Aerobic exercise makes your heart happy! When you do aerobic exercise your heart beats faster – this helps make your heart strong. A strong heart is good at supplying the rest of your body with the oxygen it needs to work well.
Aerobic exercise is sometimes called cardio exercise. The word aerobic means “with air”. This makes sense because when you do aerobic exercises you breath faster, causing you to breath-in more air.
There are a lot of different kinds of aerobic exercise. If you’re doing an activity that makes your heart beat fast and causes you to breath hard – you’re doing aerobic exercise! Can you think of any aerobic exercises that you like doing?
Aerobic exercise is split into three categories: light, moderate, and vigorous.
Light aerobic exercises include activities that require light movement, like doing chores or playing catch.
Moderate exercise includes:
- Dancing
- Walking briskly
- Canoeing
- Rollerblading
- Skateboarding
Vigorous exercise includes:
- Swimming laps
- Running
- Riding a bike fast or up hills
- Jump roping
- Sports – soccer, basketball, etc.
What aerobic exercise sounds like the most fun to you??
Information came from standfordchildrens.org, kidshealth.org, cdc.gov/physicalactivity