由 home-healthhaven 
If you hang out with people who exercise regularly, you’re bound to hear the terms cardio or aerobics frequently. You might hear someone say, “I do cardio four times a week,” or “My gym has great cardio machines.” Aerobics, a term created by fitness innovator Dr. Kenneth Cooper in the 1960s, refers to cardiovascular exercises that strengthen your heart and lungs while burning a lot of calories.
After reading this article, you might feel eager to apply the information and get moving. But with all the talk about maximum heart rate, anaerobic threshold, and heart-rate monitors, you might also wonder if cardio exercise is just too complicated. Don’t worry—it’s not! We’re providing you with this info so you can understand the basics of how to gauge your exercise intensity and set goals.
**Comparing Aerobic and Anaerobic Exercise**
Aerobic exercise involves any continuous and repetitive activity that gets your heart and lungs working harder, usually by engaging large muscles like those in your butt, legs, back, and chest. Walking, cycling, swimming, and climbing stairs are all examples of aerobic exercises.
Activities that involve smaller muscles, like those in your wrists and hands, don’t burn as many calories. For example, repeatedly pressing the remote control might be continuous and even intense, especially for some people, but it doesn’t burn a lot of calories.
Aerobic means “with air.” When you engage in aerobic exercises, your body needs extra oxygen, which your lungs pull from the air. Think of oxygen like the fuel in your car: you don’t need as much when idling at a stoplight as you do when speeding down a highway. During aerobic workouts, your body consistently supplies oxygen to your muscles.
However, if you push yourself hard enough, you’ll transition to needing less oxygen because your lungs can’t keep pace with your muscles’ demand. You won’t collapse immediately—instead, you start to rely on your body’s limited ability to function without as much oxygen. This is when your muscles are exercising anaerobically, meaning “without air.”
Anaerobic exercise involves high-intensity activities like sprinting all-out or lifting very heavy weights. After about 90 seconds, you’ll start gasping for air and usually can’t keep going for more than 3 minutes. At this point, your body makes you stop.
With anaerobic exercise, you can still use large muscle groups, but only in short bursts followed by rest. Running a 30-minute loop around the neighborhood is aerobic, while sprinting around a track with 2-minute breaks between runs is anaerobic. Both types challenge your heart and lungs and burn lots of calories. There are also hybrid activities, known as “stop-and-go” sports, like basketball, soccer, and tennis. These involve longer periods of steady movement combined with short bursts of high-intensity action.