swimming: works the whole body with almost no impact, and suits people with joint or back problems.
• Rowing: uses the legs, back and arms together.
• Skipping: demanding, needing little space.
• Dancing and exercise classes: sociable, with instruction built in.
• Team and racket sports: football, netball, hockey, tennis, badminton and squash combine fitness with skill and competition.
• Stair climbing and hill walking.

The best choice is the one that is enjoyed, since that is the one that will be kept up. Two or three different activities across the week spread the load on the body and prevent boredom.

Interval training

Interval training alternates short bursts of hard effort with periods of easy recovery: for example, a minute of fast running or cycling followed by two minutes of gentle movement, repeated several times. High-intensity interval training, or HIIT, takes the hard efforts close to the maximum.

• It improves fitness in less time than steady exercise, and the NHS counts very vigorous activity of this kind towards the weekly target.
• It is hard on the body. One or two sessions a week, with easier days between, are enough.
• Beginners build a base of steady exercise over several weeks first.
• People with heart disease, high blood pressure or other long-term conditions take medical advice before trying it.

Claims that a particular workout melts fat from the stomach or thighs are not supported by evidence. Fat is lost from the body as a whole, when more energy is used than is eaten.

Building up

• Each session begins with a warm-up of at least six minutes and ends with a few minutes of easy movement.
• Time is increased before intensity.
• A day that feels unusually hard is cut short; fatigue, a cold or poor sleep all reduce what the body can do.
• Chest pain, dizziness or severe breathlessness are reasons to stop and seek medical advice.

Aerobic exercise is one half of the recommendation. The other is covered under strength training.