Are you looking to improve your cardiovascular endurance?
I believe that a cardiovascular component is necessary to create overall health. You can easily incorporate the following activities in 2 or 3 targeted sessions of 20 to 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise in your weekly exercise routines.
I’m convinced that there are a ton of other ways to get your heart pumping and your lungs burning. If that is what you think a cardio workout is at least. And that is totally fine. Fitness adventures evolve in so many ways.
The goal of this list is not to get ready and train for marathons, ultra runs, long bike rides etc. Doing longer cardio vascular endurance requires a different type of training. It is possible that you might evolve towards these disciplines later.
In this Blog Post
- Why these Types of Cardiovascular Training?
- 5 Types of Cardio Training
- Conclusion
- Continue you Adventure
Why these types of Cardiovascular Training?
Allow me to add this disclaimer first.
This is not supposed to be the be all end all list of best exercises ever. Maybe your favorite exercise didn’t make the cut and you are wondering why.
The main reason I have selected these exercises is because I have done and incorporated all of them in my own workout routines. Not only do I find them fun to do, I have also seen drastic improvements in my own cardiovascular and muscular endurance.
Outside of having personal experience and seeing good results, I believe these could be very beneficial for you too.
These 5 are, in my opinion, the best overall because they can be used to build a robust level of cardiovascular endurance. Even if you are not a professional athlete, feeling less exhausted and exercising longer is a great improvement on your quality of life.
Depending where you are and what you have available, you can start in your neighborhood, on a school or community sports field or in a gym.
I’ve selected these specifically because the level of entry is very low.
These five exercises are easy to perform and are very scalable to meet you where you are in your health adventure.
And require no fancy or complicated fitness equipment to get you going.
I understand that there is much to learn and to explore for every one of the following cardiovascular exercises. And if you wish, it’s worthwhile doing a deep dive into all of them.
5 Types of Cardio Training
#1 Walking
It’s almost too simple, but of all things cardiovascular, the easiest to do is a simple walk.
Anybody in good shape and without disabilities knows how to do this. We all have had multiple years of extensive training since the day we started wobbling around at 18 months old.
Despite our vast lifetime experience, it is shocking how little walking the average person does in our modern western society.
Walking doesn’t require special training, equipment, knowledge or research to start. If you have a decent set of sturdy, flat, supported shoes and a comfortable outfit you can get up and get moving.
There are plenty of studies outlining the benefits and the minimum amount of steps that are required. [1] With so many wrist watches and fitness gadgets available it’s almost impossible not to measure the distance you walk.
A step counter is all you need to start. Look for it for free in your preferred smartphone app store if you are curious how many steps you average in a day.
Walking 10 thousand steps per day has been a goal of my wife and I for the past years. We use a Fitbit to measure our daily steps. Going out for a walk can be a nice way to connect, talk, go to work or relax when you come back from work.
To make things more challenging, find a hill to walk up to. Speed up your pace. Or simply walk 5 minutes longer.
Hiking is also a great way to get in steps, and do some leg exercises at the same time.
I’m sure that if you look around there are enough opportunities to add more walking in your day.
Easy workout routine:
- Measure your steps for a full week with your preferred electronic device
- Average the amount of steps by the days that you have measured for your daily average step count
- Whatever that amount is try to double it
- Eventual goal, 10000 steps a day, which roughly translates in 7.4 km or 4.6 miles
Fun goal, how many days does it take you to cross the American continent?
Little hint depending on the route you would take, the total distance would be around 4828 km or 3000 miles – you do the math!
#2 Running
This is walking’s bigger brother.
You can easily get lost in how to run, how long to run or training to run for a marathon. What kind of shoes are the best to run on concrete? Which ones are great on trails?
Again that is not the point of this list.
If you are interested in furthering your running techniques, this might not be the best place to start. But if you are looking for an easy, affordable way to get some cardio in, running definitely takes the second place for me.
Much like walking, running is something almost everybody has done at a certain time in our life.
Without going into too much technical detail, this would be my recommendations when you want to incorporate running into your workout routines.
1.Get a decent set of running shoes.
Worn out running shoes, lack support and structure to absorb impact. This can result in painful knees, ankles and hips and that’s the last thing you want.
If you have no set and haven’t run in a while, asking around in a specialized shoe shop might be the best start. Be sure to specify what you will be using the shoe for.
If you want to enjoy this as much as you can, it’s worth spending money on a set of shoes that fit you and your goals.
2.Know where to run
Depending on the shoes you have you can run pretty much anywhere. Running on asphalt and concrete is harder on the ankles, knees and hips then running on softer underground.
