What is aerobic exercise

As long as it involves the major muscle groups of the whole body, can last for more than 3 minutes, and maintains the heart rate at 60%-80% of the maximum heart rate (for ordinary people, it can be estimated by 220 minus age), it is basically aerobic exercise. The fast walking, jogging, swimming, cycling, aerobics, medium-speed rope skipping, mountain climbing, and low-intensity ball games that we are most exposed to daily are all in this category. Even shopping for several hours in a row and housework of sufficient intensity can be considered low-intensity aerobic exercise.

When many people first get into sports, they always have a stereotype about aerobics. They think that you have to be breathless and speechless to be considered good at practice. In fact, this is not true. I went shopping with my mother for three hours last week in Home Furnishing City. The sports watch she wore showed that the heart rate was stable at around 110, which is just stuck in the aerobic range for a 55-year-old person. Calculated, the consumption is higher than her usual 20 minutes of middle-aged and elderly exercises at home.

Nowadays, there is a fierce debate on the classification of many sports on the Internet. For example, whether skipping is considered aerobic? Some people say it is anaerobic and others say it is aerobic. In fact, it is not so rigid. If you can slowly jump 100 times a minute and can jump for 20 minutes without stopping, then it is definitely aerobic.； But if you do high-frequency intervals, jump 180 times in 30 seconds and then rest for one minute, that is a metabolic mode of aerobic and anaerobic mixing. You don’t need to be obsessed with classification, just look at your own exercise status. Some people also ask whether doing housework counts as aerobic, and there is no unified answer to this point. If you clean windows and mop the floor for an hour, and your heart rate has been stable in the aerobic range, then of course it is considered low-intensity aerobic. But if you work for ten minutes and use your mobile phone for five minutes, and your heart rate has not increased, then it can only be regarded as stretching your muscles and bones, but not serious training.

People with different physical conditions have different aerobic preferences. Don’t follow the popular internet celebrity program. I have a friend with an old knee injury. I used to watch other people running and brush fat quickly, and my knees became swollen within half a month. Then I switched to an elliptical machine and practiced 40 minutes each time 4 times a week. I lost 14 pounds in three months. I didn’t feel any discomfort in my knees at all. The efficiency was much higher than running on my own.

To be honest, there is no need to worry about which aerobic activity is the "best". The one that makes you willing to stick to it for a long time is the most suitable. I used to force myself to run in the morning in order to remove fat, but gave up after a week. Later, I changed to doing retro aerobics for half an hour every night. I jumped up and down like a group dance in school. I persisted for two months without knowing it, and I lost almost 3 points of body fat. It was much more comfortable than the painful training before.