Access to good paved trails (no roots, stones etc.), running ovals, even grass fields or even gravel fields might be easier on your knees and a better place to start.
If you live in the city, and have no access to softer underground, or want to run when it’s dark, Treadmills might be a good alternative.
3.making stuff more challenging
Weighted vests, rug-sacking , or inclined hills make great additions to your running adventures.
After you find your perfect running spot, try adding some High intensity interval training or HIIT routines. For example, doing sprints up and down a field, combined with regular jogging and walking can be great to mix things up.
#3 Biking
When you are running, your feet support the entire body weight with every step you take. That is a considerable amount of force and strain (or high impact) that is put on your ankles, knees and hips.
With the right type of shoes, form and training this is something that can be accounted for. And if you are in good health, running is still a great form of cardio.
If you are looking for a low impact alternative, biking can be a great and fun cardio workout. Outside of falling over of course, low impact means that there is no contact of the body with the ground.
The requirement for this is having a good working bike. It’s totally fine to start out with a regular bike and start doing some laps. Or rides around your neighborhood. There is no need to have a professional racing bike.
If you have access to a home trainer, that can work fine too. Again the idea is not to spend hours at an end in the saddle. But to get a ride in at a challenging tempo for 20 minutes.
If you can find hills to climb in your neighborhood that’s a great way to up the challenge.
Or on the indoor bike, up the resistance lever to start working harder.
#4 Step/Stairs
Who doesn’t love walking, or running up the hill? I get it, hiking is something that is maybe more reserved for the weekends in summer.
But doing stairs can be a good way to get your heart pumping.
I am tremendously lucky to live in beautiful British Columbia. With the coastal mountains in our backyard we have no shortage of hills to hike and to climb.
There are short trails, like the Grouse Grind [2] that people do every day and it’s a great steep climb to get your heart pumping.
I do understand that not everybody has access 24/7 to a mountain range.
If you have access to a building with 6 or more floors (office building, apartment building) chances are there should be stairs available. These are great to start walking up and down to get your cardio in.
I must admit that running up the stairs with high heels is an achievement by itself, I don’t think it’s a sustainable form if you want to get your exercise minutes done. In short, make sure that you have a solid set of running shoes. Having great support for ankles, knees and hips is critical.
If you don’t have mountains or buildings available, a Stairmaster can be a good alternative. This cardiovascular exercise machine is very common in building gyms, community centers and regular commercial gyms.
And if the Stairmaster in your local building or gym is taken, try to crank up the incline on the treadmill and do a steady pass.
It’s very easy also to make this exercise more challenging. Up the resistance or speed on the cardio machines, or try to add some weight in a rucksack or with a weighted vest to break out more sweat.
The point is that this should be a fairly easy, accessible and scalable exercise to integrate into your cardio workouts.
#5 Battle Ropes
I love working with battle ropes. They are a great warm up tool before you start working out. Very simple to learn. And a great combination of cardio and muscular endurance.
For those who have no idea, battle ropes are heavy and long training ropes. They come in various thickness, weights and lengths. If you want to add a great set of battle ropes to your home gym, this might be a good place to start
Basic battle rope setup:
Set up the rope by looping the rope around a static object (power rack) or heavy dumbbell.
Take the two ends and set yourself in a wide stand. Slight bend over with a straight back. Start shaking the ends of the ropes up and down. As if you are using the ends to beat on a drum.
Do this for a set amount of time. Start with 15 seconds, rest for 30 seconds, repeat the drumming for 30 seconds, rest for 1 minute and repeat.
The waving of the heavy rope works the arms, the chest and shoulders. The slightly bent legs keep tension on your quads. And the faster you shake the more oxygen you will have to suck in your lungs to keep on going.
In case you’re wondering, there are multiple other ways to use battle ropes. But the one described above is a great way to start and get a feel how this can work for you.
Conclusion
So there you have it – five great types of cardio training that can help build your cardiovascular endurance, regardless of your current fitness level. All you need to get started is a little bit of space and motivation!
If you’re looking for more information on any of these exercises or want to explore other types of cardio training, be sure to check out my other blog posts. I have plenty of great content that can help get you moving in the right direction.
And remember, always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new exercise routine.
Are there any particular cardiovascular exercises that you love? Let me know [email protected]
Until next time and be well.
Continue your fitness adventure
If you enjoyed this article, you might want to have a look at how to improve your muscular endurance in my ultimate guide
Or if you are looking to do more than just cardio training, I’m sure you will enjoy the most effective activities to improve muscular endurance
If you’re interested in learning more about the equipment have a look at:
best battle ropes – an overview